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21 – 30 of over 9000This chapter exemplifies how assessment is performed in innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) at the university education and how educators apply and view formative assessment as…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter exemplifies how assessment is performed in innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) at the university education and how educators apply and view formative assessment as an important tool in enhancing students’ learning outcomes.
Methodology/approach
A case study methodology was applied to characterize the diversity of assessment and evaluation in I&E-education. Covering major scholarly disciplines 10 cases were selected based on mapping of course outlines obtained from university databases across 7 Danish universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with course responsible educators focusing on alignment between learning goals, assessment forms and criteria, and feedback.
Findings
The analysis shows that educators emphasize the importance of formative and learner-centered assessment forms alongside summative, credit-giving assessment. Educators experience that logbooks, learning journals, prototypes, informal feedback session with stakeholders have a crucial potential for enhancing students’ transformative learning.
Research limitations
This study is descriptive and solely based on the educators’ perspectives. To provide more scientifically sound knowledge on the relationship between assessment types and I&E learning outcomes, future research should include students’ perspective and preferably apply both quantitative experimental and qualitative research designs.
Practical implications
The study provides inspiration to educators, researchers, and policy-makers on how to conduct assessment that stimulates students learning in I&E-education.
Originality/value
Considering that the research on how assessment in I&E-education impacts students learning is limited, this study provides important contribution by identifying links between formative assessment types and enhancement of student learning.
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The purpose of this paper is to illuminate for social studies teachers and teacher educators the ways in which students' disciplinary writing is scaffolded within the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illuminate for social studies teachers and teacher educators the ways in which students' disciplinary writing is scaffolded within the context of the inquiry design model; trends in such scaffolding are called “the learner's pathway,” since it leads students to more abstract levels of historical argumentation. The author argues that engaging historical writing genres is a necessary component of historical thinking and that understanding the ways that teachers support students' historical writing capacities can help them to make more intentional choices when building inquiries.
Design/methodology/approach
To study genre-related scaffolding across inquiries, this study draws on systemic functional linguistics (SFL)-based genre theory as an analytical structure and seventy-four history-focused secondary social studies inquiries to determine any patterns in the ways that teachers scaffold students' writing genres through an inquiry.
Findings
Findings suggest that there is a learner's pathway that teachers use to develop students' argumentative writing capacities; however, there is also evidence to suggest that notetaking and source synthesis are not valued instructional products, limiting the potential impact of historical thinking work within the inquiry process.
Practical implications
The existence of this learner's pathway has implications for the ways that teachers and preservice teachers can be professionally developed to leverage this pathway. Rather than the often-used methods of support students' generic writing capacities, professional development should focus on the ways social studies teachers can guide students to more abstract reasoning through their writing. This study's findings also have implications for the ways that social studies teachers assess students' summative arguments. Assessment practices should focus on the genre-features of “argument” rather than just the stages of the argumentative essay.
Originality/value
This piece is original because genre-based research is missing from much of the social studies education research. This study's findings present an additional paradigm through which social studies teachers and teacher leaders can explore the purposes of historical writing tasks and assessment.
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Evaluation is the process by which we estimate how things should go, explore how things are going, and determine how things went in terms of course redesign. In this chapter, we…
Abstract
Evaluation is the process by which we estimate how things should go, explore how things are going, and determine how things went in terms of course redesign. In this chapter, we examine formative and summative methods for assessing student learning and establishing teacher effectiveness and course quality. Evaluation is a subjective, value-laden process. To introduce the rigor needed to make it meaningful, evaluation should be multifaceted, planned in advance, made transparent to learners, and employ valid and reliable methods. Moving courses online presents both opportunities and challenges for evaluation. We explore ways to implement assessment to make full use of the advantages of technology while mitigating the problems associated with online delivery.
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Mahieddine Adnan Ghecham and Nuha Hamada
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of students’ cultural background in explaining their academic performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of students’ cultural background in explaining their academic performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper aims at achieving the research objective with the use of questionnaires and structural equation modelling (SEM).
Findings
This paper shows that students’ code of conduct, which is grounded in their cultural background, affects their level of engagement in learning process. The paper supports, on one hand, the idea of extensive use of formative assessment techniques as a way of improving students’ engagement; it argues, on the other hand, that their effectiveness could be limited because of the bad impact of the students’ norms.
Originality/value
The paper aims at achieving the objective of the research using an interdisciplinary approach borrowing from the field of economics while discussing a research gap that covers a region that require more attention in the field of education.
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Nurul Haizum FarahDiyana Latjatih, Nurhanis Syazni Roslan, Puteri Shanaz Jahn Kassim and Siti Khadijah Adam
Peer-assisted learning (PAL) in formative objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is an approach used to evaluate the students' clinical competence. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Peer-assisted learning (PAL) in formative objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is an approach used to evaluate the students' clinical competence. This study aims to determine the PAL effectiveness in the formative OSCE in improving clinical competencies and the students' perception and satisfaction of PAL.
Design/methodology/approach
Sixty-seven Year 2 medical students experienced PAL in a formative OSCE setting. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to evaluate their perception and satisfaction on PAL. The effectiveness of the sessions was determined by comparing their OSCE scores between the pre- and post-intervention.
Findings
Forty-three students completed the intervention and had the experience to assess their peers as well as being assessed during formative OSCE. However, only 26 students managed to attend both pre- and post-intervention OSCE. It was found that there was a significant improvement of OSCE score after the PAL sessions. Over 97% of these students perceived positively and were satisfied with the sessions and thought that formative OSCE gave an opportunity to improve their learning and develop self-confidence in clinical skills.
Originality/value
The findings suggested that PAL in the formative OSCE is a good opportunity to help in students' learning and improve their clinical competencies apart from learning with experts.
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Kasun Gomis, Mandeep Saini, Mohammed Arif and Chaminda Pathirage
Lack of appropriate student support and drawbacks in academic progression signify the importance of enhancing assessment and feedback in higher education (HE). Although assessment…
Abstract
Purpose
Lack of appropriate student support and drawbacks in academic progression signify the importance of enhancing assessment and feedback in higher education (HE). Although assessment and feedback are significant in HE, minimal empirical research holistically explores the best practices. This study aims to address the niche and develop a decisive guideline for enhancing assessment setting and feedback provision within HE curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic approach was taken to obtain data for the study: a literature review underpinning the thematic content analysis of study documents, followed by semi-structured interviews. Document analysis contained mid-module reviews/student feedback; rubrics used in assessment; and formative/summative feedback provided for the graded work. Documental analysis informed the key attributes of the semi-structured interview. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) analysis identified the influence and reliance of each driver.
Findings
This study revealed 15 drivers – 4 fundamental, 6 significant and 5 important – for enhancing assessment and feedback. The level partitioning from the ISM analysis established that all assessment and feedback needs to be underpinned by the university policy and fed into the assessment regime and marking scheme. This study identified that National Student Survey results were significantly improved due to implementing said drivers compared with the national and sector benchmarks.
Practical implications
The developed drivers enable the best practices in assessment setting and feedback provision. The level partition diagram can be used as a decisive guideline or a provisional framework in assessment and feedback provision for quality assurance in HE.
Originality/value
This study is one of, if not the only, to develop a guideline for signposting drivers and their influence and reliance to enhance assessment and feedback in a holistic HE setting. The developed drivers and the level partition diagram bring novelty and add to the current body of knowledge.
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Universities across the globe have had to rethink how the significant resources devoted to learning, teaching, and assessment might be reconfigured to better support student…
Abstract
Universities across the globe have had to rethink how the significant resources devoted to learning, teaching, and assessment might be reconfigured to better support student learning across different modes of delivery. A focus on ‘flexibility’ in assessment arrangements supports the need to be responsive to the requirements of a changing and increasingly uncertain higher education landscape across Africa and elsewhere in the world. This chapter explores how professors and lecturers in higher education can deliver effective assessment processes that meet the demands of online and blended learning environments. Flexibility in assessment is about responding to students’ individual learning needs as well as the needs of the curriculum. The key is making assessment relevant to the students. The proliferation of learning technologies and tools, coupled with the increasing diversification of student profiles and pathways through programmes, provides the context for developing flexible assessment. Here technology is a key enabler for personalised and active blended learning experiences. This chapter considers practical ideas and strategies for inclusive, authentic, and flexible assessment task design, delivering effective feedback, and ensuring quality and consistency within assessment processes – all of which are relevant in an era of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions in higher education.
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Chunyan Lu, Aarren Minneyfield, Min Jia, Jun Lu, Yan Zheng, Jingying Huo, Ningyi Wang, Yihua Wu and Jennifer Brantley
The purpose of this paper is to explore more agile and effective learning processes that help identify potentially high-performing staff during workplace training.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore more agile and effective learning processes that help identify potentially high-performing staff during workplace training.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the efficacy of the learning-oriented assessment (LOA) process in workplace training, a pharmaceutical sales organization implemented an online training over three months that was modeled with the LOA process. During work hours, employees within the organization took two tests (one before and after training) as well as participated in training with essential work-related content, where they were given problem sets and scenarios to complete that would vary based on their responses. Their assessment scores, formative learning behaviors and quarterly revenue were recorded to determine the effects of the training.
Findings
The outcome of this study supported the theory that the LOA model would facilitate the acquisition and application of knowledge differentially between employees of the organization, and this knowledge would serve to improve the performance of the employees to the extent that it increased revenue.
Research limitations/implications
This study was a field experiment that did not allow for the control of possible confounds. However, the real-world real people outcomes provide novel insights on best practices in workplace training.
Practical implications
The findings of this study showed the short-term effectiveness of the LOA process in professional knowledge acquisition and application in relevant skills that increase organizational revenue.
Originality/value
This study provides an applied understanding on the applicability of the LOA process in workplace learning and training which has not been previously investigated.
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Mark Hofer and Kathy Swan
Face-to-face discussion is a significant part of many courses and often suffers from a lack of preparation on the student’s part. While there are many ways to provide…
Abstract
Face-to-face discussion is a significant part of many courses and often suffers from a lack of preparation on the student’s part. While there are many ways to provide accountability for reading, these approaches can result in extra grading and are not necessarily leveraged by the instructor in guiding and structuring the in-class discussion. In this paper, I discuss the initial implementation of an open source platform that provides the opportunity to utilize reading quizzes in a formative manner through color-coded displays.
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Mark H. Blitz, Jason Salisbury and Carolyn Kelley
The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) is an online task-based assessment of distributed instructional leadership. In developing CALL, researchers faced…
Abstract
Purpose
The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) is an online task-based assessment of distributed instructional leadership. In developing CALL, researchers faced the challenge of structuring survey items that would measure leadership practice rather than individual traits. Critical in this work was developing items that accurately reflected current leadership practice. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to pilot the CALL instrument and conducted cognitive validity testing on the instrument.
Design/methodology/approach
CALL researchers piloted the survey in six schools in Wisconsin in order to test and refine the survey instrument. Researchers conducted cognitive walk-through interviews with five participants from each school: principals, associate principals, teachers, department chairs, guidance counselors, and activities directors. The interviews focussed on specific items in order to observe the users’ thought processes and rationale in choosing a response for each item. The researchers focussed on relevancy, clarity, and accuracy of survey items in collecting and analyzing the resulting data.
Findings
Three specific survey items were identified that exemplify these challenges and opportunities such as: accessible language, extended leadership, socially desirable responding, 360-degree perspectives, applying appropriate terminology, and identifying appropriate practices. These findings provided insight into survey development work and implications of distributed leadership. The authors discuss the challenges of creating a task-based leadership assessment.
Originality/value
Developing a formative assessment of school leadership is valuable in supporting school leaders’ work. The process of utilizing a qualitative approach to develop a quantitative instrument has proven critical in measuring task-based distributed leadership.
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