Effects of different video- or text-based reflection stimuli on pre-service teachers’ emotions,immersion, cognitive load and knowledge-based reasoning

To reflect on ones own or other teachers teaching practices as well as on different reflection stimuli (e.g. videos or texts) can evoke different emotions and entail varying degrees of cognitive load and knowledge-based reasoning for pre-service teachers. Participants in this study were distributed to four groups (“memory”; "video+memory”; “video other”, and “text other”) and reflected online on classroom management facets. Pre-service teachers in the “video+memory” group reported significantly more immersion and enjoyment while reflecting than the other three groups. All groups showed a moderate level of germane load and there were no differences between the groups. Participants in the video+memory and memory group showed higher levels of knowledge-based reasoning than those who reflected on other teachers’ classroom practice. Enjoyment was a significant positive predictor of both immersion and germane load, whereas boredom was a negative predictor. Implications for future research and reflection processes during teacher education are discussed.     

Learning analytics application to examine validity and generalizability of game-based assessment for spatial reasoning

Game-based assessment (GBA), a specific application of games for learning, has been recognized as an alternative form of assessment. While there is a substantive body of literature that supports the educational benefits of GBA, limited work investigates the validity and generalizability of such systems. In this paper, we describe applications of learning analytics methods to provide evidence for psychometric qualities of a digital GBA called Shadowspect, particularly to what extent Shadowspect is a robust assessment tool for middle school students' spatial reasoning skills. Our findings indicate that Shadowspect is a valid assessment for spatial reasoning skills, and it has comparable precision for both male and female students. In addition, students' enjoyment of the game is positively related to their overall competency as measured by the game regardless of the level of their existing spatial reasoning skills.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic:

• Digital games can be a powerful context to support and assess student learning.
• Games as assessments need to meet certain psychometric qualities such as validity and generalizability.
• Learning analytics provide useful ways to establish assessment models for educational games, as well as to investigate their psychometric qualities.

What this paper adds:

• How a digital game can be coupled with learning analytics practices to assess spatial reasoning skills.
• How to evaluate psychometric qualities of game-based assessment using learning analytics techniques.
• Investigation of validity and generalizability of game-based assessment for spatial reasoning skills and the interplay of the game-based assessment with enjoyment.

Implications for practice and/or policy:

• Game-based assessments that incorporate learning analytics can be used as an alternative to pencil-and-paper tests to measure cognitive skills such as spatial reasoning.
• More training and assessment of spatial reasoning embedded in games can motivate students who might not be on the STEM tracks, thus broadening participation in STEM.
• Game-based learning and assessment researchers should consider possible factors that affect how certain populations of students enjoy educational games, so it does not further marginalize specific student populations.

     

Effects of multimedia on psychometric characteristics of cognitive tests: A comparison between technology-based and paper-based modalities

The study aims to investigate the effects of delivery modalities on psychometric characteristics and student performance on cognitive tests. A first study assessed the inductive reasoning ability of 715 students under the supervision of teachers. A second study examined 731 students’ performance on the application of the control-of-variables strategy in basic physics but without teacher supervision due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rasch measurement showed that the online format fitted to the data better in the unidimensional model across two conditions. Under teacher supervision, paper-based testing was better than online testing in terms of reliability and total scores, but contradictory findings were found in turn without teacher supervision. Although measurement invariance was confirmed between two versions at item level, the differential bundle functioning analysis supported the online groups on the item bundles constructed of figure-related materials. Response time was also discussed as an advantage of technology-based assessment for test development.