title: Assessment of student learning in a business internship

authors: Hodges, David Leslie

subjects: assessment

abstract: Internships, like other forms of cooperative education, involve students undertaking work as an integrated component of their tertiary education programme.  It is only relatively recently that research has been undertaken to consider what it is that students actually learn when undertaking such work. This is because workplace learning is complex, informal, and subject to the contextual influences of the particular workplace.  Such complexities are heightened in some disciplines, like business, where the work occurs in diverse workplace settings, with the work requirements being unique to each student. Not surprisingly, there is even less research that may assist practitioners to find ways of assessing such learning.

Most forms of summative assessment are based on adherence to the principles of criterion-referencing, which require using the same criteria and set of standards for all students. But when the learning takes place away from the formal, structured environment of an educational setting, underpinned by a fixed and 'known' curriculum, adoption of such principles is problematic, and can create the conditions for assessment to be inherently unfair (and therefore invalid).  This is because they can fail to take account of the individual and variable nature of the work, the contextual influences involved, and the conscious and unconscious biases of the assessors.

So how does one assess student performance and learning in cooperative education? This thesis sets out to address this question in relation to a business internship that is part of an undergraduate degree programme in a large New Zealand polytechnic.  A multi-theoretical approach was taken to the study, which provided valuable frames of reference for viewing assessment of learning.  By adopting an interpretive methodology, primarily driven through participatory action research, the contextual complexities involved were able to be incorporated into the research design. Through engagement with the practitioner, a self-assessed, evidence-based portfolio model of assessment was created.  A key feature of the model is that the 'truth' of students' performance emerges through consensus, based on an informed understanding of the subjective elements and contextual influences present.  An important contribution is the on-going dialogue that occurs, throughout the work placement, between the stakeholders (employers, students and academics).

 The study has found that the assessment model developed was able to address the complexities involved. The stakeholders supported and valued the portfolio assessment model, and it was apparent that the formative aspects of the portfolio contributed positively to its summative outcome, without seemingly compromising the nature of either. The portfolio also had a high 'backwash' effect on learning, contributing to its consequential validity.  Such learning included students' increased awareness of the important competencies required in the workplace and how such competencies contribute to effective performance.  In addition, the self-assessed nature of the model contributed to students' development as lifelong assessors of their own learning; preparing them to become self-regulating professionals.   Finally, it was apparent that informal, emergent learning, derived from the sociocultural influences present, was an important feature of students' workplace experiences.

text: Assessment of student learning in a business internship Internships, like other forms of cooperative education, involve students undertaking work as an integrated component of their tertiary education programme.  It is only relatively recently that research has been undertaken to consider what it is that students actually learn when undertaking such work. This is because workplace learning is complex, informal, and subject to the contextual influences of the particular workplace.  Such complexities are heightened in some disciplines, like business, where the work occurs in diverse workplace settings, with the work requirements being unique to each student. Not surprisingly, there is even less research that may assist practitioners to find ways of assessing such learning.

Most forms of summative assessment are based on adherence to the principles of criterion-referencing, which require using the same criteria and set of standards for all students. But when the learning takes place away from the formal, structured environment of an educational setting, underpinned by a fixed and 'known' curriculum, adoption of such principles is problematic, and can create the conditions for assessment to be inherently unfair (and therefore invalid).  This is because they can fail to take account of the individual and variable nature of the work, the contextual influences involved, and the conscious and unconscious biases of the assessors.

So how does one assess student performance and learning in cooperative education? This thesis sets out to address this question in relation to a business internship that is part of an undergraduate degree programme in a large New Zealand polytechnic.  A multi-theoretical approach was taken to the study, which provided valuable frames of reference for viewing assessment of learning.  By adopting an interpretive methodology, primarily driven through participatory action research, the contextual complexities involved were able to be incorporated into the research design. Through engagement with the practitioner, a self-assessed, evidence-based portfolio model of assessment was created.  A key feature of the model is that the 'truth' of students' performance emerges through consensus, based on an informed understanding of the subjective elements and contextual influences present.  An important contribution is the on-going dialogue that occurs, throughout the work placement, between the stakeholders (employers, students and academics).

 The study has found that the assessment model developed was able to address the complexities involved. The stakeholders supported and valued the portfolio assessment model, and it was apparent that the formative aspects of the portfolio contributed positively to its summative outcome, without seemingly compromising the nature of either. The portfolio also had a high 'backwash' effect on learning, contributing to its consequential validity.  Such learning included students' increased awareness of the important competencies required in the workplace and how such competencies contribute to effective performance.  In addition, the self-assessed nature of the model contributed to students' development as lifelong assessors of their own learning; preparing them to become self-regulating professionals.   Finally, it was apparent that informal, emergent learning, derived from the sociocultural influences present, was an important feature of students' workplace experiences.

year: 2010

title: Experiment Databases: Creating a New Platform for Meta-Learning Research

authors: Vanschoren, Joaquin

subjects: computer science

abstract: Many studies in machine learning try to investigate what makes an algorithm succeed or fail on certain datasets. However, the field is still evolving relatively quickly, and new algorithms, preprocessing methods, learning tasks and evaluation procedures continue to emerge in the literature. Thus, it is impossible for a single study to cover this expanding space of learning approaches. In this paper, we propose a community-based approach for the analysis of learning algorithms, driven by sharing meta-data from previous experiments in a uniform way. We illustrate how organizing this information in a central database can create a practical public platform for any kind of exploitation of meta-knowledge, allowing effective reuse of previous experimentation and targeted analysis of the collected results.

text: Experiment Databases: Creating a New Platform for Meta-Learning Research Many studies in machine learning try to investigate what makes an algorithm succeed or fail on certain datasets. However, the field is still evolving relatively quickly, and new algorithms, preprocessing methods, learning tasks and evaluation procedures continue to emerge in the literature. Thus, it is impossible for a single study to cover this expanding space of learning approaches. In this paper, we propose a community-based approach for the analysis of learning algorithms, driven by sharing meta-data from previous experiments in a uniform way. We illustrate how organizing this information in a central database can create a practical public platform for any kind of exploitation of meta-knowledge, allowing effective reuse of previous experimentation and targeted analysis of the collected results.

year: 2008

title: Maori and epilepsy: Personal perceptions of the cause, treatment and consequences of epilepsy by Maori in the Bay of Plenty

authors: Simonsen, Kiri

subjects: Maori

abstract: This paper discusses the perceptions of epilepsy held by Maori in the Bay of Plenty. The paper
begins by introducing the purpose and rationale of the research. It then moves on to describe the
aims and qualitative research methods that were used to collect the data. Finally the paper
discusses the findings of the research, this includes: a close look at the unique perceptions of
epilepsy that were reported by Maori in the Bay of Plenty; the lack of resources and services
available in a small rural town of the Bay of Plenty; the services desired by Maori; attitudes
towards medication and the inappropriate behaviour many of the participants experienced by the
medical profession.

text: Maori and epilepsy: Personal perceptions of the cause, treatment and consequences of epilepsy by Maori in the Bay of Plenty This paper discusses the perceptions of epilepsy held by Maori in the Bay of Plenty. The paper
begins by introducing the purpose and rationale of the research. It then moves on to describe the
aims and qualitative research methods that were used to collect the data. Finally the paper
discusses the findings of the research, this includes: a close look at the unique perceptions of
epilepsy that were reported by Maori in the Bay of Plenty; the lack of resources and services
available in a small rural town of the Bay of Plenty; the services desired by Maori; attitudes
towards medication and the inappropriate behaviour many of the participants experienced by the
medical profession.

year: 1999