Credit by CLEP: A Disconcerting Look at a Good Idea

Abstract

Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) reviewed its policy of awarding academic credit to students for successful completion of the General College Level Examination Program (CLEP), which many institutions use to determine whether students should be awarded credit for knowledge and skills acquired through off-campus programs, life experiences, or self-study. The review revealed several areas of concern about the use of CLEP at VWCC. The findings from this study should be of interest to all institutions that either now award CLEP credit or are considering the adoption of a CLEP credit policy: (1) Faculty review committees questioned the content validity of several of the examinations. (2) Administration of the examinations to VWCC students who successfully completed CLEP courses produced low correlations between CLEP scores and course grades. (3) CLEP policies vary considerably among Virginia's institutions of higher education and this creates serious transfer problems. (4) There are advantages to raising the CLEP cutoff point to the national 50th percentile.     

Three in-course assessment reforms to improve higher education learning outcomes

A current international concern is that, for too large a proportion of graduates, their higher order cognitive and practical capabilities are below acceptable levels. The constituent courses of academic programmes are the most logical sites for developing these capabilities. Contributing to patchy attainment are deficiencies in three particular aspects of assessment practice: the design and specifications of many assessment tasks; the minimum requirements for awarding a passing grade in a course and granting credit towards the degree; and the accumulation of points derived from quizzes, assessments or activities completed during the teaching period. Rethinking and reforming these would lead to improvements for significant sub-populations of students. Pursuing such a goal would also have significant positive implications for academic teachers, but be contingent on favourable contextual settings including departmental and institutional priorities.     

The Effect of Academic Load on Success for New College Students: Is Lighter Better?

Both students and advisers often assume that a lighter academic load during the first year of college will result in greater student success. This article examines that assumption. Academic load is measured in terms of credit load and course difficulty; success is measured in terms of GPA and retention. The experiences of a sample of first-year students at a comprehensive regional university are examined. While the credit loads for which students register are related to academic ability and prior academic success, the difficulty level of courses for which these students register is not. Variation in student credit loads is reduced because weaker students are required to take developmental courses but do not drop a corresponding number of college-credit courses. Contrary to common assumptions, students who register for more credits tend to earn higher GPAs and have greater retention even after controlling for academic ability, prior academic success, on-campus employment hours, and other background characteristics. Students who register for more difficult courses, however, tend to earn lower GPAs and experience lower retention. Any effect of credit load on retention appears to work through GPA. While much of the effect of course difficulty on retention also works through GPA, course difficulty does have a separate negative effect on one-year retention. While the possibilities that weaker students might be more successful with lighter credit loads or that stronger students might be more successful with more difficult courses were investigated, no significant interactions between prior academic success, academic load, and success were found.     

探索适应成人高教的学分制管理

本文分析成人高教实行学分制管理的优越性,提出实行学分制管理必须遵循的原则,并从优化培养计划,引入选课机制;建立导师制,引导学生自主学习;完善学籍管理制度,发挥学习能动性;建立现代管理方式,实现教学管理现代化;加强过程管理,实现目标与过程的有机结合等五个方面入手探索适应成人高教的学年学分制管理.     

Applied studies: A model for experiential education

For a number of years the University of Lethbridge has been working to develop a model for experiential education which is appropriate for liberal arts students. To this end, a four-year experimental project was initiated in 1973 to develop such a model, adapting already established principles of Cooperative Education. The result of this experiment—that traditional Coop was not the appropriate vehicle—led to a more inclusive experiential educational model, which allows for both employment and volunteer experiences, involves the awarding of academic credit, and places the onus on the student to demonstrate through various forms of documentation the relationship between his or her field experience and academic program. While there always will be difficulties in assessing the credit value of learning gained from a practical experience, the University of Lethbridge has, through an approach that involves the realization of specific learning objectives, developed a program that fits well into the liberal arts framework.     

A design for the implementation of cooperative education in the liberal arts: Cooperative studies at the university of Lethbridge,Alberta, Canada

Cooperative education in the liberal arts has a history, is triving in the present, and can look to a promising future. However, in order to move beyond the traditional concepts and classical models, postsecondary liberal arts institutions not only will have to look to present models and experimental formats, but also will have to assess their own idiosyncratic variables and develop appropriate personalized frames of reference. The methods developed at the University of Lethbridge reflect the committment to the criterion of academic quality, high faculty input and participation, on-site supervision, and an optimal range of vocational experiences recognized through the awarding of significant amounts of degree credit. In conjunction with these qualities is the university-wide committment to a small and personalized approach based upon student-developed learning objectives.All three authors are involved in the Cooperative Studies Program at the University of Lethbridge.     

同等学力人员申请学位教育管理机制研究

针对授予具有研究生毕业同等学力人员学位工作现有管理机制中,学位申请者信息采集完整性不够、信息采集点设置不够合理、管理流程不够严密、未实现闭环管理等问题,研究提出了一种新的管理机制。新管理机制在完善管理流程和加大信息化的基础上,实现了学位申请者信息采集完整、集中和闭环管理,建立了诚信和监督机制,对规范以同等学力申请学位管理过程、提高学位授予质量、维护我国学位声誉将起到重要作用。     

学者行会的成员资格——中世纪大学教师录用的历史考察

中世纪大学具有浓厚的行会色彩,因此,作为学者行会的中世纪大学在其组织成员资格的确认上有其独特的制度逻辑。在中世纪,获得学位既是对申请者学术经历和学术能力的标识和认可,更是申请者获得学者行会的成员资格、进而开张授业的必备条件。学位的申请和获得有着严格的标准和程序,并伴随着隆重的仪式。     

Self-assessment in the process of self-regulated learning and its relationship with academic achievement

Abstract

Despite the theoretical argument and empirical evidence regarding the impact of self- assessment on academic achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL), the mechanism for this impact is understudied. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of self-assessment practices at different SRL phases and its relationship with academic achievement. Using a course assignment as the learning task, sixty-three students enrolled in a one-year master programme in a teacher education institute responded to an instrument assessing their self-assessment practices (including four self-assessment actions) at the SRL Preparatory, Performance and Appraisal phases of the task. Their final scores of the assignment were also collected. The results showed that self-assessment is a fundamental skill for SRL and occurs at each SRL phase with different patterns. Autoregressive relationships were found for all self-assessment actions between different SRL phases. Self-reflection at Performance phase was found to influence feedback seeking at Appraisal phase. Self-directed feedback seeking through monitoring at Performance phase was the strongest and positive predictor of academic achievement; and achievement had negative impact on all self-assessment actions at Appraisal phase. This study may assist educators and researchers to better understand the complexity of self-assessment in relation to learning process.     

对学分制及其实施的基本认识

学分制的教学管理制度,是以学分作为学习的计算单位,在教学过程中充许学生自主选修课程,以取得所选课程的总不究来衡量其学习总量,以取得一定的学分作为毕业或获得学位的标准。它采用了多样的教育规格和灵活的过程控制,对主动适应、加强管理、培养能力、提高质量具有其重要的意义。     

Voluntary Remediation in Florida: Will It Blaze a New Trail or Stop Student Pathways?

The primary purpose of the study was to explore the potential impact of voluntary remediation on success in gateway credit courses (ENC1101 and MAT1033) and on minority and low-income students in Florida. Mean grades and proportions of successful students were compared based on remediation policies and students’ voluntary completion of a developmental course before taking the credit course. The study compared grades and success of 19,347 students in three Florida colleges. Students were enrolled in the credit courses in 2014 and 2015 (voluntary remediation policy, N = 10,703), or in 2012 and 2013 (mandatory remediation policy, N = 8,644). Additionally, 285 students who voluntarily remediated were compared to 1,527 students who bypassed remediation; all 1,812 students had tested below the credit threshold on a voluntarily taken placement test. The study was framed by Astin and Astin’s 1992 Input–Environment–Outcome Model and employed demographic and academic variables. Results suggest that the voluntary remediation policy in Florida that was intended to improve college completion rates in the state may bring the unintended, but not surprising, consequences of lower grades and proportions of successful students. Overall, statistically significant results (α = .05) showed fewer proportions of students earned a grade of C or higher in both courses once remediation became voluntary (12.8% decrease for English; 19.3% decrease in math). Results also showed a statistically significant relationship between remediation grades and success in the credit courses. Study effect sizes were small to moderate in these tests.     

浅谈高职教育的学分制改革

学分制是世界流行的一种教学管理制度。它以学生为中心,尊重学生对学习的多种需求和选择权,承认学生个体差异和社会多元化需求的统一。我国实行学分制有多种形式。高职教育与学术型、工程型高等教育相比有很大差别,应当积极克服自身不足,努力创造条件,从扩大选课入手积极稳妥地推行学分制改革。     

Teachers’ views on the effectiveness of in‐service courses on the new curriculum in Turkey

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of in‐service courses conducted by the Ministry of National Education in order to inform teachers about the changes introduced by the new primary and secondary school curricula. The study also aims to reveal whether these changes have entered the classrooms based on the teachers’ views of the INSET courses they attended. For this purpose, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with both primary and secondary school teachers during the 2007–2008 academic year. Data were analysed based on the effective INSET criteria identified from the literature. According to the findings, the INSET courses were found to be ineffective, mainly in terms of the quality of the instructors, teaching methods employed, duration of the courses and support after training. Suggestions to conduct effective INSET courses, especially when change is afoot, are included at the end of this paper.     

艺术硕士专业学位授权点自我评估体系 构建与实施研究

学位授权点合格评估分为学位授予单位自我评估和教育行政部门随机抽样评估两个阶段,以学位授予单位自我评估为主。文章基于南京艺术学院艺术硕士专业学位授权点自我评估的实践,简要介绍艺术硕士专业学位授权点合格评估和自我评估的概况,设计构建艺术硕士专业学位授权点"三模块"自我评估体系,梳理总结自我评估的实施情况,并在此基础上提出艺术硕士专业学位授权点合格评估的未来改进建议。     

教育学精品课程建设与创新

我国师范院校教育学课程教学主要存在教育学课程学时偏少、课程定位不够明确、课程体系不够完善、课程目标不够明确、教材内容陈旧等问题。应结合教学实践,展开精品课程建设。课程建设应重视教学经验的积累,狠抓教材建设;加大教学方法的改革力度,适应基础教育改革的需要;围绕课程建设目标,积极探索学生学业评价体系的改革。     

The Challenge and Opportunity of Competency‐Based Counselor Education

There is increased responsibility for programs to demonstrate evidence of student learning and skill. Application of competency‐based education is delineated, including prior learning assessment and personalized learning. Implications such as awarding credit for experience in admissions or variable clinical training timelines and requirements are explored.     

A study of sustainable assessment theory in higher education tutorials

A study of sustainable assessment theory in nine tutorial courses at four colleges demonstrated that three long-term learning outcomes improved: Independence, Intellectual Maturity and Creativity. Eight of 10 traits associated with these outcomes were validated through internal reliability, faculty and student rubrics, and faculty case studies reporting pedagogic innovations and improvements of student abilities in self-assessment. The findings suggest that sustainable assessment theory should be applied using methods encompassing a strong commitment to equity, including shared criteria for long-term learning outcomes and faculty and student monitoring of student progress towards outcomes through periodic rubrics and reflective sessions.     

通识教育中大学英语课程目标的解读与重构

国内许多高校已在积极推行通识教育,大学英语是通识教育的重要组成部分,其课程设置应根据通识教育的思想进行改革。要使大学英语成为一门培养人心智的课程而不是技能培训课程,课程目标需要重构。结合学生、社会和学科的要求,大学英语课程目标应该从知识目标、能力目标和价值观的形成三个方面制定。     

实施学分制的若干问题与对策

“千人一面”的学年制不适应创新人才的培养、不适应缴费上学的招生制度、不适应自主择业的毕业生分配制度。学分制改变了学年的约束, 使学生在选修专业、选择课程、选择教师、选择学习时间上具有灵活性与自主性。然而, 仍有若干因素制约着学分制的实施。因此, 高校应制定措施, 以推进学分制的实施。     

高职教育研究：学会制-学分制下高职院校课程管理对策研究

课程是教学活动的载体,对课程的管理是学校最本质的管理,课程管理是实现学校教学工作的重要途径。通过对高职课程学分制管理内涵的解读,分析当前高职课程学分制管理存在的主要问题,继而从课程生成、实施、评价等方面提出了改革课程管理的对策和方法,并进一步对学分制下高职课程管理进行了思考。