The performative turn in the assessment of student learning: a rights perspective

Active learning and group-based processes in higher education are central to student engagement strategies. Forms of assessment regarded as evidencing student engagement, including attendance, class participation grading and group-based projects, have become commonplace in the university curriculum on an international basis. Whilst the literature has focused on evaluating such forms of assessment in terms of learning gain, analysis of their impact from a student rights perspective has been largely overlooked. This paper will analyse student perspectives of three forms of assessment entailing the measurement of observable student attitudes and behaviour: attendance, class participation and group work grading. The evidence from a survey of undergraduates based in a Hong Kong university suggests that the majority of students are concerned about whether such practices are appropriate and fair, potentially undermining their freedom of choice to learn as adults.     

Teachers’ conceptions of assessment: Comparing two inventories with Ecuadorian teachers

Teacher beliefs about the purpose of assessment matter to how assessment is implemented in classroom settings. Two different teacher conceptions of assessment inventories have originated separately in Spain and New Zealand. This study examined (a) the extent to which the models for each inventory could be recovered and (b) the relationship between inventories. Responses were obtained from 566 Ecuadorian primary and secondary teachers in two rounds of surveying. Results showed that with a few modifications both the Spanish and New Zealand models fit the data. Mean scores were strongest for improvement, caution, and societal control factors. Factor inter-correlations between the Spain and New Zealand models indicated that the teaching, certifying, and accounting domains were moderately correlated with accountability and improvement purposes, while societal control correlated with caution, and formative regulation correlated with irrelevance. These results are consistent with how teachers seem to conceive of assessment within strong examination systems.     

转型期柔性管理在高校学生工作的应用

转型期社会结构的深刻变迁,西方思潮的涌入,高等教育的大众化、收费制等因素,给学生管理工作带来诸多挑战。本文分析了高校传统的刚性管理模式的弊端,剖析了高校引入柔性管理在实施过程中出现的诸多困境,指出高校柔性管理培育的主要路径为树立以人为本的理念,敢于直面问题,创新方法,刚柔并济。     

关于最低价中标的探讨

回顾了国家在1988年推行建设工程施工招标以来有关评标办法的变化过程。所有采用过的评标办法在实施中总会出现一些自身无法解决的弊端，导致目前开展的招投标未能实现真正意义的竞争。实施最低价中标评标办法较之其它办法更有利于实现真正的竞标。     

National Plan for School Improvement and Students First: the predictable nature of school education policy and the problem of student achievement

This paper explores two Australian school education policy documents and the inputs they describe to boost student achievement. The paper suggests that current reform efforts in schooling like others previously configure student achievement in input–output terms confining school education policy to predictable inputs that sideline broader influences on educational output including, for instance, school funding. The national policy documents that are the subject of the case study in this paper are the National Plan for School Improvement and the current Students First. Student achievement is explored as an object of study that can be worked on by policy, including for across-the-board national ‘non-educational’ purposes. The analysis, critical in outlook, suggests that current school education policy trades on a predictable set of evidence-based inputs as correctives to declining levels of student achievement without weaving into the student learning equation the complex mix of relations that frame the educational system.     

University Image:

The declining number of university age students, and decreases in state and federal funding for higher education contributed to the need for many institutions of higher education to create and maintain a distinctive image (a niche) in the marketplace. New trends already evident, as higher education copes with these changes, include the increasing use of advertising, promotion and other strategic marketing tools which are applied to position or reposition institutions. This article investigates the formation of university images by applying information processing theories in relation to consumer decision-making. The study takes the perspective reflecting interests of students whose major concern is their employability after graduation. It examines the number of attributes on which graduates are evaluated, composition of these attributes, the method of attribute processing, and the effect of the university overall image on the evaluation of its graduates.     

The development of a checklist of child characteristics for assessment purposes

Until recently, pupils in The Netherlands with a developmental perspective of up to 24 months and with additional disabilities rarely made use of the educational facilities available. As a result of a new law passed in 2002, an increasing number of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) will attend school. Given the heterogeneity of this group of pupils, an appropriate method of assessment is needed to chart the abilities that these pupils have and to allow a suitable educational programme to be developed on the basis of the results obtained. As the existing instruments are not generally very satisfactory, a new instrument has been developed. This is a checklist that has been subjected to reliability trials and factor analysis after formulation of suitable items. The results indicate that it is a reliable checklist, with factors that can be interpreted accurately in terms of development perspectives (functions, activities and participation).     

Modeling-Oriented Assessment in K-12 Science Education: A synthesis of research from 1980 to 2013 and new directions

Scientific modeling has been advocated as one of the core practices in recent science education policy initiatives. In modeling-based instruction (MBI), students use, construct, and revise models to gain scientific knowledge and inquiry skills. Oftentimes, the benefits of MBI have been documented using assessments targeting students’ conceptual understanding or affective domains. Fewer studies have used assessments directly built on the ideas of modeling. The purpose of this study is to synthesize and examine modeling-oriented assessments (MOA) in the last three decades and propose new directions for research in this area. The study uses a collection of 30 empirical research articles that report MOA from an initial library of 153 articles focusing on MBI in K-12 science education from 1980 to 2013. The findings include the variety of themes within each of the three MOA dimensions (modeling products, modeling practices, and meta-modeling knowledge) and the areas of MOA still in need of much work. Based on the review, three guiding principles are proposed for future work in MOA: (a) framing MOA in an ecology of assessment, (b) providing authentic modeling contexts for assessment, and (c) spelling out the connections between MOA items and the essential aspects of modeling to be assessed.     

The structure of pre-adolescents’ perceptions of their teacher’s interpersonal behaviours and their relation to pre-adolescents’ learning outcomes

Previous studies have offered indications that the way pre-adolescents (fifth and sixth graders) structure their perceptions of their teacher’s interaction in terms of Agency and Communion differs from adolescents. The purpose of this study was to delineate previous findings by thoroughly examining the structure of pre-adolescents’ perceptions of their teacher’s interpersonal behaviour, and by investigating the extent to which this structure relates to pre-adolescents’ learning outcomes. A mixed methods research design was implemented including a qualitative instrument adaptation procedure followed by a quantitative large-scale administration. Participants for the latter were a random sample of 504 pre-adolescents (from 10 to 13 years old) and 36 teachers. Results showed that participants placed significantly more emphasis on their teachers’ Communion behavioural dimension and this emphasis was illustrated on the association of perceived teacher interaction and students’ learning outcomes. Implications for theory, research and practice are discussed.     

An Assessment of Turkish Young Pupils’ Environmental Literacy: A nationwide survey

The purpose of this nationwide survey was to assess young Turkish pupils’ environmental literacy (EL) level by considering six EL components. The sample of the study comprised of 2,412 fifth graders selected from 78 elementary schools (26 private and 52 public) in 26 provinces of Turkey. Data were obtained through the use of an elementary school environmental literacy instrument (ESELI) including five parts and total of 75 items. The results revealed that the composite EL score of the students was found to be 149.66 (SD = 26.19), suggesting a moderate level of EL among 61% percent of the students (n = 1,545). On the other hand, more than a quarter of the participants (27.3%, n = 659) held high level EL, whereas only 22 students (0.9%) showed low level EL. The implications of the results to policy, practice, and further research were discussed at the end of the study.