Assessment Of Student Learning Research Articles

Midterm conversations as co-creation of equitable and inclusive formative assessment

Although assessment of student learning remains a thorny area for co-creation in education, a growing number of researchers and practitioners advocate and enact partnership in formative and summative assessment as part of equity work. In this case study, we join these efforts in reflecting on students’ and our own experiences of the midterm conversation that we use as a key formative assessment structure and process across three co-facilitated courses. The midterm conversation—a partnership among students and instructors as co-teachers—is embedded in course design and curriculum with the goal of advancing, informing, and sustaining our pedagogical commitments. This case illustrates how we practice assessment as dialogue and as emergent understanding. This practice is based on an expectation of diverse learning goals and outcomes and on trust in students’ capacities to direct their learning with reference to their own interests and standards for their work.

From a final exam to continuous assessment on a large Bachelor level engineering course

ABSTRACT A typical practice of assessment in engineering studies, especially on large Bachelor level courses, is a final exam at the end of the course. This practice is problematic both in terms of learning and teaching, as it does not provide feedback on learning experience or student progress before the course is completed. This study examines the gradual process of moving from a final exam towards continuous assessment that integrates the practices of summative and formative assessment. The aim is to understand how the changes affect student performance on the course over a period of four years. The changes were implemented on a large Bachelor level engineering course. The impact of adding practices of continuous assessment was analyzed in relation to the course pass rate, grade distribution, and student feedback. The results show that replacing the final exam with weekly homework improved student performance. Some of the identified differences are statistically significant. Student feedback implies that moving towards continuous assessment had a positive impact on the learning experience. The results support increased use of continuous assessment in the assessment of student learning on large Bachelor level engineering courses.

How does assessment shape student identities? An integrative review

ABSTRACT Assessment of student learning is commonly understood as a seemingly objective measurement of learning outcomes. It is seen as fair that assessment targets students’ abilities – not their identities or personalities. This idea fails to acknowledge how assessment transforms its object, the students, often in unintended ways. While higher education research has largely emphasised the impact of assessment on student learning, the ontological question of how assessment shapes students has remained marginal. This is despite assessment being a part of the fabric of life in higher education: examinations, assignments, grades, rubrics, rankings, and metrics characterise the student experience. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by reviewing empirical studies on how assessment shapes student identities through a theory-driven integrative review of 32 articles (2007–2023). First, these studies are summarised to understand how they conceptualise ‘identities’, what kinds of assessment practices they depict, and what the reported influences on student identities are. Second, a conceptual synthesis provides a metatheory on how assessment transforms student identities in higher education. This theorisation suggests that assessment shapes students through the ontological mechanisms of (1) gatekeeping, (2) legitimisation, (3) concretisation, (4) socialisation and (5) individualisation. Moreover, the theorisation considers students’ own agency over their identity development. Overall, this study emphasises the crucial, hitherto overlooked role of assessment in shaping students’ professional and personal identities in higher education. This study proposes a research agenda to better understand student identity formation in and through assessment.

DeBERTa with hats makes Automated Essay Scoring system better

Automated Essay Scoring (AES) is a rapidly growing field that applies natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques to the analysis and evaluation of academic essays. By automating the process of evaluating essay quality, AES not only greatly reduces the workload of human graders but also ensures consistency and objectivity in the evaluation process. AES systems can evaluate essays based on multiple criteria, including organization, coherence, and content. With the advent of deep learning, AES has shown significant improvements in accuracy and reliability. AES systems have numerous applications in education, particularly in large-scale assessment and feedback loops. In this article, we delve into the use of an improved Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) architecture with disentangled attention mechanism known as DeBERTa for student question-based summarization. This is one of the downstream tasks within AES, which is of great significance for student learning assessment. The organic combination of DeBERTa-v3 and diverse hats like Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM) algorithm and Extreme Gradient Boosting algorithm (XGBoost) has proven to be highly effective in achieving excellent results in this task, indicating their significant potential in real-world AES systems.

Exploring learning outcomes and psycho-emotional experiences of undergraduate students in digital literacy training and support using Web-based assessment platforms

Integrating Web-based platforms into student learning assessment has gained increasing attention among researchers and instructors. However, limited research addresses the practical challenges of involving undergraduates in creating of Web-based assessment platforms. This study investigates the effects of this process on students’ learning outcomes and their psycho-emotional experiences, focusing on motivation and engagement. A comparative study involving 156 students revealed that those using the Kahoot! platform achieved significantly better learning outcomes and displayed higher motivation and emotional engagement than those using Google Forms. This also highlights the role of interface design in improving Web-based assessment platforms, with implications for user interface design.

Using Scenarios to Assess Student Learning

Using Scenarios to Assess Student Learning

Student Assessment during Covid: A View from the Principal’s (Virtual) Desk

In March 2020, schools worldwide suddenly and dramatically transitioned to online learning. This article describes a case study where we used a purposeful sampling of six technology-savvy school principals to explore their experiences with student assessment of learning during the pandemic. Findings captured how these tech-savvy leaders supported teachers, students, and parents and created an infrastructure that prepared them for the transition to online learning and assessment of that learning. The lessons learned are valuable for school leaders who have begun to embrace online and hybrid learning in ways they had not imagined before the pandemic.

Moderating role of learning strategies through student assessment of distance learning

Moderating role of learning strategies through student assessment of distance learning

Challenges and innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international survey of music therapy educators

ABSTRACT Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic affected educational institutions and clinical organizations, with universities and clinical sites experiencing a complete lock down with unexpected changes to meeting students’ and clients’ needs within this new landscape. Consequently, music therapy educators had to pivot from their current teaching and practicum format to comply with university and governmental restrictions. Study aims This manuscript explores how COVID-19 impacted music therapy teaching practices and learning delivery, identifying resources and tools implemented by music therapy educators, explicating changes in assessment of student learning, compliance with required guidelines and approvals, and innovations used or discovered during this time. Method International music therapy educators completed an online survey about their music therapy education and teaching practices, including questions about their teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Sixty-one music therapy educators from 19 countries completed a 55-question survey, including 6 questions specifically about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their teaching practices. Majority of respondents reported that COVID-19 had a significant impact on their teaching practices, sharing the various changes implemented and tools and resources integrated into their online teaching platforms. Two exemplars further illustrate detailed processes necessitated by educators from two different universities. Discussion Clearly, the pandemic impacted music therapy education and training, including integration and adaptation of new and existing tools into their teaching and assessment practices, plus changes to safety procedures in implementing guidelines. Lastly, innovative teaching practices introduced during the pandemic that educators plan to retain as a part of their teaching portfolio are explored.

Teaching, learning, and assessment of science investigation in Year 11: Teachers’ response to NCEA

In New Zealand, the school science curriculum promotes openended science investigation, but the assessment regime in year 11 requires investigation with ‘direction’ and a more limited understanding of investigation. This case study research explored teaching practice and teacher understanding of science investigation, and the connectedness between learning, motivation to learn, and assessment. This paper presents the findings on teacher practice related to the teaching and assessment of science investigation. The results indicate that teacher practice of science investigation changed in response to the internal assessment requirements associated with science investigation for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). The nature of this change raises validity and reliability issues for the assessment of student learning of science investigation.

Improvement of the Learning Process: the Experience of Introducing a Cumulative System in Assessing Student Learning Success in Distance Learning

Improvement of the Learning Process: the Experience of Introducing a Cumulative System in Assessing Student Learning Success in Distance Learning

Portfolio Assessment to Measuring Capabilities Communications and Collaborations of Grade V Students in Elementary School

One form of assessment that can assess students' abilities as a whole, process and results, is portfolio assessment. The problem in this study originates from the results of a needs analysis on student learning assessments. This study aims to produce a feasible and effective portfolio assessment to measure the communication and collaboration skills of fifth grade elementary school students. This research is a Research and Development (R&D) type of research, the development was carried out referring to the theory of Borg & Gall. The data collection tool uses a valid and reliable portfolio assessment. The data analysis technique uses a paired t test with a calculated result of 0.000 or less than 0.05, which means that there is a difference between the pretest and post-test results for students. Based on this research, it can be concluded that portfolio assessment is effective in improving students' communication and collaboration skills. Based on the conclusions above, suggestions from researchers regarding students' communication and collaboration skills can be improved by students practicing questions as often as possible and being serious about following the learning process according to the assessment aspects.

Ungrading: The Case for Abandoning Institutionalized Assessment Protocols and Improving Pedagogical Strategies

Our current grading system assumes everyone starts at approximately the same place. This assumption presumes uniformity and impartiality to be inherent in our school system. We argue that this is not the case. This work explores the evolution of grading systems and the integration of new technologies in education, focusing on the development of more inclusive, dynamic, and adaptable teaching and assessment strategies. Key methods include diversified assessments, experiential learning approaches such as problem-based learning and the generated question learning model, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in hyperflex learning strategies. The proposed work astutely identifies the critical flaws within the modern grading system and puts forth a compelling solution: shifting the focus towards assessing students’ improvement scores. This approach not only offers a progressive path forward, but also significantly enhances equity by holding students accountable for their knowledge gaps while promoting a more comprehensive evaluation. Additionally, creative engagement techniques, such as mock banking reward systems, are employed to enhance student motivation and participation. AI-facilitated formative assessments and personalized learning plans are also discussed, emphasizing the importance of real-time insights into student progress and the provision of flexible personalized learning environments. This comprehensive approach to education fosters student ownership of learning, promotes active participation, and equips students with essential lifelong learning skills. Moreover, a more accurate assessment of student learning and progress would be fostered, thus creating a paradigm shift from the currently flawed grading system.

ANALYSIS OF ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION LEARNING MANAGEMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON TEACHING METHODS IN BAN BANGPU YARING PATTANI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THAILAND

The objective of this study is to analyze Islamic religious education learning management at Ban Bangpu Yaring Pattani Public Elementary School in Thailand. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive study and a case study approach, this research focuses on the perspectives of the school principal, teachers, and students. Data were procured via interviews, observations, and document analyses, which were subsequently interpreted qualitatively using the Huberman and Miles model. Our findings show that the Islamic religious education curriculum management at Ban Bangpu Yaring Pattani Public Elementary School undergoes several stages: (1) The planning of the curriculum begins with an emphasis on the Islamic curriculum at the basic education unit level, a SWOT analysis, the establishment of a curriculum development team for Islamic religious education, curriculum development, revision based on feedback, approval by the local Department or Office of Basic Education, followed by implementation. (2) The implementation of the Islamic religious education learning lacks innovation due to a majority of the teachers being senior staff. Their limited skills in utilizing new technology result in a reliance on traditional learning management models. As a consequence, the learning process fails to fully engage students and teachers struggle to keep pace with modern teaching styles. Notwithstanding, the teachers excel in dedicating ample attention to the students. (3) The evaluation of student learning outcomes has been conducted by teachers to determine the students' mastery of basic competencies in elementary school. The assessment of student learning occurs at the end of each basic competency using predefined indicators based on the minimum competency criteria value, conducted in four stages: classroom, school, regional, and national levels. This study underscores the need for more innovative approaches in Islamic religious education and training in new teaching methods for senior teachers to better engage students and match up with the dynamics of the modern world.

Evolution of a self-renewing, participant-centered workshop series in BMB assessment.

We present as a case study the evolution of a series of participant-centered workshops designed to meet a need in the life sciences education community-the incorporation of best practices in the assessment of student learning. Initially, the ICABL (Inclusive Community for the Assessment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/BMB Learning) project arose from a grass-roots effort to develop material for a national exam in biochemistry and molecular biology. ICABL has since evolved into a community of practice in which participants themselves-through extensive peer review and reflection-become integral stakeholders in the workshops. To examine this evolution, this case study begins with a pilot workshop supported by seed funding and thoughtful programmatic assessment, the results of which informed evidence-based changes that, in turn, led to an improved experience for the community. Using participant response data, the case study also reveals critical features for successful workshops, including participant-centered activities and the value of frequent peer review of participants' products. Furthermore, we outline a train-the-trainer model for creating a self-renewing community by bringing new perspectives and voices into an existing core leadership team. This case study, then, offers a blueprint for building a thriving, evolving community of practice that not only serves the needs of individual scientist-educators as they seek to enhance student learning, but also provides a pathway for elevating members to positions of leadership.

Measuring the Yard Lines: A Discussion on Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment in Sport Management

Student learning outcomes and assessment of those outcomes have become standard in almost every accreditation, reaffirmation, and most annual reports for accrediting bodies. Additionally, outcomes and assessments are vital to continuous improvement of sport management programs. This interview was conducted with an expert on outcomes and assessment at the national level, who can provide insight from an expert on the “outside looking in.” The purpose of this interview is to discuss broader standards in educational assessment and how those standards can be applied specifically to sport management. This resource is most useful for those early in the process of outcomes and assessment creation, those who may not already have Commission on Sport Management Accreditation and training opportunities, or those who simply want to improve their classes.

Including Authentic Student Voice in your Assessment Story

Authentic student voice within the assessment of student learning requires meaningful student input and institutional support. Previous examinations of this topic have primarily linked student voice with two approaches: student representation and student partnership. This 2023 AALHE Conference session introduced a third approach: student leadership. A case study from a Midwestern college is used to exemplify this approach. It is suggested that student-led assessment improves the authenticity of student voice and the reliability of assessment results. Additionally, for institutions that prioritize leadership development, student-led assessment can demonstrate the achievement of this goal as students fill a leadership role in their institutions.

Implementation of Class Visit Supervision Activities as an Effort to Improve Teachers' Capabilities in Assessing Student Learning Outcomes at MTs Al Khairaat Ambunu

The aim of supervision is to develop a conducive and better climate in learning activities, through coaching and improving the teaching profession. In other words, the aim of teaching supervision is to help and make it easy for teachers to learn to improve their abilities in order to realize students' learning goals. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine the ability of teachers at MTs Al Khairaat Ambunu to carry out learning outcomes assessment activities through the implementation of class visit supervision activities. The research method used is classroom action research. The research subjects were 6 teachers consisting of 2 subject teachers in class VII, 2 subject teachers in class VIII, and 2 subject teachers in class IX MTs Al Kairaat Ambunu. Meanwhile, the object of research is increasing the teacher's ability to carry out learning outcomes assessment activities. The research procedures carried out are based on each cycle, namely planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. Types of data and data collection techniques use qualitative and quantitative data, where qualitative data is collected through observation and documentation. Meanwhile, quantitative data is collected through tests at the end of each cycle. Meanwhile, data analysis techniques use data reduction techniques, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Data analysis techniques, namely qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The implementation of classroom visit supervision has proven to be able to improve teachers' abilities in assessing student learning outcomes at MTsAl Khairaat Ambunu, even semester of the 2022/2023 academic year, as marked by teachers showing seriousness in understanding and implementing learning outcomes assessment activities. This can be proven from the results of observations which show that there is an increase in the teacher's ability to carry out learning outcomes assessment activities from cycle to cycle. In the first cycle, the average classical achievement score was 48.80 in the LESS category, increasing to 73.61 in the enough category, and in the last cycle it became 92.87 in the good category, and individually in the initial condition, there were no 6 teachers yet. which reached the good category. However, in cycle I there were already 2 people, or 33.33% who reached the good category and this increased to 100% or 6 teachers in cycle II.

Effects of Transition from Closed-Book to Open-Book Assessment on Students' Scores in a Pharmacokinetics Course.

Closed-book summative assessment of student learning, common in pharmacy education, is challenging to administer in a remote setting due to the need for costly and intrusive monitoring technology. Therefore, open-book assessments without monitoring have been considered an alternative in remote settings. The present study investigated the effects of the transition from in-person closed-book to remote open-book format on the students' scores in different assessment categories in a Pharmacokinetics course. The students' performances in the transition cohort (Transition, n = 96) during the in-person and remote periods were compared with those of an in-person cohort (Control, n = 85) during the same periods. Assessments included take-home assignments, daily quizzes, and progress/final examinations. Whereas the take-home assignments were open-book for cohorts and periods, the quizzes and examinations were open-book only for the Transition cohort during the remote period. Only the quiz/examination questions that were identical for both cohorts were included in the analysis. Statistical analysis by a linear, mixed-effects model indicated that the transition did not have any significant impact on the scores of students in the assignments, which were open-book for both cohorts and both periods. However, there were significant increases in the Transition cohort's scores (mean ± SE) during the remote open-book period in both quizzes (+8.4 ± 1.9%) and examination (+6.8 ± 1.5%) questions, compared with the Control cohort who had in-person closed-book assessments. These differences amounted to Cohen's d-effect sizes of 0.61 and 0.59 for the quiz and examination questions, respectively. It is concluded that when the questions are similar, the students' scores in pharmacokinetic assessments are higher (medium effect size) in a remote open-book format compared with the in-person closed-book format.

Unproctored online exams provide meaningful assessment of student learning

In the United States, the onset of COVID-19 triggered a nationwide lockdown, which forced many universities to move their primary assessments from invigilated in-person exams to unproctored online exams. This abrupt change occurred midway through the Spring 2020 semester, providing an unprecedented opportunity to investigate whether online exams can provide meaningful assessments of learning relative to in-person exams on a per-student basis. Here, we present data from nearly 2,000 students across 18 courses at a large Midwestern University. Using a meta-analytic approach in which we treated each course as a separate study, we showed that online exams produced scores that highly resembled those from in-person exams at an individual level despite the online exams being unproctored-as demonstrated by a robust correlation between online and in-person exam scores. Moreover, our data showed that cheating was either not widespread or ineffective at boosting scores, and the strong assessment value of online exams was observed regardless of the type of questions asked on the exam, the course level, academic discipline, or class size. We conclude that online exams, even when unproctored, are a viable assessment tool.