Discusses the necessity for making teaching and learning needs take precedence over being driven by technological advances on the Internet and the World Wide Web and proposes three different formats for utilizing the Web in online and classroom undergraduate instruction. Topics include analyzing course objectives; student motivation; grading; and…

Introduces a "cafeteria-style" grading (CSG) approach in science instruction which allows students to decide on the course components and their weight in evaluation. Considers student success, motivation, and self-awareness for the evaluation of CSG. Uses portfolios, writing assignments, web page development, and traditional evaluation methods for…

Developed and calibrated health-related fitness portfolios for elementary students using the Rasch model, examining advantages and disadvantages. Physical educators graded the portfolios. Rating scores were analyzed using the Rasch model. Results indicate that using Rasch calibration, measurement problems related to conventional practice can be…

Develops a simple model of student choice to explain why some teaching innovations have only a negligible effect on mean student performance. If students set grade targets, some students choose to learn less (despite innovations), and the change in mean student achievement will tend to be small. (Contains 20 references.) (MLH)

In a large general education class where students demonstrate their personal creativity, a self-grading system was used during one semester and a conventional teacher-evaluation system was used during the second semester. The purpose was to gauge whether the self-grading system was appropriate. Students adapted well to the procedures used, and…

This paper reports on findings relating to a project on gender and essay assessment in HE. It focuses on one aspect of the study: the assessment of and feedback given to two sample essays by 50 historians based at universities in England and Wales. We found considerable variation both as to the classification awarded to the essays and to positive…

The present paper explores empirically the relationship between teacher grading and student achievement. The hypothesis is that the teachers can manipulate student effort, and hence student achievement, by choosing the proper grading practices. The grading model is analogous to a labor supply model, where the teachers can set the marginal returns…

This article describes the discourses working-class students at a university in Britain have about learning. The discourses include ideas about who is a good student, education as an investment, and marking. Students incorporate, in part, both neo-liberal and neo-conservative economic and political views into their perceptions of who should…

In this paper, the design and development of a long-distance course on geriatric interdisciplinary teaming are presented. The focus is on the conceptualization of the course, followed by details surrounding developing a design team; designing curricular content; deciding delivery methods; scripting; overseeing and editing videos; and determining…

This study investigates empirically the mechanisms behind the increasing grade point averages in Swedish upper secondary schools. Four hypotheses are presented as plausible explanations; improved student achievements, student selection effects, strategic behaviour in course choices, and lowering of grading standards. The analysis is based on…

It is a popular practice among college professors to drop the lowest component grade in computing the course grade. A benefit of this practice is the elimination of the need to evaluate excuses or administer make-up exams. The author uses data from a controlled experiment to examine the impact of such a policy on student behavior and course…

The current preference for alternative assessment has been partly stimulated by recent evidence on learning which points to the importance of students' active engagement in the learning process. While alternative assessment may well fulfill the aims of formative assessment, its value in the summative assessment required in higher education is more…

In his article in the second volume of "Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America," Jonathan Sarna argues that the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) has always had two incompatible visions of its role. On the one hand, there were (and are) those who see it as "a centre of Jewish 'Wissenschaft' pure and simple",…

Grading essays and research papers can be the most trying part of any writing instructor's job. Fitting corrections, suggestions, and notes between double-spaced lines of text and into margins often creates a legibility problem, which only worsens when grading stacks of papers to meet deadlines. This essay describes electronic grading, a method…

The marks awarded to 130 second year undergraduate word processed essays were assessed in relation to their use of different typographic features. By and large most of these features had little effect on the essay grades. However, essays printed in 12-point type gained significantly higher marks (mean = 56.8) than essays printed in 10-point type…