Aspects Of Student Performance Research Articles

Assessing Learning Skills and Work Habits: What Do Report Card Data Tell Us?

Many school systems ask teachers to assess and report upon aspects of student performance beyond academic achievement. In Ontario, K–12 teachers assess a common set of six Learning Skills and Work Habits. How well teachers are able to undertake these assessments is not well studied. This study examines Grade 9 and 12 report card data from two districts in Ontario, Canada to determine to what extent different learning skills are assessed independently of each other, and to what extent they are associated with teacher-awarded academic achievement and achievement on a standardized Grade 9 mathematics examination delivered by Ontario’s Educational Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). Results indicate that the set of six Learning Skills and Work Habits are assessed as a unitary construct. Grades on these skills have higher correlations with teacher-awarded grades than with standardized test scores. Finally, gender differences in both academic achievement and achievement on the set of skills are investigated.

Benefits and Drawbacks of learner handover: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Learner Handover (LH), modeled after Patient Handover Protocols, is the act of collecting data regarding different aspects of student performance, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses so that it can be presented to future teachers as an added aide in planning their teaching activities. It has recently gained popularity due to its application in Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME). This scoping review aimed to consolidate current knowledge regarding the usage, benefits, and drawbacks of Learner Handover and to highlight areas for future research.Method: The Arksey and O’Malley framework was used to systematically select and summarize the literature available. Articles relevant to Medical Education were selected from searches of two databases and one search engine. Only articles published after 2017 to ensure the most recent developments were accounted for. Data were analyzed thematically and quantitatively.Results: Out of the 12 articles reviewed, 46% usage of the Learner Handover revolved around smoothening out the UGME-PGME transition. 39% of studies focused on the assessment of students and talked about the use of Learner Handover as a teaching aid. The most common benefits were a) Tailored Learning Environment, b) Programme Preparedness, and Improved Patient Safety whereas the drawbacks most mentioned revolved around a) Generation of bias, b) Resource intensiveness, and c) Breach of confidentiality.Conclusion: Learner Handover is a multifaceted process that provides performance information to future faculty, establishing a continuum that can map out the longitudinal improvements of medical students. However, there are major drawbacks – like the generation of academic bias and breach of confidentiality - that need to be controlled. Additional research is needed to fully understand the efficacy of the benefits and the extent of the drawbacks. However, in the Competency-Based Educational Model, a well-designed Handover Protocol may prove integral.
 
 KEYWORDS: Learner Handover, Competency-Based Medical Education, Prior Performance Indicators, Forward Feeding

Appreciative coaching for student academic and professional development

ABSTRACTNegative self-talk and appraisals of self-efficacy can damage students’ abilities to do well in college and lead to self-fulfilling prophesies where students fail to meet their academic and professional potentials. This multi-class activity uses appreciative coaching to help students utilize a positive mindset and achieve academic and professional goals. This coaching model, based on the tenets of appreciative inquiry, begins with a topic selection and then progresses through four stages: discover, dream, design, and destiny. The coaching process can assist instructors and students in focusing on the positive aspects of student performance, increase self-confidence, motivation to do well in courses, and proactive career planning, and create a positive learning environment.Courses: Business Communication, Freshman Seminar, Professional Development, Senior CapstoneObjectives: The objectives of this activity are for students to (1) practice positive reframing, (2) appraise and identify their strengths and skills, (3) select goals, (4) create action plans to reach goals, and (5) be empowered and take responsibility for their academic and professional progress.

Physical Education Meets Teacher Evaluation: Supporting Physical Educators in Formal Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes

Few physical educators engage in formal assessment of student learning outcomes. Recent trends in high-stakes teacher evaluation make formal assessment of learning progress/outcomes by physical educators a teaching function, central to a “well-rounded education” through recent federal legislation. This project targeted the following research questions: (a) Can physical educators increase their use of formal-formative assessment of student learning out-comes as a consequence of a professional development intervention that includes on-site coaching support? and (b) Can physical educators reliably collect formal-formative assessment data on student learning? Seven (4 females, 3 males; experience range: 4–15 years) licensed secondary school physical education teachers volunteered as participants. The intervention included professional development (PD) workshops, ongoing on-site coaching support, and prompt-ing. A multiple baseline design (MBD) across subjects determined the efficacy of the intervention on teachers’ use of formal-formative assessment practices. Postcheck follow-up observations were made during the following school year. Data were collected via the vali-dated Systematic Observation of Formal Assessment of Students by Teachers (SOFAST). The reliability of teachers’ use of formal assessment was established with a second trained observer simul-taneously collecting identical data on the same aspects of student performance as the teacher. Data were plotted graphically across sessions and assessed with standard visual analysis criteria, which demonstrated the functional relationship between the intervention and teachers’ use of formal-formative assessment of student out-comes. Standard interobserver agreement calculations determined the reliability of the teachers’ assessments of students’ MVPA levels versus outside observers’ via the total interval method. All seven teachers increased their use of formal assessment of student per-formance and shifted focus of the assessment toward subject-matter performance. Their formal assessment observations were found to be reliable. Experienced secondary school physical education teachers can successfully and reliably employ formal-formative assessment of student performance outcomes. Subscribe to TPE

“Who writes what?” Using written comments in team-based assessment to better understand medical student performance: a mixed-methods study

BackgroundObservation of the performance of medical students in the clinical environment is a key part of assessment and learning. To date, few authors have examined written comments provided to students and considered what aspects of observed performance they represent. The aim of this study was to examine the quantity and quality of written comments provided to medical students by different assessors using a team-based model of assessment, and to determine the aspects of medical student performance on which different assessors provide comments.MethodsMedical students on a 7-week General Surgery & Anesthesiology clerkship received written comments on ‘Areas of Excellence’ and ‘Areas for Improvement’ from physicians, residents, nurses, patients, peers and administrators. Mixed-methods were used to analyze the quality and quantity of comments provided and to generate a conceptual framework of observed student performance.Results1,068 assessors and 127 peers provided 2,988 written comments for 127 students, a median of 188 words per student divided into 26 “Areas of Excellence” and 5 “Areas for Improvement”. Physicians provided the most comments (918), followed by patients (692) and peers (586); administrators provided the fewest (91). The conceptual framework generated contained four major domains: ‘Student as Physician-in-Training’, ‘Student as Learner’, ‘Student as Team Member’, and ‘Student as Person.’ConclusionsA wide range of observed medical student performance is recorded in written comments provided by members of the surgical healthcare team. Different groups of assessors provide comments on different aspects of student performance, suggesting that comments provided from a single viewpoint may potentially under-represent or overlook some areas of student performance. We hope that the framework presented here can serve as a basis to better understand what medical students do every day, and how they are perceived by those with whom they work.

Teaching Advance Care Planning to Medical Students with a Computer-Based Decision Aid

Discussing end-of-life decisions with cancer patients is a crucial skill for physicians. This article reports findings from a pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of a computer-based decision aid for teaching medical students about advance care planning. Second-year medical students at a single medical school were randomized to use a standard advance directive or a computer-based decision aid to help patients with advance care planning. Students' knowledge, skills, and satisfaction were measured by self-report; their performance was rated by patients. 121/133 (91%) of students participated. The Decision-Aid Group (n = 60) outperformed the Standard Group (n = 61) in terms of students' knowledge (p < 0.01), confidence in helping patients with advance care planning (p < 0.01), knowledge of what matters to patients (p = 0.05), and satisfaction with their learning experience (p < 0.01). Likewise, patients in the Decision Aid Group were more satisfied with the advance care planning method (p < 0.01) and with several aspects of student performance. Use of a computer-based decision aid may be an effective way to teach medical students how to discuss advance care planning with cancer patients.

Relationships Between Students' Scores on Performance Assessment (PA) and Paper and Pencil Tests (PPT) in a Foods Preparation Course

Performance assessments have long been viewed as substitutes for or supplements to more traditional paper-pencil testing of students' knowledge. This study examined the relationships among student scores on performance assessments and paper and pencil tests administered over three terms in a college course on food preparation techniques. Overall, the relationships among the measures were weak with correlation coefficients between performance assessments and related paper and pencil tests ranging from −.084 (not statistically significant) to .251. The authors conclude that these two types of assessments measure different aspects of student performance and that both can be valuable tools in guiding student learning. Some possible reasons are the nature of lab assessment and the dimensions of performance being measured. The lab performance focused on soft skills, whereas the paper and pencil tests focused on cognitive skills.

Broadening Assessment, Improving Fairness? Some examples from school science

Following a review of equity issues in testing, especially in relation to science, two assessment programmes in school science, each of which was designed both to probe a range of aspects of student performance and for use in a large-scale study, are discussed. Both have been developed and used in the 1990s, one in Australia only and the other in many countries. The programmes and the range of aspects they attempt to assess are described and results are cited for several groups of students. Issues of fairness through the broadening of large-scale assessments to include tasks requiring students to construct their answers or carry out investigations are addressed as the second focus of the paper.

An Investigation of Scoring Methods for Mathematics Performance-Based Assessments

Three mathematics scoring methods are being used or explored in large-scale assessment programs: item-by-item scoring, holistic scoring, and "trait" scoring. This study investigated all 3 methods of scoring on 3 mathematics performance-based assessments. Mathematics assessment tasks were selected from a pool of pilot tasks because they could be scored using all 3 methods. Results of the study suggest that holistic scoring and item-by-item scoring methods provide similar information; however, trait score for conceptual understanding and mathematics communication tapped into different aspects of student performance. Implications for the validity of scoring methods now in use for performance-based mathematics assessments are discussed.

Three Different Views of Students: The Role of Technology in Assessing Student Performance

We argue that pencil-and-paper testing systematically biases assessment of students and that video and computers can provide very different views on student performance. We explore the different aspects of student performance and the kinds of criteria that might be assessed using video and computers. Our thesis is that educators should rethink student assessment in the light of these new media.

The Empirical Validation of Clinical Teaching Strategies

The precepts for teaching recommended to clinical teachers tend to be based on common sense, practical wisdom, and expert opinion rather than on empirical validation against appropriate outcome measures of learning. This article describes an initial attempt to validate empirically the effectiveness of certain clinical teaching strategies in an Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) course. Students' assessments of their first-year ICM tutors' teaching skills were correlated with those same students' clinicalperformances, as assessed by the students' second-year clinical tutors. There were statistical significant positive correlations between students' ratings of some ICM tutor teaching skills and some aspects of student performance, as evaluated by the second-year clinical tutors. The results suggest that clinical teachers who follow what are generally considered to be "good basic educational principles," such as setting clear expectations, providing adequate supervision, providing feedback, and showing concern for students' progress, have a positive impact on the subsequent clinical performance of their students. Implications for faculty development and further research are discussed.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Banks, O., and Finlayson, D. (1973). Success and Failure in the Secondary School: An Interdisciplinary Approach to School Achievement.Bowlby, J. (1973). Separation Anxiety and Loss, Vol. 2 of Attachment and Loss. Vol. 95 of the International Psycho‐analytical Library.Chanan, G. (Ed.) (1973). Towards a Science of Teaching.Cronbach, L. J. C., and Drenth, P. J. D. (Eds.) (1973). Mental Tests and Cultural Adaptation.D'Arcy, P. (1973). Reading for Meaning: Vol. 1, Learning to Read; Vol. 2, The Reader's Response.Davis, G. A. (1973). Psychology of Problem Solving: Theory and Practice.Gardner, H. (1973). The Arts and Human Development.Haslerud, G. M. (1972). Transfer, Memory and Creativity.Kerlinger, F. N., and Pedhazur, E. J. (1973). Multiple Regression in Behavioural Research.Klein, R. D., Hapkiewicz, W. G., and Roden, A. H. (1973). Behaviour Modification in Educational Settings.Landau, E. D., et al. (Eds.) (1972). Child Development Through Literature.Miller, G. R., and Burgoon, M. (1973). New Techniques of Persuasion.Mittler, P. (Ed.) (1973). Assessment for Learning in the Mentally Handicapped.Nash, R. (1973). Classrooms Observed. The Teacher's Perception and the Pupil's Performance.Ogilvie, E. (1973). Gifted Children in Primary Schools. (Schools Council Research Studies).Schools Council Research Studies (1973). Evaluation in Curriculum Development: Twelve Case Studies.Smart, R. C., and M. S. Smart (1972). Readings in Child Development and Relationships.Society for Research into Higher Education (1973). Motivation—Non‐cognitive Aspects of Student Performance: Papers presented at the Eighth Annual Conference, 1972.Stephens, J. M., and Evans, E. D. (1973). Development and Classroom Learning.Taylor, W. (1973). Research Perspectives in Education.Turner, B. (Ed.) (1973). Discipline in Schools.Tustin, F. (1972). Autism and Childhood Psychosis.Wedell, K. (1973). Learning and Perceptuo‐Motor Disabilities in Children.