Although researchers in higher education propose alternatives to traditional approaches to assessment, traditional methods are commonly used in college or university science courses. The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility and validity of Prospective Science Teachers' (PSTs) concept maps as authentic assessment tools in a…

This paper examines how differences in curricular design of undergraduate accounting programs influence pass rates on the Business Environment and Concepts Section of the CPA Exam. The association of the pass rate of a school's accounting graduates to the design of the schools accounting program and to other school characteristics was examined…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of DISCOVER, a performance- based assessment in identifying gifted Lebanese students. The sample consisted of 248 students (121 boys, 127 girls) from Grades 3-5 at two private schools in Beirut, Lebanon. Students were administered DISCOVER and the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices…

The relationship between assessment and instruction preferences of undergraduate students was examined as well as the extent to which the combined set of preferences differentiates among four groups of students defined by their levels of test anxiety and learning strategies (high in both, low in both or high in one and low in the other). The…

The accounting profession is facing a potential crisis not only from the overall shortage of accounting faculty driven by smaller numbers of new faculty entering the profession as many existing faculty retire but also from changes that have been less well documented. This includes: (1) changes in attitude towards the roles of teaching, service and…

The present study examined how the magnitude of time-out duration following incorrect responses affected the ability of adults to learn simple visual discriminations. Sixty-four college students were randomly assigned to one of four groups that received a 0-, 5-, 10-, or 20-s time-out duration after an incorrect response. Each participant…

Practice and experience, whether simulated or on the job, are not enough to ensure effective learning. Learners must be able to make sense of those experiences to identify poor decisions and actions, missing knowledge, and weak skills that deserve attention. Using instructors to provide one-on-one instruction is effective but also expensive. This…

Previous research on students with learning disabilities has indicated that they benefit most from explicit instruction. However, few studies have examined how explicit instruction may be translated to the logistical demands associated with large-group instruction in high school general education settings in ways that are socially acceptable to…

Many teachers bring caterpillars into their class for their students to see the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. This is exciting and educational, but more can be done using Monarchs across the curriculum. This article describes an integrated butterfly unit for students in grades four to six that starts with identifying the Monarch…

This study assessed the effectiveness of computer-based biomolecular visualization activities on the development of high school biology students' representational competence as a means of understanding and visualizing protein structure/function relationships. Also assessed were students' attitudes toward these activities. Sixty-nine students…

To reveal what is being learned during the gaming experience, this report proposes an approach for embedding assessments in immersive games, drawing on recent advances in assessment design. Key to this approach are formative assessment to guide instructional experiences and evidence-centered design to systematically analyze the assessment argument…

The purpose of this Item Response Theory study was to investigate how the expected reduction in item information, due to the collapsing of response categories in performance assessment data, was affected by varying testing conditions: item difficulty, item discrimination, inter-rater reliability, and direction of collapsing. The investigation used…

The authentic assessment method of student evaluation is particularly well suited to vocational education. It connects the way schoolwork is assessed with the way knowledge and competence are judged in the workplace by focusing on tasks that are simultaneously meaningful to learners and linked to school and nonschool demands. Portfolios are one…

Authentic and direct assessments of performances and products are conceptualized in terms of multiple distinctions having implications for validation. These include contrasts between performances and products, between assessment of performance per se and performance assessment of competence or other constructs, between structured and unstructured…

Performance tasks build on earlier content knowledge, progress skills, and work habits. They are not add-ons at the end of instruction, but an integral part of the learning and an opportunity to assess the quality of student performance. This guide was written by teachers to share their experiences in the introduction of performance based…