Does student engagement in self-assessment calibrate their judgement over time?

One of the implicit aims of higher education is to enable students to become better judges of their own work. This paper examines whether students who voluntarily engage in self-assessment improve in their capacity to make those judgements. The study utilises data from a web-based marking system that provides students with the opportunity to assess themselves on each criterion for each assessment task throughout a programme of study. Student marks were compared with those from tutors to plot changes over time. The findings suggest that overall students’ judgements do converge with those of tutors, but that there is considerable variation across achievement levels, with weaker students showing little improvement. Whilst the study is limited by the exigencies of voluntary participation and thus consequential gaps in the data set, it shows how judgement over time can be demonstrated and points to the potential for more systematic interventions to improve students’ judgements. It also illustrates the use of the web-based marking and feedback software (ReView) that has considerable utility in aiding self-assessment research.     

A web-based breastfeeding education program

Two Web-based breastfeeding programs were developed to provide new parents with necessary information on proper breastfeeding techniques. One version was plain text and the other version combined text with graphics. The computer was viewed as a valuable learning tool. The breastfeeding program that contained graphics was preferred over the text-only program. Educators are encouraged to use Web-based graphic programs to provide breastfeeding education to new parents.     

Introducing and Developing Professional Standards in the Information Systems Curriculum

In light of growing concerns in the public and recent mandates from business program accrediting bodies and curricular task forces, the importance of teaching ethical topics in information systems programs is discussed. Innovative strategies used for teaching the application of ethical criteria to common situations are reviewed. Results of a survey of information systems faculty members in the US are presented and are compared to previous studies that related primarily to computer science and software engineering programs. Insight is provided into the topics, techniques, degree of coverage, and assessment techniques currently used when teaching ethics in computing-related programs. Key concerns and future work is also outlined.     

Facial feature tracking: a psychophysiological measure to assess exercise intensity?

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether facial feature tracking reliably measures changes in facial movement across varying exercise intensities. Fifteen cyclists completed three, incremental intensity, cycling trials to exhaustion while their faces were recorded with video cameras. Facial feature tracking was found to be a moderately reliable measure of facial movement during incremental intensity cycling (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.65–0.68). Facial movement (whole face (WF), upper face (UF), lower face (LF) and head movement (HM)) increased with exercise intensity, from lactate threshold one (LT1) until attainment of maximal aerobic power (MAP) (WF 3464 ± 3364mm, P < 0.005; UF 1961 ± 1779mm, P = 0.002; LF 1608 ± 1404mm, P = 0.002; HM 849 ± 642mm, P < 0.001). UF movement was greater than LF movement at all exercise intensities (UF minus LF at: LT1, 1048 ± 383mm; LT2, 1208 ± 611mm; MAP, 1401 ± 712mm; P < 0.001). Significant medium to large non-linear relationships were found between facial movement and power output (r² = 0.24–0.31), HR (r² = 0.26–0.33), [La^?] (r² = 0.33–0.44) and RPE (r² = 0.38–0.45). The findings demonstrate the potential utility of facial feature tracking as a non-invasive, psychophysiological measure to potentially assess exercise intensity.