Strategic planning tools for large-scale technology-based assessments

Education systems are increasingly being called upon to implement new technology-based assessment systems that generate efficiencies, better meet changing stakeholder expectations, or fulfil new assessment purposes. These assessment systems require coordinated organisational effort to implement and can be expensive in time, skill and other resources. This paper explores the nexus between assessment planning and organisational strategy in the context of technology-based assessment implementation. Two planning tools, an Assessment Planning and Review Framework (the Framework) and an Assessment-Capability Matrix (the Matrix), are provided to assist organisations to manage this nexus. The Framework is a reformulation of prominent assessment design frameworks, developed for a broader, interdisciplinary audience. Its extension through the incorporation of organisational capability concerns led to the development of the Matrix. The Framework and the Matrix create an interface from principled assessment design to organisational strategy that is explored through five predominantly technology-based assessment design pathways.     

Predicting Mathematics Achievement of Eighth Grade Students in Germany: An Application of Parts of the Model of Educational Productivity to the TIMSS Data

Parts of the model of educational productivity provided by Walberg and colleagues (e.g., Walberg, 1981) were tested on the basis of the German TIMSS data. Due to its national extensions, the German study allows longitudinal analyses. Structural equation modelling was applied to the data at student level. Findings supported cum grano salis the model of educational productivity. The most powerful predictors were cognitive variables. Nevertheless, motivational determinants, leisure activities and students’ gender were also significant predictors of achievement. Mass media as well as home background, that is, the educational level of parents, their job prestige and their number of books at home, had no direct impact on learning.     

Entwicklung und erste Validierung eines Tests zur Erfassung technologischer und informationsbezogener Literacy (TILT) für Jugendliche am Ende der Sekundarstufe I

The objective of this study was to develop a reliable and valid test to ascertain ICT literacy 0 = Information and Communication Technologies Literacy). It was designed as a paper-and-pencil test to ensure that it can be used flexibly. The results of two studies (pilot study: N = 308; validation sample of the final form of the test: N = 263) showed satisfactory item and scale values and indicated the one-dimensional nature of the construct. Tests of the test instruments for convergence and discrimination validity showed the expected links with computer-related pupil characteristics. To supplement this, expert reviews indicated a satisfactory content validity. Analyses of the construct validity showed that ICT literacy was clearly distinguishable from general cognitive abilities and, at the same time, possessed incremental validity in addition to other measures of computer literacy. The findings are discussed in relation to open questions about the construct validity of the test instrument.     

Attitudes of Australian chiropractic students toward whole body donation: A cross‐sectional study

Cadavers play an important role in anatomy education. In Australia, bodies for anatomy education are acquired only through donations. To gain insight into educational dynamics in an anatomy laboratory as well as to facilitate body donation programs and thanksgiving ceremonies, it is important to understand students' attitudes toward body donation. In this cross‐sectional study, the attitudes of Macquarie University's first, second, and fifth year chiropractic students toward body donation were investigated. Macquarie University chiropractic students have a four semester long anatomy program, which includes cadaver‐based instruction on prosected specimens. A questionnaire was used to record respondents' demographics and attitudes toward body donation: personal, by a relative, and by a stranger. It was found that ethnicity and religion affect attitudes toward body donation, with Australian students being more willing to donate a stranger's body and atheists and agnostics being more willing to donate in general. Furthermore, willingness to donate one's own or a family member's body decreases as year of study increases, suggesting a possible negative impact of exposure to cadavers in the anatomy laboratory. This was only true, however, after controlling for age. Thus, the impact of viewing and handling prosected specimens, which is the norm in anatomy classes in Australia, may not be as strong as dissecting cadavers. It is suggested that anatomists and educators prepare students for cadaver‐based instruction as well as exhibit sensitivity to cultural differences in how students approach working with cadavers, when informing different communities about body donation programs and in devising thanksgiving ceremonies. Anat Sci Educ 7: 117–123. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.