Evaluating the accessibility to disabled people of e-assessment tools

E-assessment tools offer enormous potential for educational organisations to support disabled students in a flexible, accessible way, while also helping to meet legal obligations to avoid undue discrimination. However, tools need to support authors in creating assessments without introducing accessibility barriers. Information on the extent to which e-assessment tools support accessible assessment authoring is scarce; and where information does exist, this tends to be focused on the accessibility of the output, rather than the quality of the authoring process. An accessibility evaluation methodology was developed and used by the authors to review a popular e-assessment tool. The review identified a number of accessibility issues with the software interface and output. It also found issues that might limit the ability of authors to create optimally accessible assessments, meaning a modified approach to training and support is required, as well as improvements to the assessment tool. Organisations evaluating e-assessment tools for accessibility therefore need to seriously consider how effective these tools are in supporting accessible authoring, rather than limiting attention to the accessibility of the output of the tool

Computer assessment in mathematics

This thesis investigates methods of assessing students' mathematical ability by using the computer. It starts by reviewing the general types of assessment within mathematics educational software and then describes some different ways of presenting the assessment on the computer by the use of varying types of questions. In Chapter 2 there is a review of the literature and research conducted in the area of computer assessment of mathematics. In particular, the most prevalent dilemmas of computer aided learning and computer aided assessment are highlighted whilst looking forward at how the contents of further chapters in the thesis can help in addressing some of these difficulties. The following chapter gives an historical account of how the CALM(1) software has addressed some of the inherent difficulties of assessment and highlights the ways in which some of these hurdles have been overcome. The shortfalls of CALM are described and, where relevant, pointers to the parts of thesis which tackle these shortfalls are given. In particular, the work in Chapter 4 undertakes an improvement in the way simple mathematical expressions(2) can be handled as it shows how binary tree constructions can be utilised within an educational environment. Chapter 5 tests out two applications of the binary tree structures with the creation of a tool to aid student-computer communication of mathematics and by providing a method of comparing student-set questions against a true answer. The following chapter describes an educational experiment which set out to show how a computer can be used to assess students' mathematical ability during a formal university examination. It deals with very important educational issues which arise when performing such examinations and gives conclusions as to their educational validity. In particular, issues of student input, partial credit, objectivity, consistency, flexibility and efficiency are considered along with the impact that this research could have for future testing of mathematics. The final chapter describes how the thesis has been instrumental in further research and development within the field of computer assessment of mathematics. (1)CALM is the acronym for the Computer Aided Learning in Mathematics project at the Department of Mathematics, Heriot- Watt University. (2)in this thesis, the word expression is taken to be a mathematical entity which does not contain any comparison operators

Mini-Cases of Professional-Inspired Activities in E-Learning Platforms: An Experience for the Formative Assessment

[EN] The formative assessment is a strategy that allows students to be aware of the state of their learning and to establish ways to correct the identified deficiencies; at the same time, it provides information to the instructor about those issues where misunderstandings occur. In the present study, we study its application to the solving of problems in university subject of scientific field. The activity involved short extension cases, coming from professional situations combined to self-learning tasks and supported on e-learning platform (Sakai software). The methodology was designed to achieve deep learning and a continuous evaluation of the process, not only the final product. The evidences collected (student's documents, interviews and smartphone-based surveys) informed about the impact of the presented approach. The participants positively valued the initiative against the more traditional methodologies. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that students can actively participate in the learning-oriented assessment, maintaining the guarantees of the educational process, mainly suitable for large classes, limited schedule or on-line classes.Tortajada-Genaro, LA. (2022). Mini-Cases of Professional-Inspired Activities in E-Learning Platforms: An Experience for the Formative Assessment. Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research. 12(1):38-59. https://doi.org/10.447/remie.6070S385912

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Faculty-Developed Academic Software: A Study of Five iCampus Projects

Instruction in higher education must adapt more rapidly to: changes in workforce needs, global issues, advances in disciplines, and resource constraints. The pace of such improvement depends on the speed with which new ideas and materials are adopted across institutions. In 1999 Microsoft pledged $25 million and staff support for iCampus, a seven-year MIT project to develop pioneering uses of educational technology. The TLT Group studied five iCampus projects in order to identify factors affecting institutionalization and widespread dissemination. Among the factors impeding adoption: lack of rewards and support for faculty to adopt innovations; faculty isolation; and a lack of attention to adoption issues among projects selected for funding. The study made recommendations for universities, foundations, government agencies and corporations: 1) continue making education more authentic, active, collaborative, and feedback-rich; 2) create demand to adopt ideas and materials from other sources by encouraging all faculty members to improve and document learning in their programs, year after year; 3) nurture coalitions for instructional improvement, across and within institutions; 4) create more effective higher education corporate alliances; and 5) improve institutional services to support faculty in educational design, software development, assessment methods, formative evaluation, and/or in sharing ideas with others who teach comparable courses

Using an Evidence Based Practice Informatics Safety Intervention to Improve Medication Safety among Community Dwelling Older Adults

Medication safety and prevention of medication related problems are important issues in promoting and maintaining health and safety in one’s home for community dwelling older adults. Assessment of medications and management of a medication schedule are essential elements of medication safety, medication review, and medication care coordination. The Framework for Geriatric Homecare Excellence (Collaboration for Home Care Advances and Practices, 2009) is used as the foundation of this project to improve medication management, and promote and maintain health and safety at home. An in-home medication assessment was completed, using a medication management software informatics system to review medications, identify medication related problems, and convey this information to the Primary Care Provider, case manager, and client. Evidence based patient-centered educational interventions on management and understanding of medications were provided to participants to emphasize the correct use of medications and use of a personal medication record. The goal of this health promotion and health maintenance project was to improve medication safety through focused assessment and medication related education interventions for community dwelling older adults. This informatics based medication safety intervention showed considerable strength in completing and sharing medication home assessments enhanced by the software abilities. Significant outcome improvements were associated with the pre-post test comparison in provision of an up-to-date medication list and comprehension by clients of specific medication safety education

A REVIEW OF DIGITAL FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOLS: FEATURES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The Internet and the software stores for mobile devices come with a huge number of digital tools for any task, and those intended for digital formative assessment (DFA) have burgeoned exponentially in the last decade. These tools vary in terms of their functionality, pedagogical quality, cost, operating systems and so forth. Teachers and learners need guidance on how to choose the most effective digital formative software to make the most out of it. This study provides an in-depth critical review of the features of most popular formative assessment tools available on the Internet. It aims to unearth what current DFA tools are capable of doing and what further developments are needed for more effective use. The tools for analysis were sampled using frequency of mentions in educational technology websites and blogs and two scholarly databases (Web of Science and Scopus). After identifying the most frequently recommended reviewed and researched formative assessment tools, the researchers inspected 14 tools in terms of various issues, ranging from platforms and devices used, item-types offered by the software, features related with monitoring student performance and providing feedback (through student/instructor dashboards), grading, scoring of open-response items and collaborative responses. The results indicated that all closed-ended items were common to all the tools examined and they were automatically scored, while only a few of them offered underdeveloped methods of grading open-ended items. All the tools provided learner analytics with diverse forms of data and different mechanisms for feedback, yet the most common form of data were immediate answers and numerical scores. It was also clear that popularity did not necessarily mean offering more functionalities and better tools. Based on the current status of the tools, avenues for further research are discussed. Keywords: Digital formative assessment, mobile learning, feedback, distance education and online learning, improving classroom teachin

AM-OER: An Agile Method for the Development of Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources have emerged as important elements of education in the contemporary society, promoting life-long and personalized learning that transcends social, eco- nomic and geographical barriers. To achieve the potential of OERs and bring impact on education, it is necessary to increase their development and supply. However, one of the current challenges is how to produce quality and relevant OERs to be reused and adapted to different contexts and learning situations. In this paper we proposed an agile method for the development of OERs – AM-OER, grounded on agile practices from Software Engineering. Learning Design practices from the OULDI project (UK Open University) are also embedded into the AM-OER aiming at improving quality and facilitating reuse and adaptation of OERs. In order to validate AM-OER, an experiment was conducted by applying it in the development of an OER on software testing. The results showed preliminary evidences on the applicability, effectiveness and ef ciency of the method in the development of OERs

Using software to tell a trustworthy, convincing and useful story

This paper discusses the potential of specialist software to develop category construction in qualitative data analysis and considers how the uses of software may best be reported to substantiate researchers’ claims. Examples are examined from two recent projects: a consultation of pupil’s perceptions of assessment for learning strategies and an exploratory enquiry on employing music as a tool for inclusion in post-conflict Northern Ireland. From this experience, a number of suggestions on how to support the researchers’ claims are made and a model of knowledge generation is put forward. Some of the practical implications outlined are discussed within the context of social research, but it is acknowledged that the suggestions also apply to any field in which knowledge is generated from qualitative data

Implementation of computer assisted assessment: lessons from the literature

This paper draws attention to literature surrounding the subject of computer-assisted assessment (CAA). A brief overview of traditional methods of assessment is presented, highlighting areas of concern in existing techniques. CAA is then defined, and instances of its introduction in various educational spheres are identified, with the main focus of the paper concerning the implementation of CAA. Through referenced articles, evidence is offered to inform practitioners, and direct further research into CAA from a technological and pedagogical perspective. This includes issues relating to interoperability of questions, security, test construction and testing higher cognitive skills. The paper concludes by suggesting that an institutional strategy for CAA coupled with staff development in test construction for a CAA environment can increase the chances of successful implementation

Reviews

Brian Clegg, Mining The Internet — Information Gathering and Research on the Net, Kogan Page: London, 1999. ISBN: 0–7494–3025–7. Paperback, 147 pages, £9.99