Aligning assessment with the needs of work-integrated learning: the challenges of authentic assessment in a complex context

Abstract

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a feature of university courses, both in professional areas, where it is commonplace, but also across many different disciplines. Assessment of WIL can be complex as it involves parties and settings external to the university, and it can be problematic because of difficulties in aligning learning activities during placements with what is or can be assessed by the university. This paper explores the relationship between students’ placement experiences and accompanying assessments in contexts where activities are tightly coupled with the curriculum, and in those where it is not. It draws on a qualitative analysis of student interviews and drawings by the interviewees of their WIL experiences, supplemented with analysis of unit guides. Our findings highlight that students’ perceptions of authenticity of assessment were undermined by misalignments between the student, university and industry. Assessment authenticity was perceived by students as based on alignment between their current and future selves in the assessment process, involvement of industry supervisors and relevance of placement activities to assessment activities. The paper discusses the complexity of coordination of educational activities with external partners, especially when one party drives assessment. It then suggests a reframing of WIL assessment to promote alignment and authenticity.     

Embodied engagements with online pornography

Even though sexual arousal is a central feature in browsing online pornography, embodiment has largely gone unexamined in much of the research on pornography in information studies and human–computer interaction. Through existential phenomenology, which emphasizes a synthesis of cognitive reflection and embodied experience, this article examines how our embodied engagements with the technological apparatus of the computer help reconstitute the way we feel time, objects of desire, and pleasure in the process of browsing online pornography.     

Instructional practices of teachers enrolled in educational technology and general education programs

This study investigated classroom practices of 38 teachers enrolled in university masters' degree programs in educational technology and in other areas of education. The classroom practices related to five key concepts associated with educational technology: (a) learner-centered instruction, (b) instructional design, (c) media and technology, (d) assessment, and (e) instructional alignment. Teachers rated their frequency of use of desirable practices in these five areas on a 30-item Likert type survey. In addition, one class of students per teacher rated its own teacher's frequency of use of the practices on 20 items parallel to items on the teacher survey. The mean overall rating across all teachers for the classroom practice items was very close to Often, or 4.0, on the 5-point scale. There were few reported differences between the teachers enrolled in educational technology programs and those enrolled in other education programs. Student ratings indicated less frequent teacher use of the desirable practices on 16 of the 20 common items, with significantly lower student ratings on 8 of these items. However, there was strong teacher-student agreement on several other comparisons.The study reported in this article was conducted as a doctoral dissertation at Arizona State University.     

In Praise of Art Schools

Art schools in France have undergone a profound transformation. From being once considered havens of Bohemia with teaching based firmly on the rapport established between master and pupil in the studio, they have become multi-disciplinary with studio practice established in and augmented by art theory as taught by historians, critics, and philosophers. This pedagogical approach is without doubt a challenging and positive way of encouraging students to pursue their artistic ambitions in an atmosphere of personal experimentation that Universities often deprecate. At this time a School of Art is by definition in an unstable state of equilibrium since it must at the same time restrain itself and maintain a margin of discretion whilst opening its doors to outside influences. In a time therefore of mutation and crisis the training of individuals and encouraging originality is professionally suitable and socially essential, as without the awareness and contemplation of that which gives each one of us our unique particularity, nothing of value can be undertaken. How could it be otherwise when, against the prevailing trends in our media-dominated systems, we know that art is a major form of thought, as powerful and productive as science and philosophy.     

Teaching and Research Quality Indicators and the Shaping of Higher Education

Two important sets of performance indicators have become established in the United Kingdom: research quality ratings and teaching quality ratings. The research quality ratings and, to a lesser extent, the teaching quality ratings, influence the level of government funding provided to higher education institutions. This paper considers the correlation between the two ratings and the possible consequences of policies that reshape the higher education sector by concentrating research resources in a limited number of institutions. Comparisons are made between quality assurance/assessment approaches in the United Kingdom and those in the United States.     

FORECASTING CREDIT HOURS

This paper employs Tobit to estimate retentionprobabilities and credit hours at two universities. Theinnovation is that this technique examines credit-hourchoice with the decision to depart the university treated as the choice of zero credit hours.Tobit is appropriate for this problem because itrecognizes the lower bound of zero on credit hours andincorporates this bound into the parameter estimates and forecasts. Models are estimated for credithours in a single year and cumulative hours over asix-year horizon.     

Temperamental Emotionality Attributes as Antecedents of Children's Social Information Processing

This study examined temperament dimensions of emotion as precursors of children's social information processing (SIP) of stressful peer events. Two hundred and forty-three preschool children (M = 4.60 years) and their primary caregivers participated in two measurement occasions spaced 2 years apart. Observations of temperamental anger, fearful distress, positive affect, and effortful control were assessed in multiple laboratory tasks across two visits at Wave 1. SIP assessments from vignettes of peer challenges were repeated across two waves and included: eye tracking measures of attention to peer emotion displays, hostile attribution bias, hostile solutions, and subjective distress. Findings from structural equation models with inclusion of autoregressive controls indicated that effortful control, fear, and anger predicted subsequent changes in specific SIP dimensions.     

Building strong foundations for educational achievement: Language assessments in early childhood education for deaf and hard of hearing children

It is widely accepted that assessment plays a role in monitoring the development of young children with special needs in early intervention/early childhood settings. The process of assessing young children's language skills often looks for delays within a solid language foundation. However, many children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) may not have a solid language foundation to assess, leading to inaccurate assessment. When we reframe how we assess language skills in children who are DHH, we ensure the assessment provides a comprehensive picture of the child's language development. It is important to modify language assessment tools where necessary while ensuring the assessment stays reliable and valid. It is critical to use multiple assessment tools to monitor the child's progress, including standardized assessments and assessment tools normed for DHH populations. Finally, it is crucial to monitor the child's skills in each language that they are using, regardless of which language is used most often. We explain why each of these factors needs to be considered in the assessment of young children who are DHH, will discuss the challenges of assessing this population, and will provide solutions to some of the challenges of assessing language skills in of young children who are DHH.