Six classroom interventions designed to continuously teach and acclimate our management students about their eventual realistic reward/punishment contingencies and managerial performance expectations can be established using the classroom's grading system and the class syllabus. Interventions include (1) using points rather than grades for student…

Because of the lack of tools available to assess problem-solving skills, teachers often revert to more traditional instructional approaches (e.g. lecture-based, memorization) that fail to prepare learners for the complexity of dynamic work environments. To overcome this challenge, technology solutions are needed that accurately and efficiently…

An innovative assignment to capture soft-skills and create opportunities for a health profession program is presented. A full description of this semester-long assignment will be highlighted, including the associated rubric and a student example. Assessment results provide initial insight as to how the HOT Sheet supported opportunity for soft…

In the second year module "Professional Contexts for Modern Languages" at Lancaster University, students take 20-25 hour placements, and using a multimodal forum, they articulate their challenges, development and understanding of the varying contexts in which they are working. In summative assessment, students across languages and types…

Most teachers attending the August 2011 new teacher training responded positively to survey questions about their district and campus orientation activities. Teachers also suggested topics for future training sessions. A separate supplemental report also was published that described survey results for the teacher trainers for this program. [For…

This introduction will provide a thematic overview of the major issues raised by Grosse and Voght (1991), "The Evolution of Languages for Specific Purposes in the United States," and the contributions in this Focus Issue that address those issues from a 2011 perspective. It will also explore contemporary (largely praxis-oriented) languages for…

Students often view their course grades as a mysterious equation of teacher-given grades, teacher-given grace, and some other ethereal components based on luck. However, giving students the power to earn points based on numerous daily/weekly assignments and attendance makes the grading process objective and personal, freeing the instructor to…

To help students better understand and be better prepared for professional workplaces, the author suggests that business communication teachers examine and learn from workplace assessment methods. Throughout the article, the author discusses the rationale behind this proposal, reviews relevant literature, reports interview findings on workplace…

The focus of this paper is to present a model for empowering all parties in the Practicum triad, school-based and university-based teacher educators, as well as student teachers, in assessment. Assessment of the Practicum, which shares a number of commonalities with Work-Based Learning, plays a crucial role in the certification of new teachers.…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

Measuring employment outcomes for persons with severe disabilities has gone from a focus on task performance in sheltered settings to measurement of a number of individual outcomes in supported employment settings. Measurement considerations for individual, group, and organizational variables are discussed. Use of more than one measurement…

In this article, the authors argue that evaluation courses grounded in assessment theory and situated within a cultural context of actual workplace practices enhances student learning. Giving students the tools that assessors, both formal and informal, use helps them learn to anticipate and generate those tools for writing situations they will…

A Pima County (Arizona) adult workplace education program in English as a Second Language (ESL) is outlined. Salient elements in program design, student recruitment and program marketing, student assessment, instructional methods, and program evaluation are noted, and the topical content of the ESL curriculum is charted. Tasks/competencies and…

While much of the skill building revolves around the essential skills of reading and writing, additional skills needed to succeed in the workplace are not emphasized sufficiently in the traditional classroom format. Employers are looking for employees with good interpersonal as well as academic skills. Employees who can work as team members on…