A best practice regarding annual employee performance evaluations is that there should be no surprises. Issues regarding a person's performance should be addressed as they occur throughout the year. This has been the approach of the author when evaluating staff performance. However, this practice did not prepare the author to manage his surprise…

Factor analysis is a versatile class of psychometric techniques used by researchers to provide insight into the psychological dimensions (factors) that may account for the relationships among variables in a given dataset. The primary goal of a factor analysis is to determine a more parsimonious set of variables (i.e., fewer than the number of…

It is thoroughly agreed that English language textbooks stand amongst the foremost components in any language classrooms worldwide, being referred to as valid, beneficial and labor-saving tools to fulfill an extensive range of needs. An ELT textbook is not merely a set of sheets of paper fastened together to hinge at one side, but is the beating…

Using data from interviews with Health Technology Assessment (HTA) professionals in Canada, this paper shows their views of the appropriate role of, and evidence required for, HTA are associated with values and norms. Recognizing HTA as a moral economy helps to explain when and why HTA professionals' views of what HTA should and can do are…

Making causal claims is central to evaluation practice because we want to know the effects of a program, project, or policy. In the past decade, the conversation about establishing causal claims has become prominent (and problematic). In response to this changing conversation about causality, we argue that evaluators need to take up some new ways…

Collaborative problem solving is a complex skill set that draws on social and cognitive factors. The construct remains in its infancy due to lack of empirical evidence that can be drawn upon for validation. The differences and similarities between two large-scale initiatives that reflect this state of the art, in terms of underlying assumptions…

In this study, a multiple choice test which is composed of 19 articles which is prepared as per the scope of lesson of Measurement and Evaluation in Education, has been applied as interim exam to 207 teacher candidates who are getting education at the Faculty of Education. The difficulty levels of items which are in the test have been calculated…

Introduction: With a definition that is evolving, a serious component of the contract cheating issue involves individuals paying a third-party to complete assessment items for them and then submitting this work as if it were their own. The issue of contract cheating poses a significant problem for tertiary institutions. The research literature…

In this article I provide an overview of the methodological issues involved in measuring constructs relevant to character development and education. I begin with a nontechnical overview of the 3 fundamental psychometric properties of measurement: reliability, validity, and equivalence. Developing and evaluating measures to ensure evidence of all 3…

Open badges are a digital representation of skills or accomplishments recorded in a visual symbol that is embedded with verifiable data and evidence. They are created following a defined open standard, so that they can be shared online. Open badges have gained popularity around the world in recent years and have become a standard feature of many…

The purpose of this study was to compare undergraduate students' academic performance and attitudes about statistics in the context of two different types of assessment structures for an introductory statistics course. One assessment structure used in-class quizzes that emphasized computation and procedural fluency as well as vocabulary…

This qualitative case study seeks to understand what 'participatory' in participatory monitoring and evaluation means in an international development context. The objective is to identify the characteristics of a participatory monitoring and evaluation process, according to experts and specialists in the field. The paper seeks to highlight the…

Reading and writing are complex areas to assess. No single assessment can include all aspects of these complex processes. What's more, there are multiple purposes for literacy assessment, and no single assessment can serve all purposes. Together, these facts make it clear that literacy assessment is much more complicated than many realize. In…

In contemporary American society, evidence of bias within educational institutions abounds (Douglas & Halas, 2013; Hardie & Tyson, 2013; Martin, 2009; Milner, 2013; Ropers-Huilman, Winters, & Enke, 2013; Rothstein, 2013; Wildhagen, 2012). Educational institutions and their leaders articulate a commitment to fostering an inclusive,…

Faculty is the key agent for internationalization. This interview-based study explored faculty views about the internationalization understanding, rationales, roles, engagement, and motivation in a research-centric, double-first class university in China. Faculty motivation was analyzed using the lens of the motivation systems theory (MST). The…