Can a systematic assessment moderation process assure the quality and integrity of assessment practice while supporting the professional development of casual academics?

There has been a threefold increase in the employment of casual academics in Australian universities within the last 20 years, to the extent that most teaching and marking is now undertaken by casual academics, also known as sessional staff. Yet, casualised teaching and assessment has been considered a risk to student engagement and success, and casual academics report a lack of professional development and increased feelings of marginalisation within the academy. Concurrently, the quality assurance of teaching and assessment in higher education has become a central focus of the government-funded regulatory organisation, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). Situated within this context, we report on an assessment moderation process that could support casual academics’ contextualised professional development, generate a sense of connectedness and collegiality and fulfil the requirements of TEQSA. Such processes may ensure that workforce growth in the higher education system supports a robust quality assurance and regulatory framework.     

Fuzzy Comprehensive Assessment Method to Determine Tectonic Stress Patterns

The tectonic stress patterns were determined by a fuzzy comprehensive assessment method. Data of in-situ survey and fault information were utilized in the method. First, by making pressure and tension in the directions of along-river, cross-river, shear clockwise, and shear counterclockwise , 26 types of tectonic stress patterns were presented. And the stress vector of each pattern was obtained with FE software by taking unit displacement as boundary load. Then, by taking the 26 types of tectonic stress patterns as index set and 3 main stresses as factor set and choosing various operators, comparison of directions of computational stress vector and survey stress vector was made and the most possible tectonic stress pattern was obtained. Taking the 26 types of tectonic stress patterns as index set and strike angle as factor set, comparison of relationships between formation of fault and tectonic stress was made,and the tectonic stress patterns were assessed with known fault information. By summarizing the above assessment results, the most impossible tectonic stress pattern was obtained . Finally an engineering case was quoted to validate that the method is more feasible and reliable than traditional empirical method.     

Assessing collaborative learning: big data,analytics and university futures

Assessment in higher education has focused on the performance of individual students. This focus has been a practical as well as an epistemic one: methods of assessment are constrained by the technology of the day, and in the past they required the completion by individuals under controlled conditions of set-piece academic exercises. Recent advances in learning analytics, drawing upon vast sets of digitally stored student activity data, open new practical and epistemic possibilities for assessment, and carry the potential to transform higher education. It is becoming practicable to assess the individual and collective performance of team members working on complex projects that closely simulate the professional contexts that graduates will encounter. In addition to academic knowledge, this authentic assessment can include a diverse range of personal qualities and dispositions that are key to the computer-supported cooperative working of professionals in the knowledge economy. This paper explores the implications of such opportunities for the purpose and practices of assessment in higher education, as universities adapt their institutional missions to address twenty-first century needs. The paper concludes with a strong recommendation for university leaders to deploy analytics to support and evaluate the collaborative learning of students working in realistic contexts.     

建立发展性的学校评价模式

建立发展性的学校评价模式，应以校为本，重视自我评价，强调诊断性评价功能；要实现以鉴定为主的评价观向以发展为主的评价观转变，促使学校不断挖掘自身潜力和价值，承担发展目标的责任，真正做到评价为中小学校发展服务，为创新教育服务。     

The judgement processes involved in the moderation of teacher-assessed projects

Classroom-based assessments have the potential to enhance validity by facilitating the assessment of important skills that are difficult to assess in written examinations. Such assessments tend to be marked by teachers. To ensure consistent marking standards, quality assurance procedures are needed. In the context of continued debate over the robustness of assessment by teachers, this research aimed to provide insights into the cognitive and social processes involved in the moderation of project work in General Certificate of Secondary Education qualifications (taken by many 16 year olds in England). The research involved nine examiners across three subject areas ‘thinking aloud’ whilst moderating the marks given to six students (treated as a mock school). The participants were also interviewed. These methods were chosen to provide an in-depth look at the judgement processes involved. The research provides an improved understanding of moderation judgements and how aspects of this process relate to existing theories of judgement. Improving our understanding of the judgement processes involved when an examiner moderates teacher marking can help to evaluate the appropriateness of this assessment method, may contribute to debate on whether teacher marking can be sufficiently well verified by quality assurance procedures, and may inform moderation practice.     

中学生情感态度价值观的评价

2001年教育部的基础教育课程改革纲要(试行)中,确立了学生发展的三维目标,勾画了学生全面发展的基本框架,首次明确的设立了教学的情感、态度价值观目标,并与教学的另两个目标——知识与技能、过程与方法目标一起呈三足鼎立之势,对学生进行情感教育得到了前所未有的重视。教学和评价是教育活动中紧密联系、相互促进的两个方面,仅凭其中的某一方面,或者将两者割裂开来,都难以很好地实现教育教学的预期目标。任课教师不仅要把情感态度的培养有机地渗透到整个教学过程之中,还要重视情感态度的评价,使情感态度的培养与评价工作有机结合起来。因此,加强对学生的情感教育,教师要在实际教学中不断探索有利于学生全面发展的评价方式。     

加拿大高校学生学习成果评估的内容、方法及启示

作为全球第二个实现高等教育普及化的高等教育强国,加拿大高校学生学习成果评估体系富有特色:在评估内容方面,构建起了高等教育系统、院校以及学科(专业)等不同层面的学生学习成果体系;在评估方法方面,形成了由标准化测试、评价量规、表现性评估以及问卷调查等四种类型构成的多元化学生学习成果评估方法体系。其对我国的启示是:构建和完善高校学生学习成果评估的内容体系,为学生学习成果评估奠定共识基础;开发多元化的学生学习成果评估方法与工具,提高评估活动的科学性;加强以结果为导向的评估制度建设,促使学习成果评估常态化。     

Early Mathematical Growth: How to Support Young Children’s Mathematical Development

The purpose of this critical analysis was to investigate the young children’s sense of numerical magnitudes and the important attributes of classrooms where children in kindergarten and first grade are exposed to mathematics. This study aimed to offer guidelines that will assist teachers as they teach mathematics to children between the ages of five and seven.     

A model for making decisions about ethical dilemmas in student assessment

In this mixed-methods study we investigated the development of a generalized ethics decision-making model that can be applied in considering ethical dilemmas related to student assessment. For the study, we developed five scenarios that describe ethical dilemmas associated with student assessment. Survey participants (i.e., educators) completed an online survey to express their decision-making process when faced with ethical dilemmas relating to student assessment. Based on the literature and the educators’ written responses to the scenarios, elements to consider in an ethics decision-making model related to student assessment include the following: (1) the critical incident giving rise to the ethical dilemma; (2) identification of the conflict elements; (3) decisions about the ethicality of the elements; (4) justification of the decisions; (5) implications; and (6) alternative suggestions. This model offers guidance to educators in considering the dimensions of an ethical dilemma in assessment prior to making a decision.     

对高职院校评估指标体系的认识和思考

这几年高职教育得到了突飞猛进的发展。量的急剧扩张，要求高职教育要更加注重质的进一步提升。高职院校评估问题，已成水到渠成之势。五年一轮评估制度的确立和实施，要求出台客观而公正的高职院校评估指标体系。这是高职教育发展之必然，也是高职教育发展之应然。外在的要求和压力，务必要转变为高职院校的自觉和自律，否则高职教育的可持续发展也就成了一句空话。本文拟对已出台的高职院校评估指标体系．谈些粗浅的看法和建议，以期对高职院校评估指标体系的进一步完善有所裨益。