ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Assessing Creative Process and Product in Higher Education
Author: Watson, Jan S.
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Higher Education,Foreign Countries,Creativity,Semi Structured Interviews,Evaluation Methods,Summative Evaluation,Formative Evaluation,Creative Thinking,Undergraduate Students,Qualitative Research,Questionnaires,Observation,Focus Groups

This article examines how Education undergraduates explored their creative processes through the planning and presentation of an artwork. In particular, it addresses how they negotiated the demands of an assessment method which focused on both the reflective process and the finished product. This investigation is part of a more extensive study of creativity and engagement in Higher Education; it is underpinned by the idea that all students have the potential to be creative if they are provided with innovative learning experiences and open-ended assessment tasks. The empirical data was obtained from semi-structured interviews (n = 30), students' reflective sketchbooks and observations. The findings support the view that students are more motivated and engaged when they have access to alternative, creative assessment opportunities which involve experimentation and risk-taking in a supportive learning environment. The data shows that they value assessment methods which enable them to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills in different ways. However, concern about the perceived subjectivity of such an assessment process, and the emphasis placed on meeting the learning outcomes, initially presented a barrier to creative development. One implication is that the conflict between creativity and assessment might be partially resolved if students played a more active part in both the formulation of summative assessment criteria and the on-going formative assessment process.
Assessing Understanding of Complex Learning Outcomes and Real-World Skills Using an Authentic Software Tool: A Study from Biomedical Sciences
Author: Dermo, John
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Biomedicine,Medical Education,Computer Assisted Testing,Courseware,Genetics,Undergraduate Students,Performance Based Assessment,Construct Validity,Test Items,Test Reliability,Test Validity,Scores,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Questionnaires,Likert Scales,Student Satisfaction

We describe a study conducted during 2009-12 into innovative assessment practice, evaluating an assessed coursework task on a final year Medical Genetics module for Biomedical Science undergraduates. An authentic e-assessment coursework task was developed, integrating objectively marked online questions with an online DNA sequence analysis tool (BLAST), routinely used by NHS and research professionals. The aim was to combine the assessment of understanding of complex module learning outcomes with real-world authentic skills highly valued in the work place. This approach challenges the oft-heard accusation that online computer-marked tests can lack validity and authenticity in higher education. The study demonstrates the content and construct validity of this form of e-assessment, showing that careful question design, allied with integration with the real life BLAST tool, enables instructors to assess complex higher order understanding, and requires students to demonstrate skills relevant for the work place. A study of three years of test results and measures of internal consistency data also show the reliability of this assessment. In addition, the results of surveys of student opinion and positive feedback from student module feedback questionnaires suggest that it is effective in terms of face validity.
Student Perceptions of an Assessed, Online, Collaborative Activity
Author: Haresnape, Janet
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Online Courses,Web 2.0 Technologies,Cooperative Learning,Electronic Publishing,Asynchronous Communication,Peer Teaching,Computer Mediated Communication,Learning Activities,Telephone Surveys,Online Surveys,Questionnaires,Questioning Techniques,Student Participation

In this online collaborative activity, adapted from a face-to-face tutorial activity, students each provided data and suggestions about its interpretation, by contributing to a series of wiki pages. They undertook an assessment question based on interpretation and implications of their findings. The activity involved probing questions inviting students to add comments about the interpretation and long-term implications of their results. It enabled weaker and less confident students, who reported finding the topic challenging, to build on comments from others and add their own valuable contributions. Nine participating students were asked in telephone interviews about their perceptions of the activity, and their comments were categorised. Categories included the visual, practical/authentic and collaborative nature of the activity, feeling of responsibility to the group, and deeper understanding of the topic. The relative importance of the aspects of the activity represented by these categories for more and less able students was explored using an optional online questionnaire. The activity is being adapted for use in other contexts in which a complex question, posed on a wiki, enables students to build on each other's responses to gain a deeper understanding, and therefore helps weaker or less confident students to understand particularly challenging concepts.
Audio Feedback: Richer Language but No Measurable Impact on Student Performance
Author: Chalmers, Charlotte
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Feedback (Response),Test Results,Questionnaires,College Students,College Science,Comparative Analysis,Foreign Countries

Audio feedback has been shown to be popular and well received by students. However, there is little published work to indicate how effective audio feedback is in improving student performance. Sixty students from a first year science degree agreed to take part in the study; thirty were randomly assigned to receive written feedback on coursework, thirty students received their feedback via audio files. Mean marks awarded for the coursework for each group were not significantly different. The end of module test included questions that specifically assessed topics from the coursework. Overall test results were not significantly different for the two groups, nor were marks for the coursework-specific questions. Samples of the tutor feedback were analysed and the language categorised. The mean word counts for audio feedback were significantly higher than word counts for written feedback. Analysis of the language used in feedback (measured by word count) indicated significantly higher word counts for audio feedback in the following categories, &quot;explaining misunderstandings&quot; and &quot;demonstration of good practice.&quot; Since word counts for audio feedback might be expected to include a number of &quot;filler&quot; words, the number of comments made under different categories was also compared for audio and written feedback. Significantly more comments were made using audio feedback in the categories &quot;giving praise,&quot; &quot;explaining misunderstandings,&quot; &quot;demonstration of good practice&quot; and &quot;justifying marks.&quot; Under the heading &quot;suggesting approaches to future work&quot; more comments were made using written feedback than audio, although the mean number of comments in both forms of feedback in this category was very low. Whilst marks may not be improved for those students receiving audio rather than written feedback, the feedback given is much richer.
The Academic Achievement of Immigrant Children in Japan: An Empirical Analysis of the Assimilation Hypothesis
Author: Ishida, Kenji
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Immigrants,Academic Achievement,Acculturation,Comparative Analysis,Achievement Gap,Socioeconomic Status,Language Usage,Institutional Characteristics,Individual Characteristics,Japanese,Hierarchical Linear Modeling,High School Students,Hypothesis Testing,Reading Achievement,Mathematics Achievement,Science Achievement,Generational Differences

In this study, we test the assimilation thesis by comparing the academic achievement between native students and first and second generation immigrant pupils. It is the first empirical study that systematically analyzes the native-immigrant achievement gap in Japan. Although numerous studies have examined the achievement gap, most of them are based on small-scale case studies and have failed to test the effects of multiple factors simultaneously, using large-scale nationally representative data. Since the number of immigrant (foreign) students is relatively small in Japan, we constructed a pooled dataset of PISA by combining all five waves from 2000 through 2012. The dependent variable is the test score in reading literacy, and we tested the effects of three key independent variables: immigrant generation, parental socioeconomic status and language spoken at home. A multilevel analysis was performed to examine both individual and school-level variations, followed by a multiple imputation method to deal with missing values of parental socioeconomic status. The major findings are three-fold. First, first generation immigrant students perform more poorly in reading literacy, but there is no significant difference between second generation and native students. Second, parental socioeconomic status has a positive effect on academic achievement, but the effect is not robust enough to mediate the impact of immigrant generation. Third, Japanese spoken at home is an important determinant of the native-immigrant gap in academic achievement. The same results were obtained for mathematics and scientific literacy test scores. Although these findings echo previous studies, they underscore the importance of language use at home. Our empirical results suggest that it is important to expand opportunities for Japanese language learning for both immigrant students and parents.
Student Perceptions of the Value of Turnitin Text-Matching Software as a Learning Tool
Author: Bailey, Carol
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Seniors,Plagiarism,Computer Software,Identification,Student Attitudes,Anxiety,Use Studies,Cheating

The University of Wolverhampton has been using Turnitin as a teaching aid with groups of students since 2007, but in 2011 changed its policy to encourage student access on a formative basis across the institution. In one School, 748 students undertaking final year undergraduate projects were invited to check multiple drafts via Turnitin before the final deadline. Use of the software was monitored, and students were invited to express their views on its value as a learning tool. Uptake was substantially higher where Turnitin was introduced within a module than through extracurricular workshops. The number of draft resubmissions was greater than that reported in other studies. Most participants thought that despite certain limitations Turnitin was helpful in learning about appropriate source use, and wished it had been introduced earlier in their degree course. Given that the participants were in their sixth undergraduate semester, a surprisingly high number expressed anxiety regarding the risk of unintentional plagiarism.
The Importance of Students' Motivation and Identity When Supervising Professional Doctorate Students: A Reflection on Traditional and Professional Routes
Author: Philpott, Carey
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Motivation,Doctoral Programs,Professional Identity,Supervision,Supervisory Methods,Conventional Instruction,Intermode Differences,Student Needs,Professional Development,Nontraditional Students,Nontraditional Education,Educational Practices

The literature on doctoral supervision frequently identifies the importance of aligning supervisory style to the particular needs of students. Much of this literature is based on research carried out with students on traditional PhD routes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the needs of students on professional doctorates differ from those on traditional PhD routes. Exploring this topic is of particular importance if we accept that supervisors' own experiences of supervision as research students are likely to affect their approach to supervising. The paper concludes that it is not helpful to regard the needs of professional doctoral students and more traditional PhD students as falling into two separate groups. The diverse and evolving nature of all doctoral provision means that these needs are shifting and likely to be converging over time. However, it is helpful for a supervisor to develop sensitivity to issues that are likely to be more common among professional doctorate students. The important differences are most likely to be found in the motivation, identity and identity formation of students and it is these that we need to be sensitive to so that we can adjust our supervisory approach accordingly.
Being-in-the-World-of-Marking: New Academics' Experiences of Assessment &amp; Feedback
Author: Sales, Rachel
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,Feedback (Response),Teacher Attitudes,Teaching Experience,Grading,Student Evaluation,Socialization,Phenomenology,Evaluation Criteria,Theory Practice Relationship,Interviews,Data Analysis,Foreign Countries,Higher Education

For a novice academic, the first experience of marking can be as memorable as preparing for and giving the first teaching session. Yet, while academic reflections and narratives abound for the latter, there is a paucity of literature regarding the former. This study begins to address this lack of literature through an exploration of six newly appointed academics' experiences as they mark students' coursework. The concept of being-in-the-world-of-marking demonstrates conceptually their experiences as they began to come to know themselves as markers and academics; not through the learning of facts about marking, but through their understanding and self-interpretation of their own and others' marking practices. The experiences shared in this paper support and further develop previous research findings, highlighting a need for additional training, guidance and reinforcing the necessity to offer newly appointed academics formal and informal mentorship in the theory and practice of assessment.
Reasons for Doctoral Non-Completion: One Non-Completing Doctoral Student's Voice on Limitations in the Academic Literature
Author: Philpott, Carey
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Empowerment,Doctoral Programs,Graduate Students,Ethnography,Dropouts,Dropout Rate,Reflection,Student Experience,Higher Education,Time to Degree

Timely completion has recently been an important focus of academic literature on supervising Doctoral students. This paper is a reflection on the academic literature on timely doctoral completion by a former Doctoral student who has been a serial non-completer. This reflection explores whether academics' constructions, reported in the research literature, of the causes and symptoms of doctoral non-completion relate to this student's experience. The reflection concludes that there is a significant blind spot in the Doctoral non-completion literature. This blind spot relates to a possible mismatch between students' and academics' conceptions of research. In addition to this conclusion, the paper is a small exemplification of educators using their own autobiographies as learners as a method for critical reflection on practice. It also considers the possibility of developing this approach into autoethnography.
The Possibilities and Limitations of Assessment for Learning: Exploring the Theory of Formative Assessment and the Notion of &quot;Closing the Learning Gap&quot;
Author: Ninomiya, Shuichi
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Formative Evaluation,Achievement Gap,Theory Practice Relationship,Accountability,Student Evaluation,Evaluation Criteria,Definitions,Feedback (Response),Educational Theories,Criterion Referenced Tests,Foreign Countries,High Stakes Tests,Behavioral Objectives,Summative Evaluation

Black and Wiliam (1998a, 1998b) demonstrate that formative assessment is one of the most effective strategies for promoting student learning. Since the publication of their reviews, formative assessment has gained increasing international prominence in both policy and practice. However, despite this early innovation, the theory and practice of formative assessment are currently at a crossroads. It is widely understood that problems emerge when formative assessment is being reduced to a mini-summative assessment or to a series of teaching techniques for coaching to improve grades and levels. On the one hand, a serious threat to the effectiveness of formative assessment occurs when it is assimilated into larger accountability systems such as National Curriculum Assessment in England. On the other hand, a defense of formative assessment is offered by some researchers who suggest that the threat stems from misinterpretation of the evolved form of formative assessment. In this paper, although I am alert to the rich potential of the evolved form of formative assessment, I suggest that the threat stems not from &quot;misrepresentation&quot; but that it exists in the original theoretical framework of Black and Wiliam and the early ARG definition of Assessment for Learning. I will illustrate that this type of formative assessment becomes &quot;convergent assessment&quot; (Torrance &amp; Pryor, 1998) and identify the widespread notion of &quot;closing the learning gap&quot;(Sadler, 1989) as the mechanism of &quot;convergent assessment&quot;. I also claim that formative assessment characterised by &quot;convergent assessment&quot; can lead to the practice of &quot;criteria compliance&quot; (Torrance, 2007). Together these claims point towards the theoretical problems of the evolved form of formative assessment and lead to a discussion of the main dilemmas for formative assessment: the kind of learning that is taking place, the effects of explicit learning objectives, the tension of accountability pressure and high-stakes summative assessments. Finally, by applying the suggestions above, this paper provides a critical analysis of recent assessment policy in Japan, emphasizing criterion-referenced approach in classroom assessment and proposes a pathway for developing formative assessment further.
Measuring the Quality of the Assessment Process: Dealing with Grading Inconsistency
Author: Wosik, Dawid
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grading,Educational Quality,Quality Assurance,Accountability,Organizational Effectiveness,Student Evaluation,Evaluation Research,Grade Inflation,Academic Standards,Higher Education,Reliability,Foreign Countries

This paper examines an assessment process within the context of quality, accountability and institutional effectiveness in academia. Considered as one of the most important elements in higher education, the assessment process plays a significant role in contributing to holistic quality as well as the performance of an academic institution. As a result, appropriate requirements need to be established, applied consistently and communicated effectively among different groups of stakeholders. The lack of a systematic approach in this matter as well as the lack of specific performance measures of the assessment process shape a false image of students', and consequently, graduates' academic capacity.
A Comparative Sociological Study of Japanese and Taiwanese Upper Secondary Education
Author: Aizawa, Shinichi
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Education,Vocational Education,High School Students,Foreign Countries,Track System (Education),Social Status,Educational Trends,Role,School Choice,High Schools,Grades (Scholastic),Regression (Statistics),Student Characteristics,Academic Education,Public Schools,Private Schools,Rural Urban Differences,College Attendance

This paper addresses the following two research questions: What role does senior high school choice play, in terms of the choices between public and private and between academic and vocational education in Japan and Taiwan? How do senior high school students matriculate to tertiary education in Japan and Taiwan? Japan and Taiwan have both experienced a rapid expansion of upper secondary education in the process of late industrialization. In these two societies, senior high school tracking decides students' educational careers. In addition, people living in these two societies have been inclined toward the belief that national and public schools are more prestigious than private schools. Therefore, the role of private senior high schools is different in these societies than in Europe or America. In both Japan and Taiwan students with higher grades tend to attend public academic senior high schools, whereas students with lower grades tend to enroll in private senior high schools. During the educational expansion in both societies, private senior high schools have provided opportunities for students of lower grades as well as lower social status. This research confirms the existence of a new trend in private school education: the rise of private academic education in the younger cohort. We need to continue to monitor this trend not only in these two societies but also in other East Asian countries. Keywords: senior high school; tracking; private schools
Increasing Teachers' Workloads in the Form of Quantitative Expansion in Extracurricular Activities: Aggregated Data Analysis of Past Working Hours Using a General Linear Model
Author: Kanbayashi, Toshiyuki
Date: 2016-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Load,Working Hours,Extracurricular Activities,Data Analysis,Teacher Surveys,Educational History,Comparative Analysis,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Statistical Significance,Multivariate Analysis,Noninstructional Responsibility,Public School Teachers,Educational Trends,Trend Analysis,Recordkeeping,Computation,Foreign Countries,Elementary Schools,Junior High Schools

In recent years, teachers' increased workloads have become an issue for policy, and have been multiply pointed out, deriving as they do from peripheral duties such as paperwork, in academic research as well. However, these mentions have not been based on sufficiently solid proof. Here, this paper compares teacher working hours surveys extant from the 1950s-1960s and from the late 2000s, using a general linear model. Results show that it is not necessarily the case that teachers in the late 2000s are spending more time on peripheral duties like paperwork than their 1950s-1960s counterparts, but that the time they spend on educational activities (in particular, extracurricular activities) is longer. [This article was translated by Nadezhda Murray. It was originally published, in Japanese, in &quot;The Japanese Journal of Educational Research&quot; Vol. 82, No.1, 2015.]