A Competency Model for Process Dynamics and Control and Its Use for Test Construction at University Level

This study examined students’ competencies in engineering education at the university level. First, we developed a competency model in one specific field of engineering: process dynamics and control. Then, the theoretical model was used as a frame to construct test items to measure students’ competencies comprehensively. In the empirical application, the reliability of the test was examined. The results confirmed the applicability of the theory-based test. Also, associations between students’ competencies and individual characteristics were explored. Students who showed higher competencies could be identified based on their individual characteristics, such as participation in self-assessments. Finally, we demonstrated how to apply the standards of theory-based testing to everyday routines at the university and also highlighted some challenging issues to be considered when implementing theory-based testing in practice. This approach could be valuable: Tests based on theoretically sound models allow for appropriate measurement of students’ competencies in higher education.     

Justification beliefs and multiple-documents comprehension

Building on the multidimensional framework of epistemic cognition proposed by Greene et al. (Educational Psychologist 43:142–160, 2008), this study examined beliefs about justification of knowledge claims in science among 65 Norwegian 10th graders. The first research question asked whether beliefs in personal justification, justification by authority, and justification by multiple sources differed in strength among the participants. It was found that the students most strongly believed in justification by authority, followed by justification by multiple sources and personal justification. The second research question asked whether the three types of justification beliefs differentially and uniquely predicted the comprehension of multiple conflicting documents on a science issue. In a multiple regression analysis with multiple-documents comprehension indicated by essay performance as the dependent variable, both personal justification and justification by multiple sources emerged as unique predictors when topic knowledge was controlled for. Specifically, beliefs in personal opinion as a means of justifying knowledge claims in science was negatively related to multiple-documents comprehension, whereas beliefs in justification through corroboration across multiple sources of information were positively related to multiple-documents comprehension. This study provides new evidence about relationships between epistemic beliefs and new literacy competencies needed in an information society, such as integrating across multiple conflicting sources of information; relationships that may also have practical implications.     

A reinterpretation of institutional transformations in European higher education: strategising pluralistic organisations in multiplex environments

The paper draws on institutional theory with special attention to recent contributions that aim at developing its micro-foundations. We address the question of how individual higher education institutions deal with institutional pluralism. We develop an analytical framework inspired by institutional theory, the sensemaking perspective in organisation theory and strategy-as-practice to connect the macro-transformation processes of the organisational field and the micro-processes of organisational strategising.     

Legitimation,performativity and the tyranny of a ‘hijacked’ word

Accreditation is fast becoming the dominant method of evaluation used in the European Higher Education Area. This paper traces the political process supporting the introduction of this method in Europe and identifies different theoretical understandings and practices which shed light on how we can interpret the spread and role of accreditation in Europe, before discussing current trends in European and US accreditation, which could pave the way for a joint research agenda. In the conclusion, some possible implications of current developments are briefly presented.     

Eye-movement parameters and reading speed

This study addressed the relationship between four eyemovement parameters and reading speed of 20twelve-year-old children during silent and oralreading. The results indicated that each of theparameters correlated significantly with speed ofsilent reading. In fact, reading speed could bepredicted by the following variables: recognitionspan, average fixation duration, and number ofregressive saccades. Moreover, the relationshipbetween silent and oral reading speed, on one hand,and between reading fluency and reading errors in oralreading speed, on the other, was examined. The resultsindicated that in terms of reading speed, significantinterrelationships existed between silent and oralreading. Furthermore, fluency and errors wereintercorrelated phenomena, but only fluency wassubstantially related to oral reading speed.