Using student-generated questions for student-centred assessment

In small groups, medical students were involved in generating questions to contribute to an online item bank. This study sought to support collaborative question‐writing and enhance students’ metacognitive abilities, in particular, their ability to self‐regulate learning and moderate understanding of subject material. The study focused on supporting students to write questions requiring higher order cognitive processes. End‐of‐year formal examinations comprised 25% student‐generated questions (SGQs), while mid‐year examination items were completely unseen. Data were gathered from repeated administration of a questionnaire and from examination results. No statistically significant changes were identified in self‐rated monitoring of understanding and regulation of learning. The activity of generating questions supported students to work collaboratively in developing questions and answers. The bank of questions was appreciated by students as a source of revision material, even though it was not strongly focused on higher order processes. Based on scores, it would appear that many students chose to memorise the question bank as a ‘high‐yield’ strategy for mark inflation, paradoxically favouring surface rather than deep learning. The study has not identified directly improvements in metacognitive capacity and this is an area for further investigation. Continual refinement of the study method will be undertaken, with an emphasis on education of students in developing questions addressing higher order cognitive processes. Although students may have memorised the questions and answers, there is no evidence that they do not understand the information.     

Developing,Evaluating and Demonstrating the Use of a Conceptual Survey in Mechanical Waves

An understanding of mechanical waves is a pre‐requisite for the study of many topics in advanced physics, and indeed in many other disciplines. There have been many research studies in mechanical waves, all of which have revealed that students have trouble with the basic concepts. Therefore, in order for teachers to prepare appropriate instruction for their classes, it is useful to diagnose their students' conceptions—if possible before they enter class. It is for this purpose that many diagnostic instruments have been developed, often in the form of multiple‐choice tests. In this study, we have used the open‐ended Wave Diagnostic Test to develop a multiple‐choice conceptual survey in an evolutionary manner. The two‐year development procedure included open‐ended surveys and interviews involving 299 Thai students and 88 Australian students. The final version, called the Mechanical Waves Conceptual Survey, has been administered to 632 Australian students from high school to second‐year university and 270 Thai high school students. Standard statistical analyses show that the survey is reliable and valid. Further validity checks, including consultation with experts, were also carried out. The survey has four subtopics—propagation, superposition, reflection, and standing waves—and the teachers can choose the subtopics relevant for their students. In this paper we also demonstrate the use of a typical survey question to test students' conceptual understanding and identify common alternative conceptions.     

An investigation into the receptivity of undergraduate students to assessment empowerment

Providing empowerment to students with regard to assessment procedures is a potential mechanism for increasing students’ satisfaction with their education programme and environment. The receptivity of students is likely to vary according to several factors, including their confidence in the ability of assessors to adequately judge the quality of their work, their understanding of assessment procedures and the degree of autonomy they feel is appropriate. Their perception of these factors can also be expected to vary according to how advanced they are in their degree programme. This paper presents the results of a pilot study into the receptivity of first‐ and third‐year undergraduate geography students to various mechanisms and concepts associated with assessment empowerment. Some receptivity to empowerment relating to choice of assessment was observed in first‐year students but the greatest receptivity was found in third‐years, at both individual and community empowerment levels. Third‐year students displayed an increased desire for assessment choice, criteria choice and community empowerment, and decreasing confidence in the lecturer as assessor. Based on these initial results, a methodology for incorporating assessment empowerment into undergraduate teaching is outlined.     

The relationship between student understanding,satisfaction and performance in an Australian engineering programme

It has often been suggested that actual or anticipated final grades may influence the ratings given by students in student experience surveys but few studies have been able to test this using actual grades. A study was carried out involving six courses over all four year levels of an undergraduate engineering programme, where students were asked to identify themselves in an experience survey by providing their student ID on the survey form. The aim of the study was to investigate a number of questions related to the readiness of students to identify themselves, and to examine any correlation between final examination grades, ratings of student satisfaction and the students’ perception of their level of understanding of material in their courses. Students were discovered to have a poor idea of how well they understand the concepts presented in their courses. This lack of an accurate idea of their own understanding is particularly important because ‘student understanding’ correlated to the ratings they gave to the course. Ratings were largely unaffected by final marks but students who gave their ID outperformed those who did not in end‐of‐year examinations. Higher year level students were more inclined to identify themselves and ratings tended to increase with year level.     

Why some early college high school students do not transition to a 4‐year college: An exploration of perceived barriers and schooling experiences on students’ transition plans

This study examined why some seniors attending Early College High Schools did not plan to continue their education at a 4‐year college immediately after graduation despite attending schools designed to provide coordinated academic and social supports with the expectation that all students would continue their education. Most students in our study (75%) did plan to continue their education at a 4‐year college immediately after graduation. For the remaining students, we used cluster analysis to identify four distinct groups of noncollege bound students. These groups were evaluated based on background characteristics, perceived opportunities and barriers, and schooling experiences. Results indicate that noncollege bound students are diverse in their reasons for not continuing their education at a 4‐year program and that any reform efforts designed to personalize opportunities and supports for these students must take into account how combinations of perceived opportunities and barriers shape their postsecondary decisions.     

Students' choice of universities in Germany: structure,factors and information sources used

Student recruitment is an increasingly important topic for universities worldwide. But in order to develop sophisticated recruitment strategies, recruitment officers need to have a clear understanding of how and why students choose colleges. This review compares the German and US research concerning university choice models, choice criteria and information sources prospective students use when exploring their options after school. The paper emphasizes the complexity of the decision-making processes of freshmen and reveals three gaps in the German student recruitment research literature. The development of a German university choice model, an increased application of explorative research methodologies, and the consideration of additional aspects possibly impacting the college choice could help to refine German research approaches.     

Chemical understanding and graphing skills in an honors case‐based computerized chemistry laboratory environment: The value of bidirectional visual and textual representations

The case‐based computerized laboratory (CCL) is a chemistry learning environment that integrates computerized experiments with emphasis on scientific inquiry and comprehension of case studies. The research objective was to investigate chemical understanding and graphing skills of high school honors students via bidirectional visual and textual representations in the CCL learning environment. The research population of our 3‐year study consisted of 857 chemistry 12th grade honors students from a variety of high schools in Israel. Pre‐ and postcase‐based questionnaires were used to assess students' graphing and chemical understanding–retention skills. We found that students in the CCL learning environment significantly improved their graphing skills and chemical understanding–retention in the post‐ with respect to the prequestionnaires. Comparing the experimental students to their non‐CCL control peers has shown that CCL students had an advantage in graphing skills. The CCL contribution was most noticeable for experimental students of relatively low academic level who benefit the most from the combination of visual and textual representations. Our findings emphasize the educational value of combining the case‐based method with computerized laboratories for enhancing students' chemistry understanding and graphing skills, and for developing their ability to bidirectionally transfer between textual and visual representations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 219–250, 2008.     

Undergraduate project work: can directed tutor support enhance skills development?

Students' perceptions of their skills development and the overall value of their undergraduate project work were evaluated using data derived from questionnaires. Thirty‐nine students completing their second year of study (i.e. prior to the commencement of project work) and 42 students completing their third‐year project work took part. Thirteen tutors also completed questionnaires. They were asked to give their perceptions as to what skills project students developed and what attributes of project work enhanced both students' personal development and students' assessment grades. Results showed a shift in students' perceptions of the types of skills reinforced, developed and assessed within project work during the course of their third‐year project. Their perceived views did not fully coincide with tutors' perceptions of student skills development, although evaluation of both the assessment and personal importance of particular aspects of project work showed some interesting relationships between students and tutors. The diversity of opinion shown in these results may be due to lack of clarification of assessment criteria rather than a ‘hidden curriculum’. For example, the distinction between presentation of work and scientific writing may not be clear from an initial reading of the criteria. The outcomes of this study, with particular reference to the relationship between scientific writing and thinking, have implications regarding tutor and student discussion, the development of marking criteria and the use of plenary project support sessions.     

Does On‐line Distance Higher Education Pay Off for Adult Learners? The Case of the Open University of Catalonia

The increasing opportunities created for adults by on‐line distance universities raise important issues about the payoff to such education. This study uses a unique set of survey data gathered by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in 2009 to estimate the earnings gains of the 2000–2003 cohorts of UOC students in six programmes of study over an average six‐year time frame between entering and one year after leaving their studies. It compares their gains with the earnings gains of comparable full‐time workers in the Spanish labour force by age, education level, and gender. The results show that those who studied in UOC's two‐year second‐cycle degree programmes had positive relative earnings gains but those in three‐year first‐cycle degree programmes did not. The study further discusses why adult learners might nevertheless study toward degrees for which payoffs appear low.     

Use of an audience response system during peer teaching among physical therapy students in human gross anatomy: Perceptions of peer teachers and students

An audience response system (ARS) has become popular among educators in medicine and the health professions because of the system's ability to engage listeners during a lecture presentation. No one has described the usefulness of ARS technology during planned nonlecture peer teaching sessions in gross anatomy instruction for health professionals. The unique feature of each peer teaching session was a nongraded 12–15 item ARS quiz assembled by six second‐year doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students and purposely placed at the beginning of the review session for those first‐year DPT students in attendance. This study used a ten‐item questionnaire and a five‐point Likert scale in addition to three open ended questions to survey perceptions of both first‐year and second‐year DPT students about the usefulness of ARS technology implemented during weekly interactive peer teaching sessions during a semester course in Anatomy for Physical Therapists. First‐year students overwhelmingly acknowledged the ARS system permitted each student to self‐assess his/her preparedness for a quiz or examination and compare his/her performance with that of classmates. Peer teachers recognized an ARS quiz provided them an opportunity to: (1) estimate first‐year students' level of understanding of anatomical concepts; and (2) effectively prepare first‐year students for their weekly quizzes and future examinations. On the basis of the mutual benefits derived by both students/tutees and teachers/tutors, physical therapist educators may wish to consider using ARS technology to enhance teaching methods for a class in gross human anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 2: 286–293, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Seeing epistemic order: construction and transmission of evaluative criteria

This paper focuses on formative assessment in the field of higher education. It examines Bernstein’s work on vertical discourses and knowledge structures with the view to deepening understanding of the concept of assessment for learning. The first part of the paper draws on Vygotsky’s work on concept development and Bernstein’s work on knowledge structures to explain why ‘generalisation’ and ‘hierarchy’ are central in knowledge acquisition. It then explores Bernstein’s claim that, within the vertical discourse, different knowledge structures (hierarchical and horizontal) afford greater or lesser visibility of their epistemic structure, and thus of their evaluation criteria of what counts as a legitimate text. The second part of the paper investigates the ways epistemic expectations are signalled through the practice of evaluation to first‐year university students in a professional education course and proposes that markers do not offer students stuffiest access to recognition rules necessary for producing legitimate texts in the future. Drawing on Maton’s distinction between semantic gravity and semantic density, the paper offers an example of how markers could recast what is present in students’ work to offer students access to key ordering principles in vertical discourses.     

A Study in Self‐assessment: tutor and students’ perceptions of performance criteria

This paper reports a study which implemented and evaluated a method of student self‐assessment. The theme of the importance of marking criteria (Orsmond et al., 1996) is developed. Pairs of first‐year undergraduate biology students were asked to complete a poster assignment on a specific aspect of nerve physiology. The study was designed to allow the evaluation of (1) student self and tutor marking for individual marking criteria; and (2) student vs student marking of their poster work for individual marking criteria. A comparison between the tutor and the student self‐assessed mark reveals how important it is to consider the individual marking criteria rather than the overall mark. These results support our findings on peer assessment reported earlier (Orsmond et al., 1996). The results also illustrate the potential pitfalls that exist when making assumptions about the degree of student/student interaction and students’ marking ability. This study supports previous work which showed that self‐assessment is extremely useful in helping students reach their learning goals, i.e. it is a strong formative educational tool and can be used in order to bring about behavioural changes in students with regard to their own learning processes.     

Peer mentoring for first‐year teacher education students: the mentors’ experience

Universities worldwide are developing peer mentoring programmes to assist first‐year students’ transition into university life. Awareness of the mentees’ experiences in the mentoring programme – the successes and challenges – contributes to ongoing planning for successful transition for first‐year students. Also, understanding the mentors’ experiences can contribute to the success of the programme and, more importantly, can lead to strong self efficacy for the mentors. This qualitative study appraises a mentoring programme for first‐year undergraduate students from the mentors’ perspective. The mentors’ experiences, both positive and negative, are discussed and a relational model of mentoring is presented. The results of this inquiry have implications for the development of future mentoring programmes, particularly in terms of mentor recruitment and preparation, if first‐year students are to be effectively oriented and supported in their transition to university study.     

A study of accounting students' motives,expectations and preparedness for higher education

Framed by the accounting education change debate and growing national concern regarding student attrition, this paper examines the perceptions of first‐year students as they commence their study of accounting at an Irish university. It explores a range of factors which impact on students' learning: their motives for entering higher education, their rationale for selecting an accounting programme, their preparedness for further study and their expectations. The findings offer accounting educators the opportunity to have a greater sensitivity to, and a better understanding of, their students. This will enable better‐informed curriculum, teaching and assessment within the accounting discipline, aiding students' transition to higher education and leading to higher quality learning.     

A Longitudinal Study Showing how Students use a Molecule Concept when Explaining Everyday Situations

In this paper we present results from a 10‐year (1997–2006) longitudinal study in which we, by interviews once or twice every year, followed how students, throughout the compulsory school, developed their understanding of three situations in which transformations of matter occur. We believe that students have to meet scientific ideas early in order to gradually, in social cooperation with classmates, friends, teachers, and other grown‐ups, elaborate the meaning of a concept. We followed 23 students all born in 1990. In 1997 we introduced the idea of the particulate nature of matter. We have conducted interviews allowing students to explain the transformation of matter in fading leaves left lying on the ground, burning candles, and a glass of water with a lid on. In the interview at 16 years of age, less than one‐fifth of the students use molecular ideas in scientifically acceptable ways. The overall conclusion is that most students do not connect the knowledge they gain in school about the particulate nature of matter to these everyday situations. On the other hand, the students seem capable of using a simple particle model and the model can help them understand the invisible gas state. The question of how to use this capability in order to develop students’ scientific ideas is still not solved and more research is argued for.     

An Investigation into the Relationship between Students’ Conceptions of the Particulate Nature of Matter and their Understanding of Chemical Bonding

A thorough understanding of chemical bonding requires familiarity with the particulate nature of matter. In this study, a two‐tier multiple‐choice diagnostic instrument consisting of ten items (five items involving each of the two concepts) was developed to assess students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter and chemical bonding so as to identify possible associations between students’ understandings of the two concepts. The instrument was administered to 260 Grades 9 and 10 students (15–16 years old) from a secondary school in Singapore. Analysis of students’ responses revealed several alternative conceptions about the two concepts. In addition, analysis of six pairs of items suggested that students’ limited understanding of the particulate nature of matter influenced their understanding of chemical bonding. The findings provide useful information for challenging students’ alternative conceptions about the particulate nature of matter during classroom instruction in order to enable them to achieve better understanding of chemical bonding.     

Reproduction and transformation of students’ technology practice: The tale of two distinctive secondary student cases

Disparities in the technology practices, skills and knowledge of school students still exist, despite widespread investment, and use in schools. In order to understand why inequalities remain, we first need a more nuanced understanding of students’ technology practice, including understanding how their backgrounds, circumstances and experiences shape their perceptions of and engagement with technology. This paper proposes that research in the field of educational technology would benefit from a sociological framing in order to highlight how and why students use technology at school and in their everyday lives. The paper reports on a qualitative embedded case study of 13–16-year-old students in two Australian secondary schools. In-depth case studies of two selected students illustrate the complex nature of students’ technology practice. Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus and capital are used as a lens through which to view and understand inequalities in students’ technology practice. The findings demonstrate the utility of sociological theory in educational technology research by highlighting systems and structures of reproduction and transformation. Furthermore, the findings can inform an approach to teaching and learning that considers students’ varied experiences, knowledge, perspectives and backgrounds relating to technology.     

Recruiting Honours Students in the Face of Market Demand for Pass Degrees: A Case Study

Third year undergraduate and fourth year honours students in a large university economics department were surveyed for this study with a view to some resolution of how honours participation rates might be improved (and hence the pool of potential postgraduates enlarged) when good employment opportunities are available to three‐year graduates. Reasons why students choose to do or not to do an honours year are examined in relation to their background characteristics, circumstantial factors, previous assessment, course structure and perceptions of market demand for honours graduates, opportunity costs and career paths. The results draw attention to ways in which more students might be attracted to the honours stream, the honours year and beyond. It is concluded that higher education institutions and federal bodies must share this responsibility.     

Creative Risk‐Taking: Developing Strategies for First Year University Students in the Creative Industries

This article reports on the findings of a study investigating creative risktaking behaviours of the commencing university students enrolled in three units across three disciplines: Interactive and Visual Design, Fashion Design, and Film, Screen and Animation. The study employs an action research methodology in order to help students develop confidence and competence in creative risk‐taking. Upon analysis from relevant literature three key provisions for the study are proposed, being: P1 An open and playful learning environment that encourages sharing and challenging multiple perspectives; P2 An adequate period of time for students to develop and revise creative concepts; and P3 Opportunities to assess their own performance in developing creative risk‐taking capacities. The study draws on the students’ written self‐reflections to identify the key challenges and opportunities in encouraging creative risk‐taking among first year students, which are challenges of collaboration; creative resilience and self‐efficacy; and balancing creativity with technical competency. The article suggests several ways that educators can encourage students to take creative risks within higher education in preparation for careers in the creative industries.     

Treatment Utilization on College Campuses: Who Seeks Help for What?

The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of why college students seek psychological treatment by examining indicators of psychological distress. A secondary goal was to assess the utility of screening for treatment need via a brief self‐report measure of distress. Two samples (1 clinical, 1 nonclinical; N= 8,380) were examined via logistic regression analyses to identify meaningful predictors of treatment‐seeking behavior. Clinical applications are discussed.