Assessment for learning: Why assessment does not always support student teachers’ learning

Numerous studies have dealt with the importance of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education, arguing that AfL helps to promote students’ learning and supports them in becoming self-directed learners. The majority of the recent literature focuses mainly on the role of individual aspects of AfL. Less attention has been paid to the interrelation of different aspects of AfL. The current study argues that AfL combines authentic assessment tasks given to students, feedback from teacher educators, peer assessment and self-assessment. The aim of the current study is to understand student teachers’ experiences of AfL practices in higher education, focusing on the reasons why student teachers do not always find the practices supportive. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 student teachers and analysed them using an inductive content analysis method. The findings indicate that student teachers have had some experiences with individual aspects of AfL. A critical finding is that, when teacher educators continually dominate in the assessment process, summative assessment remains the principal way of assessing student teachers, thus hindering the supportive role of other AfL practices. The current study also finds that learning in higher education is still quite grade-centred, which affects student teachers’ learning.     

The interplay between teachers’ approaches to teaching,students’ approaches to learning and learning outcomes: a qualitative multi-case study

The interaction between approaches to teaching and students’ learning has been the focus of research for more than 20 years. Previous studies concerning approaches to teaching in higher education have identified two broad categories: content- and learning-focused approaches. Some studies indicate that teachers do not always adopt a consonant teaching- or learning-focused approach, but might employ elements of both, which results in a dissonant approach. Research on how dissonant approaches to teaching and students’ quality of learning are related is scant. This study explored relationships between how teachers’ approaches to teaching and undergraduate students’ self-reported approaches to learning and learning outcomes. The data for this study consisted of 33 semi-structured interviews with students from three courses. Interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis. The results demonstrated that, when the teacher used a consonant learning-focused approach to teaching, students’ learning outcomes and approaches to learning were of a slightly higher quality than when the teacher employed a dissonant approach to teaching. However, a dissonant approach to teaching did not always result in a lower quality of approaches to learning and learning outcomes.     

How can simulation help with learning project work skills? Experiences from higher education in Finland

ABSTRACT

Background: Effective project management and project work skills are important requirements in higher education and many other work place settings. Simulation-based learning, with its use of simulated scenarios and environments, may be a helpful way of supporting skill development. However, much more needs to be understood about the possibilities and challenges that can be involved in the application of this method of learning and teaching, from the perspectives of the learners.

Purpose: This exploratory qualitative study sought to describe university lecturers’ experiences and views of simulation as a method of learning and teaching project skills. The simulation method was tested in Finland, in the context of the national Research and Development Expert Coaching Programme, which was developed for the staff of the Universities of Applied Sciences.

Research methods: Data were collected via a questionnaire with two open questions, to which total of 12 multi-professional participants, all lecturers from Universities of Applied Sciences, were asked to respond in essay form. The data was analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results: Overall, our analysis suggests that participants felt that simulation-based learning was suitable for learning project work. According to the participants, the method helped them learn concrete project work skills, identify and manage challenging situations and promote dialogical sharing between professionals.

Conclusion: The results indicate that simulation can be used to promote project work competence of both new and more experienced project workers in various fields. It is suggested that the method is suitable for both initial and continuing education.     

School education and development of gender perspectives and sexuality in Japan

This study aimed to evaluate changes in the attitudes of Japan’s post-war youth towards gender equality and sexuality, and to examine whether these attitudes bore a relationship to school education. Different generations were delineated based on changes in courses of study and year of birth, and semi-structured interviews were conducted enquiring about experiences and opinions during secondary school days. We examined sexuality education in both junior high school (ages 12–15 years) and high school (15–18 years), views on premarital sex, views on marriage and divorce, and views on gender roles. Fifty-three survey participants were involved in the study: 30 women and 23 men. The characteristics of each generation were examined in relation to corresponding courses of study and the textbooks available in junior high and high schools, identifying both homologies and differences between the messages courses contained and the expressed beliefs of different generations of informants.     

From Standards to Licensure: Developing an Authentic Assessment for School Principals

The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium funded the development of a licensure assessment based on its Standards for School Leaders. But moving from a set of professional standards to a licensure assessment poses many challenges and raises difficult questions: Which standards should be assessed? How authentic should an authentic assessment be? How can licensure assessment help lead the field to a new pedagogical paradigm, when licensure has typically been reserved for protecting the public? This article explains these challenges and documents the methods used to meet them in the development of the School Leaders Licensure Assessment.     

The Usefulness of Saturated Salt Solution Embalming Method for Oral Surgical Skills Training: A New Cadaveric Training Model for Bone Harvesting

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of saturated salt solution-embalmed cadavers for oral surgical skills training related to bone graft harvesting. Two half-day surgical skills training workshops were held at the Tokyo Medical University utilizing eight cadavers embalmed with the saturated salt solution. A total of 22 participants including oral surgeons, residents, and dentists attended the workshop. Surgical training consisted of six procedures related to intraoral and extraoral bone harvesting. The participants were surveyed to assess self-confidence levels for each surgical procedure before and after completion of each workshop. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the differences between each median score before and after the workshop. There were statistically significant increases in the self-assessed confidence scores in bone harvesting procedures for the zygomatic bone (P = 0.003), maxillary tuberosity (P = 0.002), and other sites (P < 0.001). The anatomical features of saturated salt solution-embalmed cadavers were also examined. The textures of the oral mucosa and skin were similar to those of living individuals. The structure of bone tissues was well-preserved and the hardness was realistic. Consequently, all procedures were performed with sufficient realism. The saturated salt solution method has a relatively low cost of preparation and storage, and almost no odor. The authors suggest that saturated salt solution-embalmed cadavers could provide a new model for oral surgical skills training in bone harvesting.     

A positive psychological viewpoint for success at school – 10 characteristic strengths of the Finnish high-achieving students

People who exploit their strengths flourish; they are not only engaged with their goals, but also to their well-being and the content of life. In this study, interest focused on the high-achieving students in the Finnish general upper secondary education, in other words, on straight-A graduates’ characteristic strengths. This was a narrative study in which the data were obtained through written narratives and narrative interviews among 14 Finnish straight-A graduates. The data were analyzed with narrative analyzing methods. Ten typical strengths found and further categorized into three key dimensions were: (1) the thirst of knowledge and passion for learning, (2) fortitude and authenticity, and (3) love. This study implied that the youth’s school paths and well-being actively increased their own characteristic strengths.     

Reading during sentence composing and error correction: A multilevel analysis of the influences of task complexity

In this study we investigated the role of reading, how writers coordinate editing with other writing processes. In particular, the experiment examines how the cognitive demands of sentence composing and the type of error influence the reading and writing performance. We devised an experimental writing task in which participants corrected an embedded error (orthographic near-neighbors or far-neighbors) and completed a sentence (using 1 or 3 context words)—in either order. Data were collected by logging keystrokes and recording eye-movements. The results revealed that both error and sentence complexity influenced the approach to error-correcting. Participants generally completed the partial sentence first, and then corrected the error (approximately 90% of the items). Task complexity reinforced this tendency. Moreover, in most of these cases, the error was fixated at least once prior to sentence completion. This suggests that the error was detected (at least partially), but the correction response was inhibited. The differences in cognitive load also affect the reading activity during planning. This investigation illustrates how the interplay of two task factors, error and sentence complexity, appears to influence how writers coordinate error-correcting with sentence composing.     

ApoStream?, a new dielectrophoretic device for antibody independent isolation and recovery of viable cancer cells from blood

Isolation and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are used to monitor metastatic disease progression and guide cancer therapy. However, currently available technologies are limited to cells expressing specific cell surface markers, such as epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) or have limited specificity because they are based on cell size alone. We developed a device, ApoStream^™ that overcomes these limitations by exploiting differences in the biophysical characteristics between cancer cells and normal, healthy blood cells to capture CTCs using dielectrophoretic technology in a microfluidic flow chamber. Further, the system overcomes throughput limitations by operating in continuous mode for efficient isolation and enrichment of CTCs from blood. The performance of the device was optimized using a design of experiment approach for key operating parameters such as frequency, voltage and flow rates, and buffer formulations. Cell spiking studies were conducted using SKOV3 or MDA-MB-231 cell lines that have a high and low expression level of EpCAM, respectively, to demonstrate linearity and precision of recovery independent of EpCAM receptor levels. The average recovery of SKOV3 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells spiked into approximately 12 × 10⁶ peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 7.5 ml normal human donor blood was 75.4% ± 3.1% (n = 12) and 71.2% ± 1.6% (n = 6), respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision coefficients of variation of the device were both less than 3%. Linear regression analysis yielded a correlation coefficient (R²) of more than 0.99 for a spiking range of 4–2600 cells. The viability of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells captured with ApoStream was greater than 97.1% and there was no difference in cell growth up to 7 days in culture compared to controls. The ApoStream device demonstrated high precision and linearity of recovery of viable cancer cells independent of their EpCAM expression level. Isolation and enrichment of viable cancer cells from ApoStream enables molecular characterization of CTCs from a wide range of cancer types.