Contradictory results have been reported regarding the accuracy of various methods used to assess student learning in higher education. The current study examined student learning outcomes across a multi-section and mult-iinstructor psychology research course with both indirect and direct assessments in a sample of 67 undergraduate students. The…

How writing teachers conduct their assessment is an important but under-researched topic in the field of language assessment. By partly adopting Cheng et al.'s (2004) survey, this mail survey study aims to fill this gap by examining how tertiary-level EFL writing teachers assess their students in basic English writing classes in Taiwan. The…

Whether the use of more active teaching-learning methods has a positive impact on academic performance remains unanswered. This article seeks to contribute to the issue by conducting a study of an Operations Management course with almost 1000 students per year over three consecutive academic years. The study compares three scenarios with differing…

This article presents discussion and recommendations on approaches to retrospectively evaluating development interventions in the long term through a systems lens. It is based on experiences from the implementation of an 18-month study to investigate the impact of development interventions on economic and social change over a 40-year period in the…

The use of assessment data to inform instruction is an important component of a comprehensive standards-based assessment programme. Examining teachers' data use for instruction can reveal the extent to which instruction is aligned with established content standards and assessment. This paper describes results of a qualitative study of teachers'…

The focus of the current study is students' perceptions of assessment and assessment practices. Assessment is understood as practices closely connected to the planning, enactment and evaluation of teaching and learning activities. The data derive from focus group interviews and dialogical meetings with students at a Swedish comprehensive school.…

The overriding objective of this study was to investigate secondary and university teachers' assessment conceptions in an EFL context using a four-factor ("Student Accountability", "School Accountability", "Improvement" and "Irrelevance") teachers' conceptions of assessment (TCoA) inventory (Brown, 2006).…

The use of assessment data to inform instruction is an important component of a comprehensive standards-based assessment programme. Examining teachers' data use for instruction can reveal the extent to which instruction is aligned with established content standards and assessment. This paper describes results of a qualitative study of teachers'…

Assessment is a fundamental element in successful teaching and learning. However, few research studies have examined the assessment practices implemented by faculty in higher education. It is believed that testing has become the primary method of assessment, which could adversely impact student learning. The purpose of this descriptive…

A growing body of research links student health and academic achievement. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recognizes this and calls on states to support student health and wellness and ensure safe, supportive learning environments. This National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Policy Update explains how states can take…

Funders, policymakers, and program leaders recognize the value of high-quality evidence. To make good use of a program evaluation, initiatives must contend with a set of fundamental questions first. Some of these are about the initiative itself: What outcomes does it seek to affect? Are daily activities in line with long-term goals? Others are…

Assessment of learning has become very important for government, universities and accrediting agencies. In this article, two variables are examined, leadership and teamwork, in the context of a survey used by one mid-south university for assessment purposes. This survey demonstrates the problems that arise when the sequential steps of the research…

Forty-nine percent of the 706 articles published in the "Journal of Agricultural Education" from 1995 to 2012 reported quantitative research with at least one variable measured by a Likert-type scale. Grounded in the classical test theory definition of reliability and the tenets basic to Likert-scale measurement methodology, for the…

In 1916 Robert Frost published his famous poem, "The Road Not Taken," in which he muses about what might have been had he chosen a different path, made a different choice. While counterfactual arguments in general can often lead to vacuous nowheres, frequently in statistics the data that are not presented actually exist, in a sense,…

As standardized assessments tied to the Common Core standards approach for K-12 students, U.S. teachers correctly feel that how we test students will change. Will students be ready for tests of proficiency done on computers? Gullen debriefed with 500 students in various grades who had just taken pilot assessment items connected to the coming…