In this chapter, we draw on the data collected during our evaluations of six TAACCCT grants to describe the challenges, successes, and transformative effect of adopting a developmental evaluation approach for community college programs.

Background: During systematic reviews, "data abstraction" refers to the process of collecting data from reports of studies. The data abstractors' level of experience may affect the accuracy of data abstracted. Using data from a randomized crossover trial in which different data abstraction approaches were compared, we examined the…

This academic article provides the essential steps for designing an effective English questionnaire in social science research, with a focus on ensuring clarity, cultural sensitivity and ethical integrity. Developed from key insights from related studies, it outlines potential practice in questionnaire design, item development and the importance…

"Cases Integrating Ethnography and Evaluation" examines the connections between ethnography and evaluation in educational spaces, wrestling with pressing justice and equity issues in today's societies across the world. The book provides readers from different disciplines and practice areas with detailed accounts of evaluation and…

Social sciences expose many cognitively complex, highly qualified, or fuzzy problems, whose resolution relies primarily on expert judgement rather than automated systems. One of such instances that we study in this work is a reflection analysis in the writings of student teachers. We share a hands-on experience on how these challenges can be…

School attendance and absenteeism are critical targets of educational policies and practices that often depend heavily on aggregated attendance/absenteeism data. School attendance/absenteeism data in aggregated form, in addition to having suspect quality and utility, minimizes individual student variation, distorts detailed and multilevel…

The widespread occurrence of flooding and the fact that both precipitation data and river flow data are readily available for many locations provides an excellent opportunity for educators to bring relevant professionally collected data into their teaching. By connecting those data to the use of models, students can collect, interpret, and…

This article provides a conceptual framework for considering both the theoretical and methodological factors that underpin the successful validation of a competency framework. Drawing on educational assessment literature, this article argues that a valid competency framework relates to an interpretive judgement of the credibility of the claims…

Technological advancements and changes in online survey participation pave the way for new data collection methods. Particularly, the increasing smartphone rate in online surveys facilitates a re-consideration of prevailing communication channels to, for instance, naturalize the communication process between researchers and respondents and to…

This paper describes the study of enforcement of prerequisites in the Computer Science program at a regional university in the Southwest. Prerequisites are a significant factor in programs of study in higher education. Allowing students to register in courses may assume that they have existing knowledge and skills. Some programs treat…

There is no single agreed-upon definition of data literacy because expectations of what it means to be data literate varies across contexts. The lack of agreement on a definition of data literacy across contexts is therefore necessary. However, definitions are important. Definitions embody our understanding of concepts and are the foundation for…

Educators working in museums, zoos, and botanic gardens are increasingly required to demonstrate impact. These requirements position 'performative evaluation' as the dominant model, one which also acts as a political, non-neutral, and managerial form of accountability. In contrast, 'practice evaluation' is intended to be democratic, dialogic, and…

Sustainability has increasingly become key in universities, as the objectives of sustainable development are essential to establish policies, guidelines and indicators that guide institutions to be more sustainable. This recognition has led many authors to develop methods to assess universities based on their performance in terms of sustainable…

This study sought to establish educational psychologists' (EPs) views on their experiences of using a personal skills profile (PSP), created to support post-16 transition. Two focus groups were held with EPs working in local authorities in the UK. Discussions focused on participants' experiences of using the PSP with young people (YP), its value,…

Higher education data mining and analytics, like learning analytics, may improve learning experiences and outcomes. However, such practices are rife with student privacy concerns and other ethics issues. It is crucial that student privacy expectations and preferences are considered in the design of educational data analytics. This study forefronts…