Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Common Data Set, 2008-2009, Office Of Institutional Research And Assessment, Bridgewater State College

Common Data Sets

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Critical Thinking And Language Proficiency Of Malaysian Undergraduates, Rosyati Abdul Rashid, Rosna Awang Hashim

EDU-COM International Conference

In the present information era, university students are expected to be able to think critically so that they will be able to keep up with the changes brought about by new technological innovations and have better chances of employability. Since language is an important tool for acquiring knowledge at the tertiary level, it is therefore important to gain insight into the nature of the critical thinking ability of undergraduates and its possible link to their language proficiency. This study examined the critical thinking ability of Malaysian undergraduates and its relationship to language proficiency. The Bahasa Malaysia version of the Cornell …

A Reflection On Teachers' Experience As E-Learners, Claire M. Mc Donnell, Tony Cunningham, Barry Mcintyre, Theresa Mckenna

Books/Book chapters

This chapter explores the insights gained by a group of teachers from their lived experience as eLearners participating in a blended module on Designing eLearning. An understanding of the student perspective on online learning was obtained but we were also able to reflect on our participation in the module on the basis of our other roles; as teachers and potential eTutors and as course designers. As a result, important considerations were identified for the design and facilitation of online courses. These include; the support provided to online learners, particularly over the first few weeks, appropriate assessment methods, facilitation of online …

Resource Pack On Curriculum Design And Assessment To Promote Effective Learning., Christine O'Connor

Other resources

This resource pack is an overview of current considerations for academics designing programmes for third level education. The changing demographic of third level students along with employers’ demands has resulted in programme development with a focus on skills basis (Hyslop-Margison, 2001) to support a knowledge based society. The rationale behind the changes in curriculum design is introduced and further focus is emphasised in the areas of curriculum design models, assessment models and evaluation models. Examples of innovative curricula and assessment models in third level chemistry education will be incorporated during the pack which may be applied across other disciplines.

Marginalized Students' Perspectives Of School Consolidation: A Case Study In Rural West Virginia, Betty A. Sias

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

While prior research provides evidence that school consolidation impacts student achievement, the economic efficiency at state and district levels, dropout rates, participation in extracurricular activities, curriculum offerings, and the length of bus rides, “little is known about what happens in consolidated schools to impact student learning,” (Blake, 2003, p. 21) and little attention has been given to studying students’ lived experiences of consolidation. This qualitative case study explored these issues by attempting to understand students’ transition to a consolidated high school, as well as their current experiences with and perceptions of consolidation in a rural community in West Virginia. The …

Collaboration Or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly, Tuesday Cooper

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Much has been written about the use of collaborative learning as a pedagogical tool to enhance student learning. Collaborative learning, or group work as it is commonly known, can be defined as a structured process where students are required to work in groups to complete a common task or assignment for a particular course. It has been identified as one of the most effective ways for students to become actively engaged in classroom activities (Davis, 1993; McKeachie, 1999; Nilson, 1998).

Although there are many positive aspects of group work, there are negatives as well. One particular problem occurs when students …

Developing The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning Using Faculty Learning Communities, Milton D. Cox

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) have proven successful in producing teaching projects, as evidenced by a survey of institutions with FLCs. It follows that these groups should provide ideal conditions for a subsequent development of those projects into peerreviewed publications and presentations, or the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). This essay offers faculty practical advice for producing such SoTL products based on what started as a teaching project in an FLC. My advice is based on work with FLCs for 28 years on my campus and others (Cox, 2003).

An Investigation Into Enterprise Education At Senior Cycle In Second Level Schools In Kerry, Mary Mulvihill

Theses

This dissertation seeks to investigate enterprise education at senior cycle in second level schools in county Kerry. In carrying out this investigation the researcher seeks to identify the factors encouraging and inhibiting enterprise education. The reason for this research is that education plays a specific role in reinforcing a positive culture towards entrepreneurship. It provides students with the necessary skills to have confidence in themselves and in their ability to identify an opportunity and set up their own business.

Existing studies in the area provide several leads as to the ideal place to be taught enterprise and about the factors …

Identification Of Learning Barriers Affecting English Reading Comprehension Instruction, As Perceived By Esl Undergraduates In Thailand, Chayapon Chomchaiya, Katie Dunworth

EDU-COM International Conference

Facility in English language reading comprehension is essential for learners of English as a second language, since English is the international language of written (as well as spoken) communication for business, science and technology. In Thailand, as acknowledged in the literature, learners of English as a second language often experience considerable difficulties with reading. There are many reasons for this, but, given the importance of reading to the development of language proficiency, it is of great importance to identify ways in which student learning can be enhanced. This paper reports on a project that sought to obtain specific information from …

Secondary Students' Perceptions Of Web-Based Learning, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This article presents the results of a survey study of secondary students' perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics of Web-based learning environments. Data were collected using a modified version of a questionnaire from earlier studies. More specifically, the author focuses on what Web-based learning looks like for secondary students, along with their perceptions of the benefits, challenges, and helpful components of Web-based learning environments. As this study utilized similar instruments to earlier studies that looked at the perceptions of postsecondary students and corporate Web-based trainees, comparisons will be made between the secondary students in this study and the populations in …

Fashioning Global Scholarship As An Emerging Context, Roisin Donnelly, Ciara O'Farrell

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Learning To Live With League Tables And Ranking: The Experience Of Institutional Leaders, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This paper draws on the results of an international survey of HE leaders and senior managers which was supported by the OECD Programme on Institutional Management of Higher Education (IMHE) and the International Association of Universities (IAU). It focuses on how HEIs are responding to league tables and rankings (LTRS), and what impact or influence – positive or perverse – they are having on institutional behaviour, decision-making and actions. The growing body of academic research and journalist reportage is referenced to contextualise this international experience. The paper shows that while HE leaders are concerned about the impact of rankings, they …

Multiple Paths To Critical Reflection: A Flexible Model Of Teacher Learning And Its Impact On Student Achievement, Susan B. Koba, Carol Mitchell

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

This research evaluated impact of the Omaha Public Schools' Urban Systemic Program professional development model on mathematics and science teacher change and student achievement. The model offered various participation pathways, focused teachers' learning in three areas (beliefs, content, and pedagogy) and required teacher reflection during classroom strategy implementation. To determine teacher change, observations, interviews, action research, pre-post perception profiles, retrospective pre-post surveys (beliefs and understandings), and exit surveys were completed. Participants' action research determined impact . on students' understandings. Criterion Referenced· Tests, as well as leadership pre- and post- surveys, action research and interviews determined school change. To evaluate program …

Completions 2008-09, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

IPEDS Completions

IPEDS Completions annual report contains the following information:

• Number of awards conferred by program, by level, and by race/ethnicity and gender of recipient
• Number of completers, separately by race/ethnicity, gender, age and level of award

Research Summary: Courageous, Collaborative Leadership, Vincent A. Anfara Jr., P. Elizabeth Pate, Micki M. Caskey, P. Gayle Andrews, Larry G. Daniel, Steven B. Mertens, Mike Muir

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

While courageous, collaborative leadership has not been formally recognized as a “model” by those who study educational leadership, there is a wealth of information about collaborative (i.e., participatory) leadership and a growing corpus of literature focused on courageous leadership. As in the development of the ideas connected to collaborative leadership, the world of business is taking the lead in delineating what courageous leadership means. Some of this literature has even surfaced in the realm of religious studies (Hybels, 2002). Simply defined, courageousness in leadership addresses the necessity to step outside the box and take chances to help the organization establish …

Acer 2007-2008 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Unleashing The Usefulness Of Educational Resources Through Mining Of Educational Metadata, Anne R. Diekama, Jennifer A. Bailey, Blythe A. Bennett, Holly Devaul

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

While there is a strong movement to develop new educational resources to bring students to the competencies represented by educational content standards, it is recognized that there are vast repositories of educational resources already developed that are suitable to address those competencies. However, these resources need to be indexed by national and state standards to make them accessible for teachers who are increasingly required to teach to certain educational standards (Diekema and Chen, 2005). In the early 1980s, a perceived a crisis in the American education system encouraged the creation of national standards by professional subject-area organizations such as the …

Becoming A Teacher In The Developing World, Ayesha Bashiruddin, John Retallick

Books

No abstract provided.

Students Ranking, Based On Their Abilities On Objective Type Test: Comparison Of Ctt And Irt, Amir Zaman, Atiq-Ur-Rehman Kashmiri, Mamoon Mubarak, Arshad Ali

EDU-COM International Conference

The focus of this paper is to investigate the idea of differential ability for students ranking on a multiple choice test in the subject of physics at secondary level. The weakness of Classical Test Theory (CTT) in measuring the ability with continuity and consequently its ranking ability of students on the basis of ability has been highlighted in this paper. In CTT, a student attempting a difficult question and an easy question get equal credit which is not the case in Item Response Theory (IRT). Moreover in CTT two students with equal raw score have the same ranking while in …

A Teacher Self-Appraisal Checklist For Physical Educators To Assess Instructional Performance, Robert S. Christenson, David C. Barney

Faculty Publications

Many of the instructional challenges physical education teachers are confronted with today are very different from even those of our recent past. Advances in educational practices have found different ways to reach students, respond to their activity needs, and provide more interesting, effective, safe, as well as, novel ways to approach the teaching-learning process. Exploration into "Best Practices", instructional methods, and teaching effectiveness over the past three decades has brought about numerous changes that have focused on enhancing the quality of the teaching-learning experience in physical education. Student assessment, teaching effectiveness and instructional accountability are just a few of the …

Performance Enhancement Of The Task Assessment Process Through The Application Of An Electronic Performance Support System, Alistair B. Campbell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Higher education in Australia, as for many other countries, has changed greatly over the last 20 years at all levels and in many areas of operation including teaching, learning and assessment. The driving forces for these changes have been both internal and external, and have included factors such as: the increasing student population; the increasing use of part-time staff; a reduction in government funding; an increased expectation of institutional accountability; and the growing access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning. Assessment has not escaped these changes but in many cases has not kept up …

Is Identical Really Identical? An Investigation Of Equivalency Theory And Online Learning, Ruth Lapsley, Brian Kulik, Rex Moody, J. B. (Ben) Arbaugh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This study investigates the validity of equivalency theory among 63 students by comparing two introductory upper-division human resource management courses: one taught online, the other in a traditional classroom. Commonalities included same term, same professor, and identical assignments/tests in the same order, thus allowing a direct comparison of course outcomes. MANCOVA results supported equivalency theory, and further suggest that the online learning pedagogy may be superior in its overall effect on student performance.

Developing Tests And Questionnaires For A National Assessment Of Educational Achievement, Prue Anderson, George Morgan

Assessment and Reporting

This book addresses the design of two types of data collection instruments: student achievement tests and background questionnaires. Part 1 covers the development of an assessment framework and a test blueprint, item writing, pretesting, and final test layout. Part 2 delineates comparable stages and activities in the construction of background questionnaires, which are used to gather information from students, teachers, head teachers, or parents on variables that might help explain differences in student performance on the achievement test. Part 3 describes how to design a manual for test administration to help ensure that all students take the test under standardised …

Career Concerns, Pathing, And Professional Development Of High-School Technology Educators, Linda A. Tolan

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Informal Learning: Critical Review Of Current Methodologies And Research Into Appropriate Instrument(S), Deirdre Goggin

Theses

This thesis seeks to examine the recognition and formal assessment of informal and non- formal learning, paying particular attention to the methodologies that are currently being used and identifying the possibility of more appropriate instruments. This examination is conducted within the context of the national emphasis on the creation of a learning and knowledge intense society, the requirements necessary for this to become a reality and the increasing discussion on the recognition of informal and non formal education and training.

In order to discuss the above comprehensively, this research will examine the Irish education framework which supports the recognition of …

We've Thrown Away The Pens, But Are They Learning? Using Blogs In Higher Education, Katrina Strampel, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

In today’s university classrooms, “the time of restricting students products and learning opportunities to ink on paper are past” (Siegle, 2007). Blogs are only one of many computer-mediated technologies starting to dominate blended and wholly online courses. Most people assume that using these technologies, because it is what the students want, will translate into increased learning opportunities. As the literature continuously asserts, however, learning, and especially reflection, does not just happen (Boud, Keogh, & Walker, 1985). It seems imperative, therefore, that extra measures are taken when any technology is being implemented in a university classroom to ensure high levels of …

Student Performance With And Attitudes Toward Electronic Distributed Assessment In First-Year Composition Classes, Annette Arrigucci

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Fall 2008, UTEP's composition department implemented a pilot program to test a redesign of English 1312, their second-semester freshman composition course. In addition to a redesigned curriculum, a system of electronic distributed assessment was implemented in ten sections of English 1312. Instead of the traditional format of a class where instructors grade all student assignments, a group of teaching assistants graded student writing anonymously using standardized grading rubrics. The system, which has been used at Texas Tech University since 2002, was put in place at UTEP in order to enhance efficiency and consistency in the teaching of this course. …

A Correlational Study Of Standardized Test For The Assessment Of Reading (Star) With The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (Tcap) On Third Grade Reading/Language Arts, Terri Kay Pike

Theses and Dissertations

Two school districts in rural Tennessee utilizing the Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR Reading) assessment were studied to determine the correlation of STAR with Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) with 469 third grade students. The STAR Reading Assessment is marketed by Renaissance Learning as a formative assessment measure. A total of 26 teachers were surveyed in order to determine the adjustment of classroom instruction based on the district-mandated curriculum. Results indicated a high level of correlation between STAR Reading and TCAP; however of the 17 teachers who returned the teacher survey, teachers indicated infrequent administration of the …

Research Supporting Technology Education- Task Force 2.4 Final Report, Philip A. Reed, Jim Carlson, Fred Figliano, Hal Harrison, Hyuksoo Kwon, Johnny Moye, Phyllis Opare, John M. Ritz, Roger Skophammer, John Wells

STEMPS Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) ITEA's Board of Directors convened a task force in 2006 to identify research on technology teaching and learning. The resulting database is designed to help teachers, supervisors, and anyone that needs to show research support for technology education. The research was compiled by the following task force members:

Mutual Adaptation Of International Students And Academics For The Sustainable Development Of International Education, Tran Ly Thi

EDU-COM International Conference

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study that explores how international students from China and Vietnam in different disciplines in Australian higher education interpret and adapt to disciplinary requirements and how academics respond to the diverse needs of international students. The study employed a trans-disciplinary framework for interpreting students‘ and lecturers' practices within institutional structures. This framework has been developed by infusing a modified version of Lillis‘ (2001) heuristic for exploring students‘ meaning making with positioning theory (Harré & van Langenhove, 1999). A prominent finding of the study indicates the emergence of three main forms of adaptation, committed …