Variety Of Assessment Strategies Research Articles

Assessing Character in Mentored, Contextual Learning

This article is concerned with the complex role of assessment in the character development of graduate students in seminary education. It presents the current curricular approach of Denver Seminary to mentored, contextual formation and the variety of assessment strategies that support the growth of individual students and a culture of integrated learning in the institution. Rather than directing assessment strategies on individual character qualities, we argue for the efficacy of assessing the enabling conditions for character growth expressed in the andragogic elements of adult learning skills. Within this model, learning proves to be expansive enough for the contemporary seminary student who has a sense that it is up to them to prepare for and create the work they dream of within a changing culture.

PRE-SERVICE VISUAL ARTS TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR METHODS COURSE IN NATIONAL TEACHER COLLEGES IN UGANDA

This research aimed to investigate the second year pre-service visual arts teachers' (PVATs) perceptions of the effectiveness of their methods course in equipping them with the knowledge and skills of teaching during teacher preparation in NTCs in Uganda and how it improved their teaching competence levels. The content for the methods course is aimed at preparing PVATs for school practice. The preparation is done while PVATs are still at college. The study followed a quantitative research design where a self-constructed questionnaire was administered to fifty-two PVATs who had just returned from school practice. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected through the questionnaires. The overall findings showed that PVATs needed urgent remedial support in using a variety of teaching and learning resources; lesson planning and implementation; using a variety of teaching methods and using a variety of assessment strategies. It was recommended that NTCs administration revise the methods course content and include technology-based content, conducting methods course content lectures right from the first term of an academic year, refresh tutors' knowledge of the methods course content and ensure regular attendance of both tutors and PVATs. Article visualizations:

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a strategy for assessing clinical competence in midwifery education in Ireland: A critical review

In Ireland, to register as a midwife, all student midwives must be deemed competent to practice with the assessment of competence an essential component of midwifery education. A variety of assessment strategies, including observed practice, clinical interviews, portfolios of reflection, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and written examination papers, are utilised to assess midwifery students' clinical competence. In this paper, a critical review of the OSCE as a strategy for assessing clinical competence in one third level institution in Ireland is offered. Although utilised for assessing competence across a range of areas (e.g. obstetric emergencies and pharmacology/drug administration), the use of the OSCE for assessing midwifery students' competence in lactation and infant feeding practices, as an example for this paper, is described. The advantages, disadvantages, validity and reliability of the OSCE, as an assessment strategy, are critically explored. Recognising that no single assessment strategy can provide all the information required to assess something as complex as clinical performance, the OSCE, when viewed alongside other forms of assessment, and with relevance to the topic under examination, may be considered a valuable strategy for enhancing the assessment of students' clinical competence, and for embracing diversity within midwifery education and training.

Indirect rival assessment in a social primate, Theropithecus gelada

Identifying the cognitive challenges of sociality can be difficult because similar social interactions may be based on very different cognitive mechanisms. To better understand the cognitive mechanisms associated with a particular interaction, we investigated the social information that gelada, Theropithecus gelada, bachelors use to assess rival males. Gelada bachelors may use a variety of assessment strategies, including attending to simple cues of immanent mating opportunities, vocal quality signals, and monitoring relationships between attached males and females. Our observational data indicate that bachelors preferentially eavesdrop on male–male fights (over copulations) and maintain close proximity to units that have experienced a recent take-over. As such units also experience elevated rates of fighting and extrapair copulations, bachelors appear to attend to cues of mating opportunities. Furthermore, bachelors monitor vocal contests between rival males, suggesting they are able to remember the quality displayed by competitors. Finally, we used playback experiments to simulate copulations between breeding males and ‘their’ females (control) or other females (test) and found no difference in bachelor response, suggesting a lack of knowledge about third-party relationships between males and females. In contrast to other social primates, gelada bachelors appear to use simpler information, such as outcomes of male–male competition, when assessing others. Given the size of gelada communities (>1000 individuals), the costs of monitoring third-party relationships may outweigh the benefits of obtaining this information, particularly when simpler rules of thumb are available.

Using Maple to implement eLearning integrated with computer aided assessment

Advanced mathematics courses have been developed and refined by the first author, using an action research methodology, for more than a decade. These courses use the computer algebra system (CAS) Maple in an ‘immersion mode’ where all presentations and student work are done using Maple. Assignments and examinations are Maple files downloaded from the web, and submitted via the web. A recent, parallel, development has been a Maple component of an otherwise traditional first year calculus course. CAS is widely used to learn mathematics, but is also used in computer aided assessment (CAA) packages, such as AiM, STACK and MapleTA. In our courses, assignments are completed electronically within Maple and a variety of assessment strategies have been developed and trialled. Recently these assessment procedures have evolved into CAA. Since students directly work with, and submit, Maple files we do not require an external CAA package: we utilize Maple directly to implement the CAA. We have previously reported on our use of Maple to automatic mark assignments. This article discusses a novel development and implementation of semi-automatic marking: students have numeric and symbolic answers marked immediately (partial automatic marking); student comments and plots are marked by the tutor later. The tutor allocates marks in an efficient and structured way: these marks are added to the auto-generated marks, the full marking report is generated and returned to the student. Students enjoy Maple activities, particularly automatically marked work where students seem to mimic computer game players trying to ‘clock’ a game.

The States' Role in Ensuring Assessment Competence

THE NATIONAL drive for increased student achievement has sharpened the national focus on the competency with which educators develop and use assessments. And for good reason. Richard Stiggins made a powerful connection between student achievement and the assessment literacy of teachers more than a decade ago. He argued that the majority of assessments occur in the classroom, tend to be the assessments of greatest concern to students, and hold the greatest promise for increasing student achievement.1 A recent literature review of empirical studies across grade levels, subjects, and countries by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam provides compelling, if not overwhelming, evidence that classroom assessment conducted regularly and in a sound manner has a positive impact on student achievement and well-being.2 Thus calls for sound assessment practices cannot be easily dismissed as mere reform rhetoric. Some observers have called for assessment competence for all school personnel, including building principals, school counselors, and district administrators. These individuals argue that unsound assessment conducted anywhere in the system carries risks for students.3 Note that these calls for assessment competence make no reference to externally mandated, large-scale tests (although interpreting scores from these tests, for example, could be a skill that educators need). Instead, these calls for competence refer to the assessments developed, used, and controlled by school-level educators, sometimes every school day. Despite national recognition of the need for assessment-competent school personnel, the level of assessment literacy of school staff members remains lower than hoped for. Studies examining teachers' grading practices and their comfort with and beliefs about a variety of assessment strategies continue to show a lack of understanding coupled with a great deal of confusion. Unfortunately, the picture for administrators is much the same.4 There are exceptions, of course. I have conducted inservice training on assessment for many teachers, administrators, and school counselors over the last 10 years, and I continually meet educators with a broad and deep understanding of the assessment process and a commitment to excellence in assessment. I'm encouraged by meeting and working with these educators. In an age of education reform when cheap rhetoric is often used to disparage the entire teaching force, I think it is important to recognize the good work and competence of many educators throughout the country. Yet my experience has also shown me that the number of educators with a clear understanding of the role of assessment is small. My experiences in working with educators on assessment matters are in line with national studies detailing the general misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of many educators with regard to assessment. But given what we know about the positive effects of sound assessment and the detrimental effects on students when assessment is done poorly, we have to ask ourselves why more educators don't make an effort to conduct assessment in a sound manner, with student achievement and well-being in mind. Some have argued that a lack of training opportunities in preservice programs is the reason for the poor quality of assessment practice in our schools. William Schafer and Robert Lissitz sought evidence to support this argument in their research on preservice and graduate programs across the country. They asked what, if any, coursework in measurement and assessment is offered by these programs and whether any is required.5 They found that only a small number of programs required any assessment training for licensure. When I meet educators who clearly have a strong understanding of assessment, I ask them where they got their training. The usual answer is that they are self-taught through reading, attending workshops, and trying various strategies in their classrooms to determine what works. …

Assessment of school mathematics: Teachers’ perceptions and practices

This is the first report of a proposed ten-year interval longitudinal study about teacher assessment practice in Auckland, New Zealand. Interviews with teachers of Year 3, 6, 8, 10, and 13 students are analysed. These interviews indicate that primary teachers are using a variety of assessment strategies in a mastery-based system. Their judgement of mathematical performance is dominated by the belief that all students must feel that they are achieving. The secondary teacher interviews indicate common use of alternative assessment strategies in non-examination classes. Judgement of student performance is benchmarked against national examinations. It is conjectured that an education system effect determines teachers’ assessment practices.

Quality of life in leg ulcer assessment: patients' coping mechanisms.

An increase in autonomous practice and the need to evidence professional update puts demands on individual nurses to reflect on their knowledge and practice. Community nurses have become expert at managing wounds, particularly leg ulcers, and using a variety of assessment strategies. However, reflections focused on the expert patient and their coping mechanisms may suggest that holistic assessment and treatment of these patients requires consideration of additional factors. The introduction of quality of life (QoL) tools may provide the rationale for an individual patient's nursing care in this specific context. Placing emphasis on the social and psychological impact of living with a leg ulcer - from the patient's perspective - may direct collaborative assessment and informed decision making.

Evolving a Developmental Curriculum in Sociology: The Santa Clara Experience

Sociology students at Santa Clara University are expected to learn to do four things in developmental stages: recognize basic concepts to cultivate sociological perspective, apply sociological concepts, interpretive frameworks, and analytical tools to real world problems (fostering greater commitment to life-long learning about one's community and the world at large), offer explanations extending one's own thinking, sensibly gather data to test those explanations (providing the tools for a culture of inquiry and evidence), and envision how sociology can be used for organizational effectiveness and improvement of community outcomes (empowering our students for lives of constructive involvement). A variety of assessment strategies are proving vital. Broad stakeholder input was used when clarifying program objectives. Deliberations about how to change our program are being stimulated by performance problems in internships and on major papers. We have learned that developmental goals are not readily achieved without changes throughout the program's curriculum, and implementation has been incremental. Initial changes have increased the confidence of graduating seniors, and job placement has improved

Teachers’ strategies for implementation of de-streaming in secondary mathematics classes

Moves toward the adoption of a middle school philosophy and to outcomes-focused education, both of which are apparent in Australia, are likely to be accompanied by a move away from streaming or tracking students into ability groups. It is claimed that successful teaching of students in unstreamed classes requires an enriched program that caters for the needs of the wide range of students, new approaches to instruction, and the adoption of a variety of assessment strategies. This study reports on the strategies adopted by a group of teachers in Ontario, Canada, as they implemented de-streaming with Grade 9 classes. Teachers were found to be making special provision for both low- and high-achieving students and employing a wide range of techniques for assessing student progress. However, they did not embrace cooperative learning techniques as one of their teaching strategies, nor was problem solving found to be a prominent feature of their lessons.

Behavioural assessment of childhood phobias: A multi-method approach

As noted by Ollendick and Hersen (1984, 19931, child and adolescent behavioural assessment is defined as a hypothesis-testing process in which a range of specific procedures are used to understand a given child or social ecology and to formulate and evaluate specific intervention strategies. Furthermore, child behavioural assessment is multi-method in its approach, empirically based and developmentally sensitive. We argue that these precepts should be observed in the assessment of childhood phobias. Consistent with the notion of multi-method assessment, this paper examines a variety of assessment strategies used with phobic children, including the behavioural interview, diagnostic interview, self-report inventories, caregiver completed instruments, behavioural observations, self-monitoring and physiological assessment. Varying degrees of developmental sensitivity, reliability and validity are found. Nonetheless, we conclude that significant advances have been made in the behavioural assessment of childhood phobias.

A teacher's implementation of authentic assessment in an elementary science classroom

This study describes an elementary school teacher's implementation of authentic assessment strategies in her science classes. After completing a graduate elementary science methods course, this teacher decided to make changes that would align her assessment strategies with her hands-on approach to teaching science. She experimented with a variety of assessment strategies and was successful in the use of science logs, performance assessment, creative drama, scrapbooks, and interviews, while rejecting the use of portfolios. Factors that contributed to the successful implementation included administrative support, close contact with parents, collaboration with university faculty, teacher's ownership, and the teacher's flexibility to try a variety of strategies. The teacher's perception of assessment shifted toward an integrated model wherein instruction and assessment occur simultaneously. Her typical reaction after assessing her students changed from disappointment in how they performed on a test to surprise at how much they knew. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Assessment of perceptual cognitive functioning in nonverbal severely and profoundly handicapped children

This paper reviews a variety of assessment strategies concerning perceptual cognitive functioning in nonverbal motorically impaired severely and profoundly handicapped children. Psychometric tests of cognitive development standardized on a normative sample of chronologically aged peers were found to be inadequate because of their high motor‐item saturation, their unreliability, their lack of fine‐grainness, and their concern for the products of learning rather than the process of learning itself. Alternative assessment strategies were examined which rather than assessing children's cognitive functioning exclusively through the operation of their neuromotor apparatus used instead their capacity to learn to attend and process, visual, auditory and other sensory‐perceptual events through the operation of their orienting reflexes. Implications of these newer strategies of psychoeducational assessment for school psychologists and special educators were discussed.