Much debate surrounds the issue of whether allowing candidates to listen to recordings twice is more desirable in language tests than offering just one opportunity. Using regression models, this study investigates, analyses and interconnects both item difficulty and stimulus length in relation to the frequency of stimulus presentation and its…

Research often focuses on how students fail to meet college expectations, but it rarely asks how colleges fail to meet students' expectations. This study examines students' expectations of college and their institutional confidence--their level of certainty that college will meet their expectations. Drawing on 65 pilot interviews and a survey of…

Higher education (HE) student mobility offers the opportunity to acquire, among other things, intercultural experience. Nevertheless, it is crucial to prepare students and give them the tools to reflect on their experiences before, during and after study abroad. In this pedagogical paper, we present and discuss "Perceptions of self and…

Assessment in work integrated learning (WIL) programs typically involves workplace supervisors rating student performance against criteria based on employability skills. Yet investigations of differences in employer ratings that may impact on student outcomes are rare. This paper reports on a pilot study that examined supervisor evaluations of the…

This article describes the pilot study of an informal assessment, the "Student Transition Questionnaire" (STQ). The STQ is a 38-item assessment designed to elicit student perspectives on transition-related topics. In this mixed-methods study, we piloted the STQ with 186 participants, and then conducted focus groups with various…

This pilot project investigated the effects of ABRACADABRA (ABRA), a web-based literacy program developed by the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) at Concordia University, on primary school children in Hong Kong. A total of 125 Primary 2 students participated in a 14-week long study. Five classes were randomly assigned to…

E-science has reshaped meteorology due to the rate data is generated, collected, analyzed, and stored and brought data skills to a new prominence. Data information literacy--the skills needed to understand, use, manage, share, work with, and produce data--reflects the confluence of data skills with information literacy competencies. This research…

In this paper, we propose a community-based dance programme designed for North Korean female defectors in South Korea, with the aim of promoting their physical, psychological, and interpersonal aspects. We set up four research objectives: to look into social contexts of North Korean female refugees in South Korea, to identify the women's desire…

Research has shown that collaborative learning is a very powerful methodology as it ensures interaction among students, humanises the learning process and has positive effects on academic achievement. An activity based on this approach can also benefit from the use of technology, making this task more appealing to our students today. The aim of…

In September 2015, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) a grant to investigate the early impacts of the National Digital Stewardship Residency (NDSR) programs, in order to inform subsequent development of similar programs by others with a vested interest in building…

This report describes statistical analyses performed on data collected in the Spring of 2015 from the pilot study of proposed revised and new items in the IDEA Student Ratings of Instruction (SRI) system. Described are the methods employed, results obtained, and decisions made in selecting items for the updated instruments. The procedures occurred…

At its base, advertising is the process of using visual images and words to attract and convince consumers that a certain product has certain attributes. The same effect exists in electronic communication, strongly so in online courses where most if not all interaction between instructor and student is in writing. Arguably, if consumers make…

As pedagogy is the science of teaching, it requires considerable creativity for a teacher to attain a firm grasp on it. Only an expert teacher can use different tools and methodologies to enhance learning abilities of his/her students. For teachers, it becomes essential to utilize their full potentials and resources to keep teaching standards up…

Fundamental to a student's understanding of organic chemistry is the ability to interpret and use its language, including molecules' names and other key terms. A learning gap exists in that students often struggle with organic nomenclature. Although many resources describe the rules for naming molecules, there is a paucity of resources…

This small-scale pilot study aimed to establish how the mode of response in an examination affects candidates' performances on items that require an extended answer. The sample comprised 46 17-year-old students from two classes (one in a state secondary school and one in a state sixth-form college), who sat a mock A-level English Literature…