Traditional Assessment Practices Research Articles

Exploring Counselor Practices and Risk Assessment in a Proactive Digital Intervention Through Instagram in Young People: Qualitative Study.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of preventable death in young people, and the way young people are communicating suicidality has evolved to include web-based disclosures and help-seeking. To date, mental health intervention services, both on the web and in person, have been conceived in the traditional model, whereby support is provided if a young person (or their family) actively seeks out that support when distressed. On the other hand, proactive outreach is an innovative approach to intervention that has been shown to be effective in other areas of health care. Live for Tomorrow chat was delivered on Instagram and comprised of counselors who reach out to provide brief person-centered intervention to young people who post content indicating distress or suicidality. Our aim was to explore how counselors engaged young people in a proactive digital intervention and how risk assessment was conducted in this context. We analyzed 35 transcripts of conversations between counselors and young people aged 13-25 years using the 6-step approach of Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. These transcripts included a counseling intervention and a follow-up chat that was aimed at collecting feedback about the counseling intervention. A total of 7 themes emerged: using microskills to facilitate conversations, building confidence and capacity to cope with change, seeking permission when approaching conversations about suicidality or self-harm, conversations about suicidality following a structured approach, providing assurances of confidentiality, validation of the experience of suicidality, and using conversations about suicidality to identify interventions. Counselors were able to translate counseling microskills and structured questioning regarding suicidality into a digital context. In particular, in the digital context, counselors would use the young person's post and emojis to further conversations and build rapport. The findings highlight the importance of the counselor's role to listen, empathize, validate, and empower young people and that all these skills can be transferred to a digital text counseling intervention. Counselors used a structured approach to understanding suicidality in a permission-seeking, validating, and confidential manner to identify interventions with the young person. These practices allowed the conversation to move beyond traditional risk assessment practices to meaningful conversations about suicidality. Moving beyond traditional risk assessment practices and into conversations about suicidality allowed for the validation of the young person's experience and exploration of interventions and support that made sense and were seen to be helpful to the young person. This study highlighted the benefits of a proactive digital chat-based intervention, which is a novel approach to engaging with young people experiencing psychological distress and suicidality. Furthermore, this research demonstrates the feasibility and benefit of moving mental health intervention and support to a medium where young people are currently disclosing distress and intervening proactively.

Exploring the Relationship between Classroom Assessment Practices and Social Studies Curriculum Objectives among Teachers in Junior High Schools: A Case Study of the East Mamprusi Municipality in Ghana's North-East Region

The study examined the relationship between Junior High School social studies teachers’ classroom assessment practices and the curriculum objectives of social studies in the east Mamprusi municipal. Sixty (60) Junior High School Social Studies teachers were involved in the study. Data were collected through the administration of questionnaires, interviews and observation with a mixed-method design employed in the study. Results from the study showed that teachers had a negative attitude towards classroom assessment even though they had a positive attitude towards some assessment techniques; the results also revealed that the teachers preferred to use both traditional and alternative assessment practices in their instructions. It was also revealed that teachers do not align their classroom assessment practices with the curriculum objectives of social studies. It was recommended that teachers’ attitudes towards classroom assessment and their assessment practices should be improved (especially regarding assessing attitudes and values). It was also recommended that refresher courses should be organized for teachers already on the field to upgrade their knowledge and skills in educational assessment based on the curriculum objectives.

Using AI-based detectors to control AI-assisted plagiarism in ESL writing: “The Terminator Versus the Machines”

The release of ChatGPT marked the beginning of a new era of AI-assisted plagiarism that disrupts traditional assessment practices in ESL composition. In the face of this challenge, educators are left with little guidance in controlling AI-assisted plagiarism, especially when conventional methods fail to detect AI-generated texts. One approach to managing AI-assisted plagiarism is using fine-tuned AI classifiers, such as RoBERTa, to identify machine-generated texts; however, the reliability of this approach is yet to be established. To address the challenge of AI-assisted plagiarism in ESL contexts, the present cross-disciplinary descriptive study examined the potential of two RoBERTa-based classifiers to control AI-assisted plagiarism on a dataset of 240 human-written and ChatGPT-generated essays. Data analysis revealed that both platforms could identify AI-generated texts, but their detection accuracy was inconsistent across the dataset.

Large-scale energy storage system: safety and risk assessment

The International Renewable Energy Agency predicts that with current national policies, targets and energy plans, global renewable energy shares are expected to reach 36% and 3400 GWh of stationary energy storage by 2050. However, IRENA Energy Transformation Scenario forecasts that these targets should be at 61% and 9000 GWh to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limit the global temperature rise within the twenty-first century to under 2 °C. Despite widely known hazards and safety design of grid-scale battery energy storage systems, there is a lack of established risk management schemes and models as compared to the chemical, aviation, nuclear and the petroleum industry. Incidents of battery storage facility fires and explosions are reported every year since 2018, resulting in human injuries, and millions of US dollars in loss of asset and operation. Traditional risk assessment practices such as ETA, FTA, FMEA, HAZOP and STPA are becoming inadequate for accident prevention and mitigation of complex energy power systems. This work describes an improved risk assessment approach for analyzing safety designs in the battery energy storage system incorporated in large-scale solar to improve accident prevention and mitigation, via incorporating probabilistic event tree and systems theoretic analysis. The causal factors and mitigation measures are presented. The risk assessment framework presented is expected to benefit the Energy Commission and Sustainable Energy Development Authority, and Department of Standards in determining safety engineering guidelines and protocols for future large-scale renewable energy projects. Stakeholders and Utility companies will benefit from improved safety and reliability by avoiding high-cost asset damages and downtimes due to accident events.

New Examination Approach for Real-World Creativity and Problem-Solving Skills in Mathematics

This paper presents a new and innovative examination method designed to foster creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration in mathematics education. Traditional assessment practices often focus on rote memorization and fail to engage students in the exploration of mathematical concepts and connect the content to real-world problems. In contrast, the proposed examination approach requires students to invent and solve their own mathematical tasks based on their personal interests and experiences. By actively engaging with mathematical concepts and relationships, students deepen their understanding while developing essential skills such as communication, self-assessment, and peer feedback. Anonymized peer correction is also introduced as a means of minimizing bias and promoting objectivity and a wider understanding. The study investigates student perceptions of the examination based on their experiences regarding its effects on creativity and problem-solving skills. The findings suggest that the new way of examining may not only enhance students’ mathematical understanding and problem-solving abilities but also foster a collaborative learning environment that encourages communication and peer support. The paper concludes that the adoption of this new method has the potential to transform traditional assessment practices and promote more engaged, creative, and collaborative learning experiences for students in a wide range of subjects.

Assessment Practices for Teaching and Learning of Mathematics: The Perception of Pre-service Teachers in District Khairpur, Sindh Pakistan

Mathematics plays a vital role in academics as well as in the everyday lives of individuals. Moreover, it is considered the most complicated and tough academic subject among students due to its complexity. Whereas, in terms of teaching and assessment strategies, mathematical conceptualization is also one of the most challenging aspects among teachers. In the classroom, mostly pedagogical and traditional assessment practices develop students' negative attitudes towards mathematics. Similarly, assessment in mathematics is an integral part of teaching and learning, but it is usually viewed as a problematic part of the instructional task. There is considerable evidence that teachers' beliefs about mathematics assessment impact their teaching of mathematics. This study aims to identify the perceived approaches to assessment in the mathematics classroom and analyze the effective domains of assessment in the mathematics classroom by pre-service teachers in Khairpur. Therefore, to explore this perspective, this study has been conducted with pre-service teachers to analyze their perceptions regarding assessment practices for mathematics. The qualitative research methods employed in this study and the qualitative data collected through a structured interview protocol. The sample of study comprises five pre-service teachers from district Sukkur, Sindh. In an effort to address the research questions, thematic analysis has been used. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicated that the different perceptions of pre-service teachers about assessment in mathematics range from traditional to constructive, which highlights the importance of teaching approaches that focus on formative assessment in the math classroom along with summative assessment in a constructive way. It is recommended that formative assessment be used during the teaching and learning process of mathematics because formative assessment is more effective than summative assessment.Moreover, the study suggests that teachers should adopt some effective strategies for assessment of mathematics.

Exploring natural language processing in mechanical engineering education: Implications for academic integrity

In this paper, the authors review extant natural language processing models in the context of undergraduate mechanical engineering education. These models have advanced to a stage where it has become increasingly more difficult to discern computer vs. human-produced material, and as a result, have understandably raised questions about their impact on academic integrity. As part of our review, we perform two sets of tests with OpenAI's natural language processing model (1) using GPT-3 to generate text for a mechanical engineering laboratory report and (2) using Codex to generate code for an automation and control systems laboratory. Our results show that natural language processing is a potentially powerful assistive technology for engineering students. However, it is a technology that must be used with care, given its potential to enable cheating and plagiarism behaviours given how the technology challenges traditional assessment practices and traditional notions of authorship.

Influence of Assessment Practices on Business Education Students’ Academic Performance in Nigerian Colleges of Education

Purpose: Serious complaints from lecturers and students concerning lackadaisical approach to assessment informed the decision of the researchers to examine the influence of assessment practices on business education students’ academic performance in colleges of education in Southwest Nigeria. Two purposes, two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study.
 Methodology: The study adopted the descriptive survey research design while the population of the study consisted of 200 business education lecturers and 2000 Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) final year regular students registered for the 2020/2021 academic session. The sample comprised 132 lecturers as well as 322 students. The multi-stage sampling technique incorporating purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample for the study. The instruments for data collection Students Academic Performance Proforma (SAPP) coupled with lecturers and students questionnaires titled; Influence of Assessment Practices on Business Education Students’ Academic Performance Questionnaire (IAPBESAPQ). The Cronbach Alpha formula was used to establish the internal consistency reliability coefficients of 0.77 for lecturers’ questionnaire and 0.78 for students’ questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using frequency tables, mean, standard deviation, t-test statistics and linear regression analysis.
 Findings: The study found that, end of semester examination (ESE) (Mean = 4.00, SD = 0.61), written tests (Mean = 3.93, SD = 0.45) classroom exercises (Mean = 3.73, SD = 0.44) and take-home assignment (Mean = 3.60, SD = 0.53) are the most commonly adopted assessment practices by business education lecturers in colleges of education. It was also revealed that assessment practices have significant influence on academic performance (F (1.452) = 1.609, p = 0.205) of business education students in colleges of education.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: Finally, it was recommended among others that business education lecturers in colleges of education should adopt assessment practices that elicit autonomy, engagement, high-order thinking and increased proficiency in skill courses. As a contribution to theory, practice and policy, this study exposed an urgent need for a paradigm shift from traditional assessment practices to competency-based assessment practices which are essential ingredients for survival and advancement in this era of globalization.

Assessment in the age of artificial intelligence

In this paper, we argue that a particular set of issues mars traditional assessment practices. They may be difficult for educators to design and implement; only provide discrete snapshots of performance rather than nuanced views of learning; be unadapted to the particular knowledge, skills, and backgrounds of participants; be tailored to the culture of schooling rather than the cultures schooling is designed to prepare students to enter; and assess skills that humans routinely use computers to perform. We review extant artificial intelligence approaches that–at least partially–address these issues and critically discuss whether these approaches present additional challenges for assessment practice.

Evaluation of a formative peer assessment in research methods teaching using an online platform: A mixed methods pre-post study

BackgroundIn higher education settings, there are increasing calls to shift away from traditional summative assessment practices, such end of term written tests, to explore methods of assessing learning in alternative ways. Peer assessment has been advocated as a means of formative assessment to enhance student engagement, empowering students to take responsibility for their own learning. While there is accumulating evidence for the value of peer assessment in higher education, one cannot assume peer feedback will translate appropriately to all settings and educational contexts. ObjectivesThis study evaluated the implementation of formative online peer assessment in a nursing and midwifery research methods module. We explored students' expectations, experiences, and ultimately the acceptability of this approach. DesignA quantitative descriptive study. SettingIreland. MethodsAn online survey to collate expectations and experiences of engagement in peer assessment. Scales were drawn from previous research and non-parametric tests explored changes in perceptions over time. Qualitative content analysis explored patterns evident in open-text responses. ResultsThe response rate was 28% (n = 74) at baseline and 31% at follow-up (n = 81). Peer assessment was a new experience for 95% of respondents. Students initially expressed apprehension, perceiving the task as daunting, and doubting their ability to provide feedback to peers. However, through providing instruction and tools to support students in the activity, high levels of satisfaction with the process and the experience were reported. Significant differences in perceptions of peer assessment were evident over time, including an enhanced belief that respondents had the requisite skills to appraise the work of their peers. ConclusionsIn sum, nursing and midwifery students agreed that peer assessment was a valuable learning experience as part of research methods training and critical skills development.

“SCRATCH AND CHALLENGE” AS AN ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR PEER AND GROUP ACTIVITIES IN CLASSROOM

Peer and group activities can help students develop knowledge and skills. Alternative assessment for peer and group activities can use to evaluate students performance in classroom activities. The paper aim to discuss the use of alternative assessment tool named “scratch and challenge” on teaching practices to promote active learning and improve soft skills among students. Findings from systematic review show that “scratch and challenge”can be a tool to manage students ideas on discussed topic, a platform to improve critical thinking in project based learning, and a simple guidance for active interaction learning process. This finding implies that instructors’ and students’ roles differ from those under traditional assessment practices. Furthermore, student can participate actively in learning process and engage in peer and group evaluation. This teaching tool can be recommended to be applied and tested in various instructional settings in order to motivates students and improve learning process.

Classroom Assessment, Literacy and Practices of Teacher Educators in Pakistan

Literacy practices focus classroom assessment skills and knowledge. This study investigated the correlation of classroom assessment literacy and practices of teacher educators in Pakistan. Teacher educators of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Teacher education institutions were investigated through Assessment Literacy Test (ALT), Classroom Assessment Practices Questionnaire (CAPQ) following quantitative correlational research design. The results reflected moderate level assessment literacy of teacher educators in Pakistan and found them practice traditional assessment practices. Furthermore, majority of teacher educators were found to have less knowledge and skills in designing and selecting appropriate assessment tools and that most of the classroom assessment practices were limited to paper-pencil tests. Teacher training with mutual consultation of Learning and Innovation Division (LID) of Higher Education Commission (HEC), the establishment of National Assessment Wing under the Umbrella of National Curriculum Wing and support from ICT supported devices/software, online resources were recommended.

Collaborating With School Psychologists: Moving Beyond Traditional Assessment Practices

Collaborating With School Psychologists: Moving Beyond Traditional Assessment Practices

Disrupting metaphors of coloniality to mediate social inclusion in the global South

ABSTRACTNew voices emerging in the global South are contesting the academy’s elitist and exclusionary ethos by disrupting the normalcy of coloniality. Concerns raised by the student protests of 2015 and 2016 have challenged the higher education sector to rethink its traditional teaching, learning, and assessment practices in response to student calls for decolonised and transformative curricula. This paper explores the ‘voice’ of the marginalised, who dare to ‘speak’ in authentic and provocative ways to call the university to action. We pose the questions: are alternative voices enough to inspire institutional change if traditional hierarchies of power remain intact? What does this mean for the collective project of re-imagining a university that carries a promise of social inclusion and social justice? What are the implications for academic development (AD) work, which finds itself on the margins, in service of mainstream (and dominant) epistemic and pedagogic practices? Using reflective narratives, and drawing on decolonial scholarship, this study explores a group process involved in curriculum change work at a university in South Africa. It raises challenges for AD and its role in the current context of change.

L’EFFICACE INTERAZIONE FRA VALUTAZIONE E TECNOLOGIE: EVIDENZE DA UNA RASSEGNA SISTEMATICA DELLA LETTERATURA

Assessment is a widely discussed topic in educational research, due to its key role in learning processes. An emerging theme in the current debate is the need to adopt approaches more consistent with the pedagogical, cultural and technological developments concerning and determining teaching and learning activities. In this context, the interest in the relationship between assessment and technologies keeps growing. In order to investigate this relationship, this paper reviews the literature, researching ways in which digital technologies are used in schools and higher education contexts, trying to find elements of novelty, in comparison with traditional assessment practices. The findings highlight some important affordances of digital technologies in the assessment processes at different educational levels as well as in different subjects. Furthermore, the results showcase a large number of significant elements and new assessment scenarios, which are difficult to implement without the use of technologies.

How to be or not to be? A critical dialogue on the limitations and opportunities of academic development in the current higher education context

In the tumultuous time we find ourselves, debates about pedagogy have taken centre stage once again. Concerns raised by the student protests of 2015 and 2016 have highlighted the urgent need to re-think traditional teaching, learning and assessment practices, as well as the development of decolonised and transformative curricula. Traditional notions of academic and professional development are now being tested and contested, insofar as they are able to respond to student challenges in appropriate, responsive, legitimate and relevant ways. As a professional organisation dedicated to supporting learning and teaching, the executive team of HELTASA responded to the challenge in this paper by engaging with perspectives on the purpose, role and conceptualisation of AD in the current decolonial moment in the South African Higher Education landscape. Critical processes that enable academics to engage, share thoughts and debate epistemological, pedagogical and methodological options to support students and academics are much needed. And the context and spirit in which these debates occur may be as important as the debates themselves. At its annual conference, the executive team facilitated a critical dialogue with conference delegates on the limitations and opportunities of AD in our current context. Given the diverse teaching and learning contexts and institutional differentiation in the sector, this paper explores individual and collective theorised observations, reflections and experiences of the seven facilitators who led the CD. These reflections were analysed and discussed against the backdrop of AD as well as the affordances of CD as a participatory learning and engagement methodology. The findings showed that there is dire need to re-imagine, not only AD’s role but alternative forms of critical engagement in the sector.

Understanding Chinese EFL teachers’ conceptions and practices of assessment

AbstractThis paper reports on findings from an ongoing research project exploring Chinese EFL teachers’ conceptions of assessment and their classroom assessment practices, as well as to examine the relationship between these two. The sample for the study consisted of 107 EFL teachers from 18 secondary schools who completed a Chinese version of the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment inventory (Brown, Hui, Yu, & Kennedy, 2011) and the Classroom Assessment Practices Questionnaire modified from Assessment Practices Inventory (Zhang & Burry-Stock, 2003). This study found that Chinese EFL teachers strongly associated assessment as a means of improving students’ EFL learning’ with assessment as a means of cultivating positive moral and personal character contributing to students’ lifelong learning and good citizenship. Results also showed that although there existed some level of alignment of teaching and assessment in the classroom, traditional assessment practices rather than alternative assessment such as student self-assessment were seen by the EFL teachers as contributing to students’ learning and making individual and school accountable, which is potentially a matter of some concern if innovative assessment reform that avoids using mandated external examinations is to be carried out in the Chinese EFL classroom. Implications of the results for Chinese EFL teacher assessment literacy development are also discussed

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN EFL TEACHING AND LEARNING

The assessment has been regarded as the crucial element in instructional process which involeved the teacher and students ini it. In addition, it requires a number of aspects which are concerned on authenticity of how students do the task performatively. Therefore, authentic assessment is necessarily selected in order to reach the goal or objectives of teaching and learning process which focused on real-world tasks. The five dimensional framework proposed by Gulikers et.al (2004) need to be employed inside the implementation of authentic assessment which covers at least: tasks, physical context, social context, result or form, and criteria. The framework represents how the students are assesses authentically as well performatively in order that there are innovative product and also perfomance created by the students particularly. Beacuse authenticity is crucially needed to model of assessment recently and it also represents the authentic outcomes that are totally obtained in the teaching and learning process. Authentic assessment is a new assessment paradigm which contributesto significant alternative towards the existence of traditional assessment practices which are still used by most of the teachers in any levels. Regarding the paradigm, assessment is a process which supports as well as improve students’ learning (focuses on enhancing their cognitive skills) instead of only assessing the teaching and learning process.

Students’ experience toward ePortfolios as a reflective assessment tool in a dual mode indigenous business course

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate students’ experiences of, and attitudes on, the use of technology – in the form of ePortfolio – as an assessment tool. The authors seek to determine whether ePortfolios aid students in facilitating critical reflection on their learning and academic skill development. The authors also determine whether ePortfolios can provide an alternative assessment tool to the traditional assessment practices in the accounting and business discipline.Design/methodology/approachThis study surveys students enrolled in an indigenous business course using questions on the usability of ePortfolios, technical support and effectiveness in critical reflection and learning. Formal evaluations were included to capture students’ self-reflections on their ePortfolio experience. The analysis included analysis of variance, t-tests, correlations and hierarchical regression.FindingsResults indicated that students show positive attitudes toward ePortfolios even after controlling for possible confounding variables such as previous experience, attitudes and accessibility. The authors also found that ePortfolios are a useful vehicle for enhancing students’ learning and understanding of indigenous knowledge in a business context. They were also found to facilitate students’ ability to critically reflect, engage in learning and develop their academic skills.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study could benefit those working in higher education, particularly accounting academics in Australian universities, and the adaptation of ePortfolios in a blended learning environment, and contribute to pedagogical knowledge regarding indigenous business issues. Academics could design the curriculum of the accounting courses within the commerce programme that addresses programme learning objectives to align with graduate employability outcomes.Practical implicationsThis study provides a foundation for improving the design and assessment of written communication activities in accounting courses to achieve employability skills outcomes commensurate with university accreditation criteria. This could be achieved with the development of a community of practice developed by the professional accounting bodies in collaboration with Australian universities.Originality/valueThe research is not wholly new, although the use of ePortfolios in accounting education is not widely reported and, therefore, may be of interest to those in advancing the accounting education agenda. In light of the recent call by Australian professional accounting bodies, ePortfolios can provide accounting graduates the non-technical or soft skills such as communication, interpersonal and critical thinking.

Possibilidades da prática avaliativa no ensino superior: uma experiência colaborativa

This article aims to reflect on the evaluation practice of higher education teachers generated from research conducted as part of a private higher education institution. The objective of this study is to characterize the assessment practices of teachers who work in higher education and collaborate in order to facilitate the expansion of dynamic assessment practices were used as theoretical and methodological support the studies of Vygotsky (2007), Liberali (2008), Ibiapina (2007, 2008), Meier (2007), Campione (2002) and Hoffmann (2011). Field research was conducted in a qualitative approach to collaborative type with 3 (three) in higher education using the reflective interview as data collection tool to promote critical thinking about assessment practices to develop. The results showed the prevalence of use of traditional assessment practices by teachers and the possibility of performing dynamic assessment practices from the understanding of these nurtured by the research and training process.