Standards-based grading (SBG) is an approach to assessment and reporting in which scores are attached to the specific learning objectives of a course, rather than to assignments or tests. Each score represents a student's mastery of that learning objective, and may change over time in response to evidence that her level of understanding has…

In this correlational research, we investigated to what extent achievement goals, in conjunction with need for achievement and fear of failure as well as perceived classroom goal structures, are related to learning strategies among upper elementary school students. After taking into account students' tendency to respond in a socially desirable…

This research aims at examining the role of autonomy support and passion in the persistence of students involved in higher education. In academic settings, autonomy-supportive environments consider students as self-determined individuals who are capable of making choices. In contrast, controlling academic environments impose pressure on students…

The manner by which organizations value their workforce has been shown to impact learning within organizations (Confessore, 1997; Marsick & Watkins, 2010; Weldy & Gillis, 2003). Leadership is faced with a multitude of options to facilitate learning (Cho, 2002; Confessore & Kops, 1998), and employee learning has been linked to…

Learning progressions represent a set of skills or pieces of knowledge ordered sequentially from least to most complex. This sequence can guide instruction as well as assessment content. This paper describes several useful methods for validating learning progressions including validating the relationship between the progression and student…

Background/Context: Despite decades of research, the persistence of the gap in student achievement between disadvantaged minority students and their middle-class peers remains unexplained. Purpose/Objective: The purpose of the current article is to propose a new model of the achievement gap. Research Design: Data were analyzed from three…

The practices of argumentation have recently been upheld as an important need to develop students' understanding of scientific concepts. However, the present education system in Malaysia is still largely examination-based and teacher-oriented. Thus, this study aims to examine the mastery level of scientific argumentation and its scheme among…

The increased pressure in higher education to demonstrate evidence of student learning is prompting all sectors to develop clear assessment methods. This national conversation has also sparked the greater recognition and use of assessment as a process for the improvement of teaching and learning. Given the scant literature on assessment in the…

One critical issue with cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) lies in its lack of research evidence that shows how diagnostic feedback from CDA is interpreted and used by young students. This mixed methods research examined how holistic diagnostic feedback (HDF) is processed by young learners with different profiles of reading skills, goal…

Low levels of student success in introductory college math courses are rampant. There are several reasons for low pass rates in these courses, with the most serious issue being lack of concept mastery. To aid students in concept mastery, adaptive learning systems were created. These systems adapt instruction for each student and create an…

This case study provides an explanatory account on the underachievement of three gifted students studying physics in a Taiwanese university. The students' physics underachievement was diagnosed by Sato's student-problem analysis chart. These students were invited to complete a questionnaire and a follow-up interview in order to (1) understand the…

This study examined the pre-service EFL teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, goal orientations, and participations in an online learning environment. Embedded mixed design was used in the study. In the quantitative part of the study, the participants were 186 senior pre-service EFL teachers and data were collected on two scales and a questionnaire.…

This study examined the predictive role of several learner factors in second language (L2) incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading: L2 proficiency, motivation, anxiety, and mastery of strategies. Participants were 129 English learners in a comprehensive university in China. Participants read two English texts and were given an…

Recent studies indicate that the number of students electing to study Geography in Malaysian upper secondary schools, and their level of achievement in the subject, has declined. The main factor appears to be a lack of motivation. Yet there has been little research into the impact of instructional methods on Geography students' motivation and…

The number of applied behavior analysis (ABA) classrooms for students with autism is increasing in K-12 public schools. To inform instruction of students with autism in public school settings, this study examined the relation between performance on mastery learning assessments and standardized achievement tests for students with autism spectrum…