Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

The Science Behind The Art Of Teaching: Evaluation As Inspiration, Michele Bruniges Am

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Teachers across Australia inspire students to love learning. Our best teachers are constantly evaluating their impact on learning outcomes and adapting their practice – balancing the art and science of teaching. As we move rapidly towards the third decade of the 21st century, there is more pressure than ever for all teachers to deliver both deep discipline knowledge and the skills students need to survive and thrive in the workplace of the future. We need to use technology and data to support teachers to maximise learning outcomes for their students. This has to be done in a way that helps …

Digital Literacy Skill Development: Prescriptive Learning Analytics Assessment Model, Elspeth Mckay

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

There is a broad awareness of how information communications technology (ICT) digital literacy impacts everyday life. In schools, use of ICT tools has become mandatory. These tools include computers, tablets and mobile phones. These smart devices are used to send emails, browse the internet and make video calls. It is essential for teachers to identify student digital literacy levels through classroom activities and when to implement flexible ePedagogies for students who need help. This presentation will provide easy-to-follow steps to manage learning analytics to determine digital literacy skill levels. Learning analytics can be used for a range of purposes: to …

Mathematical Literacy And Video Games, Craig Carrigee

Dissertations

Mathematical literacy refers to the ability of a person to be able to comprehend and conceptualize real-world data and mathematical situations to make informed decisions. Minimal research exists compared to the explosion of video games available to the public over the past two decades. This study investigates the relationships between playing video games and the ability of a person to answer real-world questions about mathematics as well as the person’s attitude toward mathematics, including their self-confidence, perceived value, enjoyment, and motivation. Previous studies have shown mixed results related to the influence of playing video games on cognitive math ability, but …

Traffic Noise And Sexual Selection: Studies Of Anthropogenic Impact On Bird Songs And Undergraduate Student Reasoning Of Evolutionary Mechanisms, Sarah Spier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Humans have transformed much of the natural landscape and are continuing to do so at an accelerated rate, compromising natural areas that serve as important habitat for many species. Roads impact much of the environment as they fragment habitat and introduce traffic noise into the acoustic environment, deferentially affecting wildlife in roadside habitat. I explored how traffic noise affects the detection of birds based on whether their vocalizations were masked by traffic noise. Masked species detection was not affected by an increase in traffic noise amplitude, while there was a negative effect of traffic noise amplitude on unmasked species detection, …

Traffic Noise And Sexual Selection: Studies Of Anthropogenic Impact On Bird Songs And Undergraduate Student Reasoning Of Evolutionary Mechanisms, Sarah Spier

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Humans have transformed much of the natural landscape and are continuing to do so at an accelerated rate, compromising natural areas that serve as important habitat for many species. Roads impact much of the environment as they fragment habitat and introduce traffic noise into the acoustic environment, deferentially affecting wildlife in roadside habitat. I explored how traffic noise affects the detection of birds based on whether their vocalizations were masked by traffic noise. Masked species detection was not affected by an increase in traffic noise amplitude, while there was a negative effect of traffic noise amplitude on unmasked species detection, …

Identifying Academically At-Risk Incoming Freshmen At A Private University In Uruguay: Psychometric Evaluation Of A Mathematics Diagnostic Test, Wilson J. Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

This study determined to what extent the mathematics diagnostic test (MDT) used at the Catholic University of Uruguay (CUU) was psychometrically appropriate. Also, after removing “red-flagged” items, the study measured to what extent MDT scores correlated with academic success. It was found that five MDT items (out of 30) did not meet the guidelines and were discarded. The score on the remaining items showed the highest correlation with the number of mathematics courses completed, confirming that students with low MDT-Revised scores might need additional academic support to remain in the engineering program.

Space Telescope And Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. Viii. Time Variability Of Emission And Absorption In Ngc5548 Based On Modeling The Ultraviolet Spectrum, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We model the ultraviolet spectra of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC5548 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope during the 6 month reverberation mapping campaign in 2014. Our model of the emission from NGC 5548 corrects for overlying absorption and deblends the individual emission lines. Using the modeled spectra, we measure the response to continuum variations for the deblended and absorption-corrected individual broad emission lines, the velocity-dependent profiles of Lyα and C IV, and the narrow and broad intrinsic absorption features. We find that the time lags for the corrected emission lines are comparable to those for the original data. The …

Theory And Practice In Doctoral Dissertation Research, 2007-2017: A Content Analysis By Degree Type, William Friel

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In response to the overwhelming presence of professional practice doctoral degrees in the early 2000s, universities offering Doctor of Education (EdD) and/or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in higher education studies began to question the purpose and value of each degree. These universities asked: What is the value of academic research if it does not aim to improve the condition of what is being studied? This led to a theory-practice debate among departments offering the EdD and the PhD from the perspective of the goal of the dissertation research: Truth or improvement. To address this tension, the Carnegie Project on …

Using Playable Case Studies To Influence Teen Girls' Self-Efficacy And Interest In Cybersecurity, Desiree Marie Winters

Theses and Dissertations

Various factors dissuade women from the field of cybersecurity. Educational interventions are needed to mitigate the negative effects of stereotypes and low perceived self-efficacy and help girls gain interest in learning about cybersecurity. This thesis focuses on an intervention targeted to increase teenage girls' interest and self-efficacy in cybersecurity: the Cybermatics Playable Case Study. Findings from a mixed-methods study in which a focus group was conducted with 7 middle school girls, interviews were conducted with 2 high school girls, and pre- and post- simulation survey was collected from all 9 participants reveal tensions between enjoyment and frustration in the girls' …

Faculty Interactions With Black Male Students At Hbcus And Community Colleges As Predictors Of Academic Achievement In Stem, Antoine Gates

Dissertations

A myriad of studies in STEM education aim to identify the underlying reasons behind poor achievement of Black males in higher education. Research studies have indicated that HBCUs make significant advances in various desired outcomes such as graduation rates for Blacks, especially males. However, Black males at community colleges do not always fare similarly to their counterparts at HBCUs. There are limited studies on faculty interactions with Black males in STEM at community colleges. Therefore, the goal of this study was to identify whether significant differences existed in the interactions STEM faculty formed with Black males at community colleges and …

The Influence Of Tape Diagrams And Bar Models On Middle School Students' Proportional Reasoning, Katie Paulding

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Proportional reasoning is an integral component of adolescent mathematical cognitive development and a foundational concept for students to understand in order to be successful in higher level mathematics and science courses. Yet research indicates students struggle to proportionally reason. Task features of proportional reasoning problems are known to influence student cognition and success in problem solving, including familiarity with problem context, problem type, numerical content, and mode of task representation. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of two iconic representations (tape diagrams and bar models) and three ratio relationships (6:3, 8:2, and 5:2) on student cognition …

Effects Of Creativity Instruction In Science On Creative Thinking And Science Achievement In Chinese Students, Yun Peng

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated the effectiveness of the 3eT instructional model designed by Hong (Hong, 2012a; Hong, O'Neil, Drobick, & Beisel, 2013) that focused on increasing students' creative-thinking ability. 120 seventh-graders in China participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. They learned a segment of a science curriculum unit with instructional materials developed based on the 3eT model which aimed to encourage students to use creative thinking techniques.

Patterns of students' perceptions of a creative person were compared between the experimental group and the control group. Content analyses of students' narrative responses elicited …

Teacher Preparation: Implementing Theory Into Practice, Loni Rae Miller

All Theses And Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs are mandated to prepare teachers that are ready for the changing landscape of the education profession. New accreditation requirements in preservice assessments and certification requirements for highly qualified teacher status are requiring teacher preparation programs to review their course plans. The purpose of the qualitative study was to examine how the graduates of a traditional teacher preparation program were implementing the PBL project design in their first year of teaching after receiving scaffolded instruction of the educational theory. The researcher explored which factors the graduate perceived allowed them to use PBL in their classroom. Using qualitative interviews, …

The Impact Of Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences International Programs On Student Motivation For Continuing College And Student Engagement In The Classroom, Olivia Caroline Caillouet

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colleges aim to increase student achievement, which has been linked to motivation and engagement, as well as increase global partnerships. There is also an increasing demand from students for international programs (IPs) that prepare them to be global citizens. This study aimed to compare student motivation for continuing college and student engagement in the classroom before and after an IP. Students who participated in a Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences IP between January 2018 and August 2018 were surveyed prior to, and two weeks and three months post-program participation (n = 24). The instrument had 51 Likert-scale …

Patterns Of Reading Errors Among Emirati Second Grade Students, Abdelaziz M. Sartawi Prof., Yaser S. Natour Prof., Wesam B. Darawsheh Dr., Salma Daiban Dr., Mona Aljanahi Instructor

International Journal for Research in Education

The impact of morphological awareness on reading proficiency has been neglected and there has been much focus on researching the impact of phonological awareness on reading skills. The aim of this study was to examine reading errors among second-grade Emeriti students by mapping a threefold paradigm (i.e., difficulty level, lexical category, and reading error patterns). The study sample included 168 Emirati second grade students (87 males and 81 females). One hundred forty four words were randomly selected from the Arabic reading curriculum. Those words were classified into lexical categories as nouns (45%), verbs (34%), adjectives and adverbs (10%), and functional …

Assessing Student Misconceptions Of The Electrical Potential Of Spherical Conductors, Saif Alneyadi

International Journal for Research in Education

The purpose of this study was to identify and assess the misconceptions of grade 12 students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) concerning the electrical potential of spherical conductors in physics. This study employed a two-tier multiple choice testing strategy to assess student misconceptions. The participants consisted of 200 grade 12 science students, including 100 male and 100 female students, drawn from UAE public high schools. The findings showed that the students held a variety of misconceptions regarding the electrical potential of spherical conductors. Moreover, most of the students did not possess a good understanding of the electrical potential of …

The Intersection Of Andragogy And Courtroom Practice, Grant Shostak

Dissertations

Learning takes place not only in a traditional classroom setting, but in a plethora of avenues outside of the lecture hall. Learning paradigms like life-long learning and Andragogy, the teaching of adults, have been used by adult educators for fields such as education, finance, accounting, law enforcement, nursing, technology, and many others. A review of the existing literature has revealed an absence of the application of andragogy to the courtroom setting. This paper investigates and discusses the andragogical orientation of successful trial lawyers in Missouri. This study has shown that successful trial lawyers have adapted and share particular principles of …

Technical Standards Literacy In Management Education, Heather A. Howard, Margaret Phillips

Midwest Business Librarian Summit (MBLS)

Industry standards have a significant impact on business as a means to eliminate waste, reduce costs, market products (e.g., for quality, safety, interoperability) and lessen liability (Thompson, 2011). Consequently, an understanding of and ability to use standards, agreed upon practices among interested or vested parties, is a critical workplace competency for those engaged in business and industry. To have a workforce competent in the use of standards, higher education curricula must be developed to integrate standards education at appropriate points within the curriculum. Despite the importance of standards, they are not universally integrated into the college and university curricula. Given …

The Past And Present Of Chinese Language Teaching In Ireland, Caitríona Osborne, Qi Zhang, Yongbin Xia

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

China’s booming economy is indeed one of the main reasons for the popularity of learning Chinese as a foreign language (henceforth CFL). With this growing interest in CFL, Ireland is likely to be behind global trends as Chinese is not yet included as a State-examined subject at any level in the Irish schooling system. Chinese language teaching (henceforth CLT) began to develop significantly in formal UK schooling during 2004-2005 (Zhang & Li, 2010), whereas the earliest occurrence of CLT seen in the Irish education system was in 2006-2007 when two Confucius Institutes were set up in Ireland. During this time, …

Faculty Members’ Experiences With The Implementation Of Flipped Classroom Environments In Higher Education, Fatimah Alebrahim, Heng-Yu Ku

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Active learning is an instructional strategy that focuses on the active learning process by involving students with engaging materials and activities in the class which leads to higher order thinking and increases students’ performance. The flipped classroom is one of the latest models that allows more time in class for applying active learning strategies. This model focuses on providing a media lesson to the students that must be completed outside of the classroom and prior to the class after which the teacher demonstrates different activities related to the media lesson during class time. The purpose of this qualitative study was …

Alignment Between Learning Objectives And Assessments In A Quantitative Literacy Course, Younggon Bae, Samuel L. Tunstall, Kathryn S. Knowles, Rebecca L. Matz

Numeracy

In this analysis, we examine how course assessment items were aligned with learning objectives in a quantitative literacy course at Michigan State University. The alignment analysis consisted of mapping assessment items to a list of operationalized learning objectives from the course. Our analysis shows how often the learning objectives are represented in assessment items, how often they are paired with other learning objectives, and how influential they are in contributing to a student’s course grade. In addition, through comparisons across four assessment types (e.g., exams and homework), we show how each learning objective was assessed differently within each assessment type. …

A Dialectical Relational Analysis Of Tesol Quarterly 2006 Special Issue On Race: Discourse, Race, And White Supremacist Ideology, Ginger A. Looney

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Although the field of TESOL is not racially neutral this dialectical relational analysis examined (1) what discourses did the authors use to deploy race in the articles in the 2006 TESOL Quarterly Special Issue on Race (TQSIR)? and (2) how do these discourses work to either conform to, or resist white supremacist ideology? Analysis of the texts identified four key discourse: racialization, whiteness, emotional labor of racism, and sonic and optic negation of racism. These discourses were examined in the domains of scholarship, curriculum, teachers, and students. In 21 instances, these four discourses work to resist white supremacist ideology. …

Testing The Psychometric Properties Of The Modeling Self-Efficacy Scale, Anu Sharma, Stephen J. Pape, Jonathan Templin

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The Modeling Self-Efficacy Scale was developed to measure middle and high school students’ confidence in understanding and solving modeling tasks. The scale was administered to 225 eighth- and ninth-grade students. Participants read modeling tasks adapted from Programme for International Student Assessment’s 2003 problem-solving assessment and rated their confidence on a 100-point self-efficacy scale. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that modeling self-efficacy is a unidimensional construct, best elicited by a repeated-measures-style survey design in which participants responded to the same self-efficacy items across multiple modeling problems. The omega reliability coefficient for the scale was .88. The findings suggest that the Modeling Self-Efficacy …

The Effects Of Grading Practices On Motivations For Learning At The Middle School Level, Justin D. Stebbins Ms

Muskie School Dissertations

The objective of this quantitative survey study was to measure the effect grading traditionally (using averaging) versus non-traditionally (best, most recent evidence) on four types of student motivation. These types of motivation were mastery orientation (learning for learning sake), performance orientation (going for the grade or external recognition), performance avoidance (not wanting to appear incompetent), and mastery avoidance (not wanting to lose what you have). This set of orientations is derived from the goal orientation theory.

In this study, 1,652 students and 93 educators between four schools took an anonymous 20-minute online survey. Due to lack of teacher participation, two …

Using Alumni Surveys To Assess The Impact Of Innovative Learning Spaces On Development Of Career-Ready Soft Skills, Jeffrey Ashley, Phd

The Center for Teaching Innovation & Nexus Learning Posters and Presentations

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the varied assessment techniques used to measure outcomes in active learning spaces.
2. Appreciate the value, and limitations, of incorporating alumni reflections in assessment strategies (based on research supported by a 2018-19 SCUP fellowship award).
3. Instill reflection upon your institutional assessment needs to create an assessment plan tailored to your institution’s learning spaces to quantify outcomes.

An Examination Of The Attitudinal And Structural Barriers To Successful Implementation Of Personalized Learning, Jeremy Sullivan

Dissertations

Personalized learning has become a common term in the education lexicon; however, there is not an industry-accepted and universally adopted definition or model. While personalized learning is mentioned in 39 states’ Every Student Succeeds Act plan, the models vary greatly because personalized learning requires a full paradigm shift from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine the current barriers K-12 classroom teachers experience when implementing personalized learning. The four core strategies of flexible learning environments, personal learning paths, learner profiles, and competency-based progression identified by Pane et al. (2017a) were utilized to frame personalized learning. …

Stepping Stone Or Road Block: An Evaluation Of Community Colleges In The Midwest To Improve Attrition And Graduate Percentages Of African American Students, Tamela Odom

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The path towards higher education is not the same for all. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore why African American students enroll into community college in the Midwest at higher percentages than any other racial group but persist to graduation at the lowest percentages. Factors that hinder African American students from persisting toward graduation and eventual degree completion from a 2-year college were uncovered through interviews conducted with participants on community college campuses throughout the Midwest. Considering the findings of this study, it is suggested that professors and instructors use classroom interactions and instructional opportunities to …

Academic Assessment: Best Practices For Successful Outcomes With Accreditation Evaluation Teams, Tammie Cumming, M. David Miller

Publications and Research

This chapter describes the role of faculty in conducting quality assessment and includes suggestions for preparing for successful meetings with reviewers on accreditation teams.

Reliability Analysis Of Complementary Assessment Tools For Measuring Teacher Candidate Dispositions, Winifred C. Nweke, Tasha P. Perkins, Comfort Y. Afolabi

Georgia Educational Researcher

Assessing the dispositions of teacher candidates remains a challenge for many Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs). This article details the process and results of establishing the reliability of two complementary instruments, the Candidate Beliefs Self-Assessment Survey (SAS) and the Candidate Dispositions Performance Assessment Rubric (CDPA). The instruments are linked through the same dispositional themes that undergird the indicators in the CDPA and belief statements in the SAS. Internal consistency reliability coefficients were determined using Cronbach’s alpha for SAS (0.81) and the CDPA (0.96). In addition, inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.80 was determined for CDPA using Intraclass correlation (ICC) method based on …

An Evaluation Of Lead Turnaround Partners’ Services In Virginia, Tamara A. Sterling

All Theses And Dissertations

School reform in K–12 education has experienced a cycle of changes that requires the implementation of stringent mandates for increased student achievement and sanctions for school divisions not meeting the required benchmarks. The purpose of this study is to identify school-based services that Lead Turnaround Partners (LTPs) provided to priority elementary schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia relative to the improvement, if any, of third through fifth grade students’ Standard of Learning (SOL) reading assessment scores. The study utilized a systematic review approach to data collection that will analyze Lead Turnaround Partners’ Scope of Work, Quarterly Reports, and Standards of …