美国“学生学习成果评估”研究评析

1980年代评估运动以来,随着学生学习成果评估在美国高等教育领域的开展,学界对这一质量保障方式的理论研究也日益丰富。研究内容主要包括学生学习成果评估相关概念的界定、学生学习成果评估的历史演进、学生学习成果评估的运行机制、学生学习成果评估的理念之争等四个方面。美国现有的学生学习成果评估研究的成果可谓卷帙浩繁,但相关理论探讨和实践摸索依旧在路上。这一方面说明学生学习成果评估正走向专业化、科学化,另一方面也说明学生学习成果评估实践为理论研究提供了丰富的研究资源。     

“高等教育学习结果评价”概述

20世纪中期以来,随着高等教育质量评估理论和实践的发展,高等教育经费的大幅增加和高校人才培养功能中心地位的回归,学习结果评价成为世界高等教育质量评估的热点之一。目前,经合组织已经建立了高等教育学习结果评价体系,在评价的理念、目的、主体、技术和工具等方面为我国高等教育质量评估提供了经验与启示。     

高校学生学习成果测评的历史、现状以及前瞻

以学生学习成果为导向的高校评估在美国和其他国家已经使用了很长一段时间。评估的主要作用包括取得资格认证以及课程设置的提高。本文综述了学生学习成果评估的背景、发展过程以及在评估的实际操作中可能遇到的理论和实践上的挑战,比较了目前高校主要使用的测试工具以及它们的优缺点,指出测评者一定要清楚测量的目的以选择最合适的测量工具,要达到最佳测量效果需要从学校、教师和学生层面注意的问题。     

学习产出视角下高等职业教育学生学习评估探析

高职学生学习产出是指学生经过学习后,其职业知识、职业技能、职业行为及职业道德等方面发生的变化。高职学生学习产出具有职业性、实践性和应用性等特点。以学习产出视角反思当前我国高职学生学习评估现状,需要树立系统化的学习评估理念;学校需要从被评者转变为评估主体和主导者;行业企业和学生需要共同参与以学习产出为核心的学习评估标准制定;学习信息的复杂性和多样性需要采用多元收集方法。     

透视美国高等教育中的学生学习结课评价

学生学习结果评价是美国高等教育评价由关注资源输入到全面注重受教育者学习结果的一次转变。它侧重评价学生学习后所获得的各方面知识、能力和品质。该评价成为一场运动的主要原因是培养高技能劳动力的需求、政府问责的加强以及认证组织的推动。学生学习结果评价的实施在政府、高校以及专业、课堂等众多层面展开,并表现出以学生为中心的价值取向、评价参与者广泛以及评价方法灵活多样等特点。     

当今美国高等教育质量评估的焦点:学生学习成果评估

学生学习成果已经成为当今美国高等教育质量评估的核心内容。学生学习成果评估提供了能够显示每一所院校办学成效的最为重要的证据。高等教育的学习成果按类型可划分为认知性学习成果和情感性学习成果。学生学习成果评估的一个主要环节是运用定性或定量测量等方法获取学习成果的信息和证据。全国性的标准化测试和问卷调查被更多地用于测评一所高校总体的学生学习成果水平和办学成效。当前,学生学习成果评估在实践中面临着一些问题。美国高等教育质量认证要求的变化促使美国高校前所未有地重视学生学习成果的评估和改善。美国学生学习成果评估运动对中国的高等教育评估有一定的启示。     

加拿大高校学生学习成果评估的内容、方法及启示

作为全球第二个实现高等教育普及化的高等教育强国,加拿大高校学生学习成果评估体系富有特色:在评估内容方面,构建起了高等教育系统、院校以及学科(专业)等不同层面的学生学习成果体系;在评估方法方面,形成了由标准化测试、评价量规、表现性评估以及问卷调查等四种类型构成的多元化学生学习成果评估方法体系。其对我国的启示是:构建和完善高校学生学习成果评估的内容体系,为学生学习成果评估奠定共识基础;开发多元化的学生学习成果评估方法与工具,提高评估活动的科学性;加强以结果为导向的评估制度建设,促使学习成果评估常态化。     

从教学评价走向学习结果评价——OECD国际高等教育学习结果测评项目述评

国际高等教育学习结果测评项目(AHELO)是经济合作与发展组织在高等教育领域计划进行的规模最大的一项综合性国际测评.测评不以排名为目的,拟对高校即将获得学士学位的学生的学习结果进行测评,以监测全球高等教育质量.经过五年可行性调查研究,经济合作与发展组织于2013年公布《AHELO可行性调查报告》,指出在全球范围内开展高等教育学习结果测评是科学、可行的,并计划于2016年全面启动该项测评.     

大学生自我报告的学习结果和学校满意度的关系研究

根据对某高校322名本科毕业生的问卷调查的数据,建构高阶因子结构方程模型,以考察大学生自我报告的学习结果和学校满意度之间的关系。分析结果表明,满意度与学习结果之间存在显著的正相关,且认知和非认知学习结果与教学满意度之间的相关度高于它们与教学环境满意度的相关度。通过进一步的方差分析发现,按教学水平满意度和教学环境满意度分别进行分组,不同满意程度的学生自我报告学习结果的差异表现不同,满意度的不同方面与学习结果各方面存在不同程度相互影响。因此,将学生满意度和学习结果调查与高校教学管理有机结合具有重要意义。     

Student Learning in Higher Education: a Commentary

This commentary begins by summarizing the five contributions to this special issue and briefly recapping the background to the topic of student learning in higher education. Narrative and systematic reviews are compared, and the relative value of different bibliographic databases in the context of systematic reviews is assessed. The importance of measures of effect size is stressed. The relationship of the five contributions to early research on levels of processing and approaches to learning is discussed, along with the presage–process–product model of student learning and historical discussions that are relevant to the current theoretical discussions. This field has benefited from the development of more robust instrumentation, but researchers must continue to develop new kinds of measure, including online measures of students’ strategy use. Researchers need to consider ways of enhancing the quality of student learning through the use of problem-based curricula and other student-centered approaches. Finally, it is suggested that researchers into student learning need to evaluate whether their concepts, methods, theories, and findings are valid in online environments and to investigate how curricula in higher education can build upon those in secondary education.     

Making the Transition to a Food Science Curriculum Based on Assessment of Learning Outcomes

ABSTRACT: Despite the well-documented advantages of switching to instruction based on assessment of learning outcomes, many academic disciplines, including food science, are still based on the traditional mode of instruction. The problems of converting from traditional to assessment-driven instruction are numerous and change in the university setting is slow. However, certain guidelines can be followed to start the process for change and evaluate the effects on student learning. A partnership between the industry being served and academic instructors is needed to ensure that assessment-based instruction is focused on the proper principles. Methods of assessment of learning outcomes need to be carefully chosen and developed to bring industry standards and student learning together. This can be done only if both direct and indirect assessments at the program level provide faculty with means to answer their most pressing questions about what students know and are able to do as a result of Food Science education.     

工程教育学生通用学习成果鉴别:基于工业界视角

在高等教育规模持续扩大及高等工程教育毕业生素质与工业界需求差距明显的背景下,从工业界视角识别工程教育学生通用学习成果,对提高高等工程教育人才培养针对性和有效性具有重要意义。综合运用内容分析、问卷调查、交叉比较的方法,识别出工业界版、适用本科院校工科专业类认证性通用学习成果"时间管理""组织承诺""终身学习""人际关系网络""诚信""主动性""沟通""团队合作""工程领导力""经验知识""问题解决""工程实践"等12项要素。工业界需求的通用学习成果与工程教育专业认证标准规定的学习成果之间有涵盖交集,但不完全相合。     

Academic Standards and the Assessment of Student Learning: Some Current Issues in Australian Higher Education

This paper reports a recent national studyby the Centre for the Study of HigherEducation into contemporary practices in studentassessment in Australian higher education and theissues of quality assurance facing thesector in the light of public speculationand concern about academic standards. Amajor issue emerging from the project isthe importance of defining the relationshipsbetween approaches to student assessment andgrading, quality assurance and academic standards. The paper discusses the issues surrounding academicstandards in Australia in the context ofthe new national framework for highereducation quality assurance and the role of theAustralian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA).     

A Qualitative Student Evaluation of Group Learning in Higher Education

The importance of group learning has increased significantly in higher education in the past two decades (Houldsworth and Mathews, 2000 Houldsworth, C. and Mathews, B. P. 2000. “Teaching Group Process Skills to MBA Students: A Short Workshop”. Education + Training, 42(1): 40–53.  [Google Scholar]). The primary focus of this study is to explore the feelings and experience of students regarding group work and group assessment in higher education. The study is exploratory based on a qualitative focus group approach. Interestingly, students felt that group work is a significant method to foster the development of critical thinking through discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others' ideas. Students consider “poor communication” and “poor attendance at group meetings” as the main challenges they face when working within a group. Also, students identified “dedicated assignment seminars” as the most effective tool, which could be used to enhance the effectiveness of group work. This study reinforces the findings of previous research into group work suggesting that the experience is a generally positive one for students. Results are discussed in the context of current theoretical and empirical work on group‐based learning, education implications and areas for further research are discussed.     

Food Science Education and the Cognitive Science of Learning

In this essay, I argue that the traditional view of teaching, that the teacher's responsibility is to present information that students are solely responsible for learning, has been rendered untenable by cognitive science research in learning. The teacher can have a powerful effect on student learning by teaching not only content, but how to study and think about information. Student learning is a shared responsibility between teacher and students, and effective teaching is much more challenging than traditionally believed.     

Effects of the 2003 Quality Reform on Gender Gaps in Student Learning Outcomes in Norwegian Higher Education

In 2003, the Norwegian higher educational system was reformed. The reform, known as the 2003 Quality Reform, introduced changes in the teaching model and student assessment. The authors wished to study how these changes affected male and female students. Therefore, they addressed student learning outcomes, measured through examination results, with respect to gender. Analysis of 5,772,811 examinations from 1990 to 2009 revealed a switch in average performance, from men performing equally well or better than women to women performing better than men. However, greater male than female variability in performance did not change. The effect of gender persisted when controlling for age, subject, home municipality, and type of institution. Overall, women and older students seem to benefit from the changes introduced by the reform more than men and younger students.