Learning Assessment Tools Research Articles

Exploring Online Learning Tools Used by EFL Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic has affected many sectors of human life, including the educational sector. This situation has forced the government to impose the School-from-Home policy for all levels of education in Indonesia since March 2020. In this situation, teachers need to be aware of this change and adapt to the situation. The use of media in learning matters since the learning process is switched to online learning. Thus, this paper aims to explore the online learning tools utilized by EFL teachers and EFL teachers’ consideration in choosing online learning tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research employed a qualitative approach by conducting in-depth interviews with five EFL teachers from five different state senior high schools in Yogyakarta Special Region, who have taught English for at least two years and have used online learning tools during the COVID- 19 pandemic. This research found six types of online learning tools used by the EFL teachers: learning management systems, assessment tools, chat and messages, video learning and sharing platform, content maker, and video conferencing tools. Moreover, concerning the teachers’ considerations in utilizing these online learning tools, they explained that they should be easy to use, accessible, cost-effective, interesting, and lightweight. Other teachers could also use these considerations to choose the online learning tools utilized in their teaching and learning processes.

Teachers’ Practices in Curriculum and Instruction in a Science High School Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic

The disruptions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic do not excuse science schools from continuing to provide holistic quality education to their learners. This study determined teachers' practices in the Curriculum and instruction as part of School-Based Management Level-3 of a public science high school. The descriptive-correlation quantitative research design and data triangulation were employed. The teachers were on average age of 32.90 years, 75% of the respondents were female, the average years in service of the teachers is eight years, and the majority are Teachers I-III, about 93.8% of the respondents. About 18.8% of the respondents were full-fledged in their Master's Program. Results of the study showed that teachers' overall level of practice in Curriculum and instruction was denoted as highly practiced. Correlational analyses revealed a significant relationship between the highest educational attainment and general practices of teachers in Curriculum and instructions (r=0.478,p=0.002<0.05). A significant relationship between the provision for the development needs of learners and the Review, improvement, and contextualization of assessment tools for teaching and learning as teachers' practices in the Curriculum and Instruction was also presented (r=0.449,p=0.010<0.05). A significant relationship between the regular collaboration of the learning system and the Review, improvement, and contextualization of assessment tools for teaching and learning (r=0.430,p=0.014< 0.05) was also significant.

Smart Board-Based Assessment Outcomes of Implementing Outdoor Transdisciplinary Language Instruction for Pupils

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this research was to examine the potential outcomes of applying the outdoor transdisciplinary language instruction paradigm to primary school students’ cognitive and emotional improvement with smart boards as an assessment tool. Background: Traditional approaches to teaching English in primary schools do not give particular consideration to outdoor transdisciplinary learning for students’ cognitive and emotional improvement, especially in terms of effective assessment. Hence, in this study, outdoor drawing was integrated with teaching English to create a transdisciplinary paradigm and smart boards were adopted in the assessment. Methodology: A pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design using an equivalent control group was employed, in which learning performance, emotions (typically positive emotions), and reported satisfaction level were compared via an English vocabulary test, the Chinese version of PANAS, and a structured self-reported satisfaction instrument. E-prime 2.0 was used to register data for the three instruments and to complete the vocabulary identification phase while smart boards were adopted as an assessment tool to evaluate students’ learning performance. The data collected were analyzed using an independent t-test and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test using SPSS 22.0. Contribution: Unlike traditional research, which only utilized smart boards as presentation tools, this research provided evidence for the effective use of interactive technology as assessment tools for innovative language learning in primary school settings. Findings: Results indicated that outdoor transdisciplinary drawing developed more positive emotions and higher satisfaction among students and showed significantly higher learning performance compared with indoor transdisciplinary drawing. Moreover, smart board-based assessment scores showed that students were more effectively engaged as compared to E-prime-based assessment. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings suggest that instructors should try to allow students to have more opportunities to explore language activities in school-based outdoor environments, which benefits their cognitive and emotional improvement. Moreover, using smart board-based assessments should be encouraged since more authentic performance could be elicited. Recommendation for Researchers: This research mainly focuses on the effects of learning environments and assessment tools in transdisciplinary language instruction. Hence, researchers can employ an updated design to focus on the transdisciplinary setting to investigate more interesting outcomes. Impact on Society: Schools should adopt more new interactive digital technologies to improve assessment for students’ innovative learning in different contexts, which can help students develop more transversal skills, benefiting their employers and making them even more competent. More critically, government support is needed to encourage schools to use emerging technologies for educational reform in the classroom, and linkages between technology vendors and schools could be encouraged to provide subsidies and other measures to less financially able schools. Future Research: Future research could explore the differences in the interaction effects of class type and learning environments on students’ learning outcomes. In addition, longitudinal assessments to investigate the intensity of the experimental intervention could provide more interesting results on the long-term effects and suggest more sustainable use.

Online assessment in English language teaching in Vietnamese universities

Teaching and learning online has long been a popular mode in the world. However, for foreign language teaching and learning, which requires a lot of practice, online teaching and learning is not the best option. In recent years, with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, online teaching and learning is no longer an optional mode but an obligatory one. This requires all educational policymakers and school administrators to apply appropriate methods of online assessments so that they can meet such requirements. This paper reports the results of a survey study of 94 English lecturers who experienced online assessment in universities in the South of Vietnam. Based on the analyses of the advantages and disadvantages of using online assessment, this paper suggests ways of selecting suitable methods and appropriate tools for online assessment. The research findings may contribute to the application of technology in language teaching and learning and suggest practical criteria for selecting appropriate assessment tools for online teaching and learning.

ASSESSING COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOLERS IN THE SELECTED PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN MOROGORO MUNICIPALITY -TANZANIA

This study sought to assess cognitive development of preschoolers in the selected pre-primary schools in Morogoro Municipality as a requisite for successful primary education. Cognitive development focuses on information processing, such as decision-making, attention, memory, language abilities, learning, and perceptional skills. The study involved 213 preschoolers from 10 randomly selected preschools in Morogoro Municipality. The study employed International Development and Early Learning Assessment tool (IDELA) in data collection. Both Kiswahili and English versions of IDELA was used in assessing cognitive development of children. The study found that Morogoro Municipality preschoolers have excellent development in all spheres of cognitive development. For example, preschoolers had the mean of 92 in early numeracy, 80% in early literacy and a mean of 90% in executing executive functions. Furthermore, statistically significant difference in cognitive development of pre-schoolers was found based on their age (at p

Student Use of E-Learning During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The breakout of the coronavirus disease has brought about a seismic shift in the daily lives of people worldwide. Educational institutions have been temporarily closed, and different types of lockdowns and social distancing approaches have been applied in countries around the world to delay the spread of the disease. This study investigates the determinants influencing university student intentions and use of electronic learning during the pandemic. Data were collected online from 229 respondents in different academic disciplines at various Saudi Arabian universities. The findings revealed that two factors positively affected students' behavioral intention to utilize electronic learning: trust and performance expectancy. Moreover, the findings showed the significance of facilitating conditions and behavioral intention on students' use of electronic learning during the lockdown. The study findings provide some important practical insights on how curriculum and pedagogy should be modified by adjusting learning standards and assessment tools.

Is a Classification Procedure Good Enough?—A Goodness-of-Fit Assessment Tool for Classification Learning

In recent years, many nontraditional classification methods, such as random forest, boosting, and neural network, have been widely used in applications. Their performance is typically measured in terms of classification accuracy. While the classification error rate and the like are important, they do not address a fundamental question: Is the classification method underfitted? To our best knowledge, there is no existing method that can assess the goodness of fit of a general classification procedure. Indeed, the lack of a parametric assumption makes it challenging to construct proper tests. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a methodology called BAGofT that splits the data into a training set and a validation set. First, the classification procedure to assess is applied to the training set, which is also used to adaptively find a data grouping that reveals the most severe regions of underfitting. Then, based on this grouping, we calculate a test statistic by comparing the estimated success probabilities and the actual observed responses from the validation set. The data splitting guarantees that the size of the test is controlled under the null hypothesis, and the power of the test goes to one as the sample size increases under the alternative hypothesis. For testing parametric classification models, the BAGofT has a broader scope than the existing methods since it is not restricted to specific parametric models (e.g., logistic regression). Extensive simulation studies show the utility of the BAGofT when assessing general classification procedures and its strengths over some existing methods when testing parametric classification models. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI QUIZIZZ SEBAGAI ALAT EVALUASI PEMBELAJARAN DALAM HUKUM NEWTON TENTANG GERAK

For better education it is necessary to use information and communication technologies to support the learning process and tools for quality assessment. The Quizizz application is an online based learning assessment tool that can be used by teachers and students. Newton's law of motion was examined using the Quizizz application learning assessment tool. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Quizizz evaluation tool was effective in improving students' learning outcomes using Newton's law of motion. This study was carried out on class X students of the SMA Negeri 1 Tondano with 21 respondents who use the Quizizz application as a learning assessment tool. The design of this study used the One Group Pretest-Posttest design and the tools used were Pretest and Posttest using the Quizizz application learning assessment tool. This research begins with the pretest, the implementation of the physics learning with Zoom Meeting and ends with the post-test. The results of this study gave an average score of 29.90 pretest and posttest scores of 85.10. The results of the N-Gain test give a value of 79.0985, as can be seen from the categorization of the effectiveness interpretation with a percentage> 76%. So it can be said that learning Newton's law of motion with the Quizizz learning assessment tool falls into the effective category.

Creating Inclusive Psychological Learning Environments Through Appropriate Learning Assessments and Relevant Curriculum

This paper presents the researcher's perspectives on the place and value of learning assessment tools that are applicable to the current situation and the traditional settings where students would like to grow and improve. The researcher decided to examine and cover various materials that could identify, explain, and capture the purposes of assessment and the tangible benefits students can get from it. Even the teachers can do self-assessment from the results of the test and through their own conscious and mindful practices. Further, this perspective article covers and explores the roles of relevant curriculum design and appropriate assessments in the teaching and learning environments.

Transformation of Assessment of the Pre-Service Life Sciences Teachers: Issues of Curriculum Development in Education and Training in South Africa

The Department of Higher Education intends to transform the traditional education theories and practices in the education and training of teachers for the twenty-first century. The attributes of a competent and qualified teacher underpin the envisaged changes in the curriculum to aptly prepare teachers. However, the realizations of the intentions of the department appear to be in vain. Accordingly, the current case studies conducted through qualitative procedures aimed to investigate how teacher educators adhere to the proposals of the Minimum Requirement of Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ). The data gathered through the analysis, of course, guides intended to search for the link between the Life Science curriculum content knowledge and the plan to assess the competences promulgated by the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). The findings pointed out that the course guide indicated learning outcomes, critical outcomes, and course and module outcomes; however, the assessment criteria were not aligned to the learning outcomes, module outcomes, and assessment techniques or tools. Therefore, the study recommends that academics in teacher education should explore and reflect on the models that could explicitly measure the performance of competencies (foundational, practical, and reflexive) authentically and reliably.

Evaluating STEM-Based Sustainability Understanding: A Cognitive Mapping Approach

Management education holds promise for addressing deficiencies in interuniversity science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as sustainability curricula. Accordingly, we designed, developed, implemented, and longitudinally evaluated interdisciplinary STEM-based curricula in the United States. Students in five sections of business management courses and two sections of STEM courses received a STEM-based sustainability intervention (i.e., an interdisciplinary STEM and sustainability module). To assess student outcomes following the intervention and examine the feasibility of cognitive mapping as a student learning assessment tool, we implemented a pre- and post-course modified cognitive mapping assessment in treatment and comparison courses. To interpret the results, we ran descriptives, correlations, paired sample t tests, and principal component analysis. The t tests suggest that when all coding categories are considered, those participating in curricular interventions listed significantly more sustainability terms. The principal component analysis results demonstrate that treatment courses improved variability explained by 7.23% between pre- and post-tests but declined by 8.22% for comparison courses. Overall, linkages became stronger between parent code categories for treatment courses and weaker for comparison courses. These findings add to existing research related to cognitive mapping and demonstrate the ability of the method to capture changes in student outcomes after exposure to STEM-based sustainability curriculum.

Case item creation and video case presentation as summative assessment tools for distance learning in the pandemic era

BackgroundThere is an urgent need for more diverse methods for student evaluation, given the sudden shift to online learning necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Innovative assessment tools will need to cover the required competencies and should be used to drive self-learning. Self-assessments and peer assessments may be added to the traditional classroom-based evaluations to identify individual insecurities or overconfidence. Identification of these factors is essential to medical education and is a focus of current research. MethodsA modified operational assessment was introduced for the evaluation of third-year medical students. This intervention has facilitated sustained education and has promoted interactive student learning. Members of the entering class of 2017 participated in an integrated team and a competency-based online project that involved innovative item creation and case presentation methods. ResultsThe new assessment process has been implemented successfully with positive feedback from all the participants; a usable product has been generated. ConclusionsWe created new assessment tools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that have been used successfully at our institution. These tools have provided a framework for integrated and interactive evaluations that can be used to facilitate the modification of traditional assessment methods.

Hybrid online-flipped learning pedagogy for teaching laboratory courses to mitigate the pandemic COVID-19 confinement and enable effective sustainable delivery: investigation of attaining course learning outcome

Since the early spring of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak has hindered traditional face-to-face teaching and hands-on, traditional delivery of laboratory courses, forcing universities to migrate from the traditional way of teaching to a remote online approach. Although few studies addressed the pandemic's impact on educational outcomes, no studies are found to investigate the impact of the remote online teaching approach on laboratory courses. This paper highlights the impact of the online teaching approach, coupled with flipped learning pedagogy, as a substitute for traditional laboratories. The course learning outcomes and assessment tools are analyzed and discussed for 46 students enrolled in the Unit Operations Laboratory course in the chemical engineering program at Qatar University. Results show that the course learning outcomes are achieved effectively using the hybrid online-flipped learning pedagogy, which can be considered for computerized traditional laboratories as a moderation solution to alleviate pandemic COVID-19 confinement on learning outcome. This methodology can also be sustained in the future to facilitate the teaching of such lab courses, even in normal conditions, to optimize the resources and avail the delivery of such courses to a larger audience who may have various obstacles to attending traditional lab courses.

Online Learning Based on the MIKiR Approach during the Covid 19 Pandemic at MIS Muhajirin Jambi City

Online learning using multiple platforms will be more effective when juxtaposed with other methods or approaches. This study aims to determine the online learning process based on the MIKiR Approach during the Covid 19 Pandemic at MIS Muhajirin Jambi City. This research is a qualitative descriptive field research. This research was conducted at MIS Muhajirin Jambi City. The subjects of this study were teachers and students of grade VI. Data collection was taken through interviews, observation, documentation and field notes. The author takes the role of a direct interviewer to explore more complete data for teachers and students. Thinking is a learning approach that was initiated by the Tanoto Foundation in 2018. Thinking stands for Experiencing, Interaction, Communication, and Reflection. The results showed that the online learning process based on the MIKiR approach began with the preparation of a learning implementation plan and the preparation of media and learning resources, learning assessment tools and learning scenarios along with Student Worksheets (LKPD) based on the “MiKiR” approach. The implementation of learning with learning steps consists of experiencing activities, interaction, communication, and reflection. Assessment is carried out by the teacher by assessing the assignments sent by students through google classroom to be used as a portfolio. Each lesson uses a learning approach to think, the teacher always tries to be creative and innovative in preparing teaching materials and learning scenarios.

Assessing the educational impact of cognitive level of MCQ and SEQ on learning approaches of dental students.

Objectives:MCQ’s and SEQ’s are the most widely used assessment tool in dental colleges across Pakistan. This study explores the impact of assessment tool: MCQ’s and SEQ’s on learning approach of dental students and also identifies correlation between these assessment tools and deep & surface learning approaches in integrated and discipline based curriculum.Methods:A quantitative co-relational study was conducted in 2018 on 2nd and 4th year dental students. A pre-validated “Revised Study Process Questionnaire” was used. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were applied to determine the relationship between learning approaches and assessment tools. Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha.Results:Ninety six students out of one hundred and fifty completed the questionnaire. Correlation test showed that surface approach correlates significantly with MCQ’s (0.73) while no co-relation exists with SEQ’s (-0.14) in our study. Deep approach has a strong and significant correlation with SEQ’s (0.80) as compared to MCQ’s (0.056).Conclusion:Assessment tool has an impact on learning approaches used by the students. It was concluded that students used to prefer deep learning approach while preparing for SEQ’s as they were designed at higher cognitive level, whereas, they preferred surface approach while preparing for MCQ’s as they were developed at low cognitive order.

Helping medical students to learn pathology more effectively.

Teaching methods in pathology for undergraduate medical students are not effective. To document measures that can be adopted by individual teachers that can excite the interest, participation of the students and help them learn pathology in a clinical reasoning context. Medical students in a large international medical school with class sizes of 700-900 were taught the pathology course in a period of sixteen weeks for two cohorts of students each year over a period of twenty years. Specific learning objectives were devised to achieve higher levels of cognitive domain including interpretation, analysis and problem solving of clinical data of patients related to the objectives. The teaching sessions were modified to provide for maximum active participation by students with effective feedback at multiple points. Additional learning tools like concept maps, clickers, modified essay questions, flipped classrooms, clinicopathological conferences, directed self-learning activities were included. Learning objectives and assessment tools for professional behavior and communication skills were included. The students actively participated in all the learning activities with enthusiasm and achieved the objectives as reflected in the performance in the in-house examinations and the USMLE step one examination which tests clinical vignette-based problem-solving principles of which around 70% are related to pathology. The teaching sessions in pathology were useful and effective with adaptation to interactive, clinical reasoning platforms for teaching and assessment.

Conceptual Thinking in Statistics and Data Science Education: Interactive Formative Assessment with Meaning Equivalence Reusable Learning Objects (MERLO)

Computer age statistics, machine learning, data science and in general, data analytics, are having an ubiquitous impact on industry, business and services. Deploying a data transformation strategy requires a workforce which is up to the job in terms of knowledge, experience and capabilities. The application of analytics needs to address organizational needs, invoke proper methods, build on adequate infrastructures and ensure availability of the right skills to the right people. such upskilling requires a focus on conceptual understanding affecting both the pedagogical approach and the complementary learning assessment tools, This paper is about the application of advanced educational concepts to the teaching and evaluation of statistical and data science related concepts. Two educational elements will be included in the discussion: i) the use of simulations to facilitate problem based experiential learning and ii) an emphasis on information quality, as the overall objective of statistics and data science activity. We begin with an introduction to conceptual thinking and meaning equivalence and the application of Meaning Equivalence Reusable Learning Objects (MERLO) in the classroom. We then describe how MERLO and concept science can be applied in the domain of Statistics and Data Science. Section 3 is about the use of simulations in statistical education. In section 4 we discuss practical aspects of an education program focused on conceptual understanding. Section 5 is on the conceptual mapping of information quality as a MERLO infrastructure. The paper concludes with a discussion.

Caracterização dos instrumentos de avaliação das aprendizagens dos estudantes do Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação do Huambo

This study aims at characterizing the learning evaluation tools used on students at Instituto Superior de Ciencias de Educacao do Huambo(ISCED-Huambo) for assessment, and identify suitable learning materials model to improve the previously mentioned process. At the beginning of this research, we dealt with aspect related to learning, learning evaluation, characterisation of learning evaluation tools, in order to achieve the institutional formative process. On the second chapter, we focused on research methodology, where different theoretical and empirical methods were utilized which assisted us to identify different forms of assessments. The interpretation and data analysis was conducted from the data collected from a target population (the teachers) and the school board members using a questionnaire, and the analysis of available literature in the field. From the characterization of some learning assessment tools, we were able to bring forth solid suggestive points with the intention of leading teachers to reflect on the choice of suitable evaluation instruments. This research however, is far from being considered as a conclusive one and we have no intention to deal to the fullest with a very wide topic such as the one we proposed neither we tend to discuss all the known evaluation tools, the study attempted to contribute to the learning and teaching process undergone by teachers in the classroom. Thus, it intended to put great emphasis on the importance of working with a variety of learning assessment tools which leads learners to effectively learn.

Talking Politics: Creating a Course for Incoming Freshman on Political Discourse

Efforts to teach civic engagement address not only students’ political knowledge but also their skills and dispositions. Although the scholarship of teaching and learning has explored the role of political discussion in the pre-college classroom extensively, attention to the topic at the college-level has been limited. Given the challenges campuses currently face regarding freedom of expression, there is value in featuring political discussion in college instruction. In this paper, we share our experiences in creating and piloting a one-credit course for incoming freshmen entitled “Talking Politics: Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable”. Learning objectives, course content, and assessment tools are outlined as well as our plans to enhance future iterations. We hold that learning to “talk politics” with those who disagree with us is a core democratic skill and that this course offers a promising approach to imparting this skill.

THIẾT KẾ VÀ SỬ DỤNG RUBRIC ĐÁNH GIÁ NĂNG LỰC VIẾT VĂN THUYẾT MINH CHO HỌC SINH TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG

Teaching and assessment toward competency-approached are the most crucial changes in the 2018 Language Arts and Literature Curriculum. Demonstrative text is a basic form of informative text, which is important and popular in high school curiculum. This paper suggests how to design and use the rubric as an assessment tool for learning to grade high school student’s writing competency through demonstrative text in order to meet the requirements of the Curriculum.