Dynamic Assessment Framework Research Articles

Developing L2 writing abilities through an instructional enrichment program informed by dynamic assessment

Adopting the framework of Dynamic Assessment (DA), this study investigates the effectiveness of a DA-informed writing enrichment program in promoting L2 English learners’ academic writing development. Thirteen ESL students recruited from a U.S. university were randomly assigned to a DA-informed enrichment program group (n = 6) or a standard writing instruction group (n = 7). Prior to and following the 5-week instructional programs (Time 1 and Time 2), each participant completed a source-based essay independently, engaged in interactionist DA with a mediator to jointly review the writing while referencing an analytic rubric, and then revised their essay. All drafts were blindly scored by independent raters. Results revealed that the enrichment group outperformed the standard instruction group in the independent writing performed at Time 2, indicating their differential level of development. Although both groups showed enhanced writing performance following the DA procedures at both Time 1 and Time 2, the enrichment learners responded more favorably to mediation during DA at Time 2, indicating their greater emerging abilities. Implications for tying DA results to an instructional program targeting learner emerging writing abilities are discussed.

A Decriptive Overview of Dynamic Assessment

Dynamic assessment (DA), deriving from the Vygotskian Sociocultural theoretical approach, has attracted considerable attention from researchers in the fields of psychology and general education, but it is still regarded as a novel approach within the field of second language acquisition. DA can be defined as an approach not only focusing on assessment as its name suggests but also aiming to instruct learners through hints or prompts, which are forms of mediation within the framework of sociocultural theory. With the increasing number of studies on DA in the field of second language teaching, DA seems to have promising effects on language teaching and learning processes. This study aims to provide a brief review of the fundamental principles and constructs that are associated with DA. Firstly, we address the place of assessment in the field of education. We then discuss the theoretical framework of DA and then outline the principal components of the theory including the zone of proximal development (ZPD), mediation, and internalization, which are also critical for DA. After outlining the general framework, the study focuses on describing DA, which is followed by giving the basic tenets of DA. Additionally, the study draws a comparison between dynamic assessment and nondynamic assessment and discusses criticisms leveled at DA. Finally, the study addresses the advantages DA offers and concludes with final remarks and implications.

Promoting young EFL learners’ listening potential: A model of mediation in the framework of dynamic assessment

AbstractDynamic assessment (DA) integrates assessment and instruction into an organic unity aimed at promoting learner development through mediation sensitive to the individual's (or in some cases, a group's) current abilities. This article reports on the construction of a model of mediation framed within DA for English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language listening comprehension. The model was implemented in a 1‐semester comparative experimental study in 2 parallel classes of Grade 8 in an urban middle school in central China. For mediation, the experimental class (EC) received four DA sessions aligned to their emerging abilities at all listening stages. Statistical results showed that students in EC outperformed those in the control class significantly in both a posttest and a near transfer assessment test, a more complex task intended to assess development in a more accurate manner, although they showed no significant advantage in the far TA test. Microgenetic analysis of the development of a sample of 9 students revealed that the mode of mediation used during enrichment permitted the teacher to ascertain students’ listening problems, including their struggles with phonology, lexicon, grammar, and strategy use. The value of the DA mediation model is discussed as a dialectical unity of both a diagnostic tool and a pedagogical framework in the context of young L2 learners.

Dynamic Assessment for Children With Communication Disorders: A Systematic Scoping Review and Framework.

The aim of this systematic scoping review was to identify the elements that exist in dynamic assessments of communication in children, synthesize and arrange them into a framework, and investigate how these elements have been used in published literature. Seven databases were searched using clusters of keywords themed around "dynamic assessment," "communication," and "children." Papers were reviewed against eligibility criteria by two independent reviewers at both title/abstract and full-text screening stages. Data charting included information about study design and the methodological characteristics of identified dynamic assessments. Sixty-five papers met inclusion criteria. Dynamic assessments were used in a range of areas of communication and used diverse methodologies. A total of 23 elements were identified and formulated into a Dynamic Assessment Framework, arranged into eight categories within two broad domains. A majority of assessments utilized prompting or cueing as instruction (54%), provided a predetermined amount of instruction (55%), measured child performance (63%), and were prescripted (60%). Dynamic assessments are complex. Utilizing a dynamic assessment in clinical practice or research requires a deep understanding of the purpose, clinical population, implementation, and data collection and measurement requirements. From our review of research involving dynamic assessments of communication in children, there is a need for greater transparency of reporting of the elements comprising dynamic assessments. The Dynamic Assessment Framework presented in this review article offers researchers and clinicians a way to have transparent discussions and extend our collective insights into the value of dynamic assessment of children's communication skills. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.20151830.

A Three-Stage Dynamic Assessment Framework for Industrial Control System Security Based on a Method of W-HMM.

Industrial control systems (ICS) are applied in many fields. Due to the development of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and big data analysis inducing more cyberattacks, ICS always suffers from the risks. If the risks occur during system operations, corporate capital is endangered. It is crucial to assess the security of ICS dynamically. This paper proposes a dynamic assessment framework for industrial control system security (DAF-ICSS) based on machine learning and takes an industrial robot system as an example. The framework conducts security assessment from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, combining three assessment phases: static identification, dynamic monitoring, and security assessment. During the evaluation, we propose a weighted Hidden Markov Model (W-HMM) to dynamically establish the system’s security model with the algorithm of Baum–Welch. To verify the effectiveness of DAF-ICSS, we have compared it with two assessment methods to assess industrial robot security. The comparison result shows that the proposed DAF-ICSS can provide a more accurate assessment. The assessment reflects the system’s security state in a timely and intuitive manner. In addition, it can be used to analyze the security impact caused by the unknown types of ICS attacks since it infers the security state based on the explicit state of the system.

Evaluating coral reef ecosystem services outcomes from climate change adaptation strategies using integrative system dynamics

Coral reef ecosystems provide a broad spectrum of essential ecological, economic and cultural services for Small Island Developing State (SIDS) communities. However, coral reef communities are increasingly threatened by the adverse impacts of human activities at both global and local scales. This study aims to develop an integrated dynamic assessment framework to evaluate coral reef conditions under different adaptation and climate change scenarios, and their consequential economic impacts in the small island community of Port Resolution on Tanna Island in Vanuatu. Our assessment framework follows a sequential multilayered modelling approach that uses System Dynamics (SD) coupled with Bayesian Network (BN) modelling to deal with the complexity and dynamicity of socioeconomic and environmental systems, and impacts from trans-discipline variables. The BN incorporated existing data and expert knowledge to project the future conditions of coral reefs under different scenario settings, and to parametrise and quantify the SD model where the existing data and information was insufficient. The SD was then used to simulate the dynamic relationship between coral reef condition and the economic benefits derived from its ecosystem services under different climate change (i.e. RCPs) and management scenarios through to 2070. Our findings show that sustainable community-based conservation management strategies are key to preserving the flow of coral reef ecosystem services under RCP 2.6 and 6.0. Importantly, we demonstrate that the implementation of an integrated portfolio of management strategies better protects ecosystem services provided by coral reefs and maximises the total economic benefits achieved over the long-term despite a temporary and short-term economic loss due to high initial capital investments and income reduction due to fishing and tourism restrictions.

Comprehensive risk assessment and engineering application of mine water inrush based on normal cloud model and local variable weight

ABSTRACT Mine water inrush disaster occurs after the critical risk degree is reached under the non-linear dynamic coupling action of hydrogeological conditions, water hazard sources and excavation disturbance of artificial machinery. In this paper, the risk assessment unit is divided from the time and space dimensions, and the risk assessment evaluation index set is determined based on the “4M1E” management system, taking into account the fuzziness, dynamics, and balance of the evaluation indicators. This method changes the defect of the index weight in the previous comprehensive evaluation method as the constant weight. The game theory set model is selected to construct the initial weight vector of the evaluation index, and the final weight vector is determined by the local variable weight equalization function combined with the indicator state value. The normal cloud model is used to process the evaluation indicator status values, and the comprehensive evaluation matrix is determined to solve the ambiguity and randomness of the evaluation indicators. Finally, a comprehensive assessment model for mine water inrush disasters is formed, and a dynamic assessment framework is used to conduct dynamic risk assessment of mine water inrush. The research results show that the dynamic comprehensive evaluation model provides a theoretical basis for the early warning and prevention of mine water inrush disasters.

Selecting Indicators for Assessing Community Sustainable Resilience.

Communities are complex systems subject to a variety of hazards that can result in significant disruption to critical functions. Community resilience assessment is rapidly gaining popularity as a means to help communities better prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruption. Sustainable resilience, a recently developed concept, requires communities to assess system-wide capability to maintain desired performance levels while simultaneously evaluating impacts to resilience due to changes in hazards and vulnerability over extended periods of time. To enable assessment of community sustainable resilience, we review current literature, consolidate available indicators and metrics, and develop a classification scheme and organizational structure to aid in identification, selection, and application of indicators within a dynamic assessment framework. A nonduplicative set of community sustainable resilience indicators and metrics is provided that can be tailored to a community's needs, thereby enhancing the ability to operationalize the assessment process.

The Effects of Vocabulary Enhancement Exercises and Group Dynamic Assessment on Word Learning Through Lexical Inferencing

The study aimed to explore the effect of group dynamic assessment on word learning through lexical inferencing and to compare it to that of vocabulary enhancement exercises. Through purposive sampling, 45 intermediate EFL learners were selected as participants and randomly assigned to three groups. The participants read six texts over a 6-day period and answered comprehension questions for each text. In the second phase of each treatment session, the first group engaged in lexical inferencing of the underlined words within group dynamic assessment framework. The second group did two vocabulary exercises for each target word. The third group engaged in lexical inferencing of target words through group dynamic assessment framework and also did one vocabulary exercise for each target word. Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (Wesche and Paribakht in Can Mod Lang Rev 53:13-40, 1996) was used to measure learners' knowledge of the target words 1day prior to the treatment and 1day and 28days after the treatment. The results showed that in terms of gains in depth and size of vocabulary knowledge the first and the second groups were not significantly different. However, the third group significantly outperformed the first and the second groups. It was concluded that group dynamic assessment is as effective as vocabulary exercises in enhancing word learning through lexical inferencing and that the combination of group dynamic assessment and vocabulary exercises could enhance word learning through lexical inferencing even more.

Static and Dynamic Responses of Reinforced Concrete Structures under Sudden Column Removal Scenario Subjected to Distributed Loading

In this paper, static and dynamic experiments on reinforced concrete beam-column frames under single-column-removal scenario applying a multipoint loading method were conducted. One of the objectives was to investigate structural behavior compared with the single-point loading method, which has been popularly used in previous studies. By equally applying point loads at four locations of the double-span beam structure, the test setup successfully simulated the uniformly distributed loading condition, which is generally applicable for gravity loads in practice. Compared with the previously conducted static tests based on concentrated loading method, structural response from the static tests under multipoint loading condition differed not only on load-bearing capacity but also on failure sequence and displacement profile. On the basis of the test results, the analytical relationship between behaviors of the two loading methods was developed and verified. Compared with the static tests, the dynamic tests highlighted dynamic effects created by the column loss event and confirmed the structural behavior and failure modes observed in the static environment. The dynamic tests also verified the correctness and conservatism of the dynamic assessment framework using a previously proposed energy-based approach. Most important, both the static and the dynamic tests of structures under distributed loads showed less development of catenary action against progressive collapse compared with concentrated loading tests.

Dynamic LCA framework for environmental impact assessment of buildings

Traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are used to conduct building environmental impact assessment (EIA) with little consideration of influential factors that vary in time and of variation in occupancy behaviors. Because the life cycle of a building is quite long, such details have significant influence on the accuracy of evaluation results. To fill in this gap and extend the LCA system, this paper developed a dynamic assessment framework based on LCA principles after reviewing the research progress of DLCA (dynamic LCA). The new framework identified four dynamic building properties (i.e., technological progress, variation in occupancy behavior, dynamic characteristic factors, and dynamic weighting factors) and considered them in corresponding assessment steps to realize real-time EIA. In addition, residential occupancy profiles were described at personal level, family level, and social level; and three potential quantification methods were introduced to explore the relationship between occupancy profiles and household energy consumption. The DLCA framework expands the connotation of the LCA system from a dynamic perspective, making it possible to present time-varying EIs of buildings over their long life cycle and guide occupancy behavior in time. This framework has the potential to be base for developing a useful tool for conducting forecast evaluation and promoting sustainability.

The Effect of Peer-Assisted Mediation vs. Tutor-Intervention within Dynamic Assessment Framework on Writing Development of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Dynamic assessment originates in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Practicing dynamic assessment necessarily requires the development of ZPD. This study aimed to investigate the effect of peer-assisted mediation vs. tutor-intervention within dynamic assessment framework on writing development and the attitude of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To do so, a quasi-experimental design and a questionnaire survey were carried out. After conducting a pilot study, a language proficiency test was administered to homogenize the two intact groups with 30 students in each. The writing part of the proficiency test was also considered as pre test. Then, the two groups were asked to fill out the pre-test attitude questionnaire. While in peer-assisted mediation group, the writing assignments were assessed by peers followed by feedback provided by them, in tutor-intervention group, the tutor assessed and provided feedback on the assignments during the instruction. At the end both the post test of writing and the questionnaire were administered. Comparing the post tests indicated that the peer-assisted mediation group outperformed tutor-intervention group. Although, peer-assisted mediation group had significant effect on the writing of the learners, for tutor-intervention, this effect was not significant comparing the pre and the post tests within groups. The study also revealed that both peer-assisted mediation and tutor-intervention significantly changed the attitude of the learners towards writing development between the pre and the post test of questionnaires, though the difference between their effects on the learners’ attitude was not significant comparing the post tests of questionnaires.

Implementation of corrective feedback in an English as a foreign language classroom through dynamic assessment

The present study tried to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of corrective feedback in the light of Dynamic Assessment (DA) techniques which are rooted in ZPD on Foreign language learners’ learning of reported speech structures. Two frameworks were used as the theoretical bases in this study; Lantolf and Aljaafreh’s regulatory scale (1994) and Feuerstein, Rand, and Rynders (1988) Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). Two intact English language classes in a language center (Isfahan-Iran) each having 15 students were randomly selected; one class was randomly regarded as the experimental group and the other one as the control group. The experimental group received DA-based treatment through the frameworks under focus in this study; however, the control group did not receive such treatment and followed the routines of the language center. The classes were tape recorded and were reviewed at the end of each session. After the instruction, the participants took two post-tests, i.e., one immediately after the treatment, and another one after two weeks. The data were then qualitatively analyzed after the transcription, and it was concluded that the amalgamation of DA framework and Corrective Feedback framework were effective in enhancing the participants’ learning reported speech structures, and a long term effect was also observed regarding the experimental group.

Dynamic assessment and its potential for the assessment of reading competence

This article describes the approach of dynamic assessment, focusing on general approaches as well as specific constraints for the assessment of reading competence. Starting with an overview of the literature on dynamic assessments within educational research, the framework of dynamic assessment in which the current level of competence and (domain-specific) learning ability are assessed, is discussed with regards to its methodological and diagnostic implications. Reading competence is introduced as a domain in which interventions prove successful, and as a domain principally suitable for the assessment of learning ability. Furthermore, it is discussed whether elaborated feedback given within the procedure of reading competence assessment does uncover a learning ability which is specific to the domain of reading competence or not.