Towards a competency model for adaptive assessment to support lifelong learning

Adaptive assessment provides efficient and personalised routes to establishing the proficiencies of learners. We can envisage a future in which learners are able to maintain and expose their competency profile to multiple services, throughout their life, which will use the competency information in the model to personalise assessment. Current competency standards tend to over simplify the representation of competency and the knowledge domain. This paper presents a competency model for evaluating learned capability by considering achieved competencies to support adaptive assessment for lifelong learning. This model provides a multidimensional view of competencies and provides for interoperability between systems as the learner progresses through life. The proposed competency model is being developed and implemented in the JISC-funded Placement Learning and Assessment Toolkit (mPLAT) project at the University of Southampton. This project which takes a Service-Oriented approach will contribute to the JISC community by adding mobile assessment tools to the E-framework

Service-oriented flexible and interoperable assessment: towards a standardised e-assessment system

Free-text answers assessment has been a field of interest during the last 50 years. Several free-text answers assessment tools underpinned by different techniques have been developed. In most cases, the complexity of the underpinned techniques has caused those tools to be designed and developed as stand-alone tools. The rationales behind using computers to assist learning assessment are mainly to save time and cost, as well as to reduce staff workload. However, utilising free-text answers assessment tools separately form the learning environment may increase the staff workload and increase the complexity of the assessment process. Therefore, free-text answers scorers have to have a flexible design to be integrated within the context of the e-assessment system architectures taking advantages of software-as-a-service architecture. Moreover, flexible and interoperable e-assessment architecture has to be utilised in order to facilitate this integration. This paper discusses the importance of flexible and interoperable e-assessment. Moreover, it proposes a service-oriented flexible and interoperable architecture for futuristic e-assessment systems. Nevertheless, it shows how such architecture can foster the e-assessment process in general and the free-text answers assessment in particular

Using an Open Software System (Sakai) to Develop Student Portfolios

E-portfolios are digital collections of artifacts that represent the achievements and reflections of individuals. They offer a unique view into student learning and allow educators and external accreditors to assess student progress towards established standards as well as reviewing their program’s performance in supporting that progress. Students benefit from assembling their e-portfolios through the process of reviewing their own work with a critical eye, choosing pieces of their work that best represent their abilities, and reflecting on the transformative nature of their University experience, both in class and through extra-curricular, service learning, internships and international activities. An e-portfolio provides a holistic view of a student’s personal growth and abilities that will serve them well in their career search or graduate school application. The challenge for an institution is to provide this learning and assessment resource in an accessible and affordable vehicle that is manageable for both faculty and students. Roger Williams University has crafted a strategy to utilize the Sakai open source course management system with its integrated e-portfolio tool set and a linked website to provide both e-portfolios and program assessment. This strategy will also be employed to propose a virtual accreditation of a professional program that will serve as a model throughout the University and the broader higher education community

Incentive Schemes for Local Government : Theory and Evidence from Comprehensive Performance Assessment in England

This paper studies Comprehensive Performance Assessment, an explicit incentive scheme for local government in England. Motivated by a simple theoretical political agency model, we predict that CPA should increase service quality and local taxation, but have an ambiguous e¤ect on the e¢ ciency of service provision. We test these predictions using a difference in difference approach, using Welsh local authorities as a control group, exploiting the fact that local authorities in Wales were not subject to the same CPA regime. To do this, we construct original indices of service quality and e¢ ciency, using Best Value Performance Indicators. We estimate that CPA increased the effective band D council tax rate in England relative to Wales by 4%, and increased our index of service quality output also by about 4%, but had no signifcant effect on our efficiency indices. There is evidence of heterogenous effects of CPA on efficiency, with some evidence that CPA impacted more on less efficient councils, and the "harder test" from 2005-8 having a much bigger effect. Key words: local government ; incentives ; efficiency ; difference in difference ; DEA JEL classification: H10 ; H70 ; H77 ; C21

Hospital-based alternatives to acute paediatric admission: a systematic review

Objective: To synthesise published evidence of the impacts of introducing hospital-based alternatives to acute paediatric admission. Design: Systematic review of studies of interventions published in English. Patients: Children with acute medical problems referred to hospitals. Interventions: Services provided in a hospital as an alternative to inpatient admission. Main outcome measures: Admission or discharge, unscheduled returns to hospital, satisfaction of parents and general practitioners, effects on health service activity and costs. Results: 25 studies were included: one randomised controlled trial, 23 observational or cross-sectional studies and one qualitative study. Many studies were of uncertain quality or were open to significant potential bias. About 40% of children attending acute assessment units in paediatric departments, and over 60% of those attending acute assessment units in A & E departments, do not require inpatient admission. There is little evidence of serious clinical consequences in children discharged from these units, although up to 7% may subsequently return to hospital. There is some evidence that users are satisfied with these services and that they are associated with reductions in inpatient activity levels and certain hospital costs. Evidence about the impact of urgent outpatient clinics is very limited. Conclusions: Current evidence supports a view that acute paediatric assessment services are a safe, efficient and acceptable alternative to inpatient admission, but this evidence is of limited quantity and quality. Further research is required to confirm that this type of service reorganisation does not disadvantage children and their families, particularly where inpatient services are withdrawn from a hospital

Interactivity within IMS Learning Design and Question and Test Interoperability

We examine the integration of IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) and IMS Learning Design (LD) in implementations of E-learning from both pedagogical and technological points of view. We propose the use of interactivity as a parameter to evaluate the quality of assessment and E-learning, and assess various cases of individual and group study for their interactivity, ease of coding, flexibility, and reusability. We conclude that presenting assessments using IMS QTI provides flexibility and reusability within an IMS LD Unit Of Learning (UOL) for individual study. For group study, however, the use of QTI items may involve coding difficulties if group members need to wait for their feedback until all students have attempted a question, and QTI items may not be able to be used at all if the QTI services are implemented within a service-oriented architecture

An impact assessment methodology development for transport automation within the concept of logistics as a service

Il presente studio dal titolo "Sviluppo di una metodologia di valutazione dell'impatto per l'automazione dei trasporti nell'ambito del concetto di Logistics as a Service" illustra una metodologia avanzata di valutazione dell'impatto dell'automazione dei trasporti nel contesto della logistica come servizio. L’indagine si propone di ovviare alla mancanza di una metodologia standardizzata e completa per la valutazione degli impatti dell'automazione dei trasporti sulla logistica come servizio, essenziale per i processi decisionali. La metodologia per la valutazione dell'impatto della logistics as a service automatizzata qui proposta si compone di quattro fasi principali: la definizione dell'ambito e dei confini dell'analisi con una revisione della letteratura, l'identificazione delle aree di impatto e degli indicatori di performance dell'automazione dei trasporti sulla logistics as a service con la definizione delle priorità, la definizione di uno scenario e l'associazione di casi di studio con un approccio di raccolta dei dati e la valutazione degli impatti con tre indici di valutazione della logistica. Lo studio presenta anche un caso di applicazione della metodologia proposta nel contesto della simulazione e della presenza di veicoli automatizzati in situazioni reali. Inoltre, fornisce un progetto di strumento intelligente per l'adattamento e l'integrazione di tale servizio nell’attuale società. I risultati del caso di studio dimostrano che la metodologia proposta può fornire preziose indicazioni sull'impatto dell'automazione dei trasporti sulla logistica come servizio, compresi i potenziali benefici e le sfide. I risultati indicano che l'automazione dei trasporti può apportare benefici significativi in termini di risparmio di costi, di tempo e distanze, nonché in termini di aumento dell'efficienza, anche se solleva preoccupazioni da parte degli stakeholder circa la delocalizzazione dei posti di lavoro, l'accettazione sociale e la sicurezza informatica. Nel complesso, lo studio fornisce un utile contributo al settore della logistica e dell'automazione dei trasporti proponendo una nuova metodologia per la valutazione dell'impatto, che può essere di supporto ai decisori e agli stakeholder nell’adozione di decisioni informate relative all'implementazione dell'automazione dei trasporti nella logistica come servizio.This research study for "An Impact Assessment Methodology Development for Transport Automation within the Concept of Logistics as a Service" presents an advanced impact assessment methodology for assessing the impacts of transport automation on the field of logistics as a service context. This research aims to address the lack of a standardized and comprehensive methodology for evaluating the impacts of transport automation on logistics as a service, which is essential for decision-making processes. The proposed automated logistics as a service impact assessment methodology consists of four main steps: defining the scope and boundaries of the analysis while having a literature review, identifying the impacts areas and performance indicators of transport automation on logistics as a service while addressing prioritization, a scenario definition and case study associations while having data collection approach, and evaluating of the impacts with three logistics assessment indexes. The study also presents a case study deployment of the proposed methodology in the context of simulation and automated vehicle presence in reallife application. Moreover, the research also provides a smart tool design for adaptation and integration of such a service into existing society. The results of the case study show that the proposed methodology can provide valuable insights into the impacts of transport automation on logistics as a service, including the potential benefits and challenges. The findings indicate that transport automation can bring significant benefits in terms of cost savings while having time and distance saved, efficiency increase, but also raise stakeholder concerns about job displacement, social acceptance, and cybersecurity. Overall, the research study provides a valuable contribution to the field of logistics and transport automation by proposing a new methodology for impact assessment, which can help decision-makers and stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding the implementation of transport automation in logistics as a service

Possible Futures: E-Reserves, Decentralization, and Collaboration

E-Reserves is a relatively young library support service that was conceived as a strategic, decentralized response to changes occurring in curricular resource formats during the 1990s. It is a service that has since become ubiquitous in academic libraries and one that is presently facing a crisis spurred by shifts in user culture, e-learning environments, and modes of scholarship production. Challenges facing E-Reserve services are compounded by a professional culture of isolation and by the absence of best practices and internal assessment measures that can serve as effective rubrics to measure changes or test the efficacy of current service models. This analysis of the history of E-Reserve services and evaluation of the current curricular support needs of faculty and students sheds light on the current crisis and envisions possible futures for the service. The article ultimately advocates for a move towards hybrid and iterative service models and highlights the importance of collaboration and outreach to ensure the future viability of E-Reserve services

Gamification as a Service for Formative Assessment E-Learning Tools

Formative assessment tools can benefit from the addition of gamification elements, as stronger engagement may generate further learning opportunities. However, adding gamification elements to such tools may require a significant development effort and leads to few opportunities for re-use, e.g. among different e-learning tools within the same course or degree. In this paper, we describe a platform for offering gamification elements as a service to any formative assessment tool. We describe our experience in an introductory course for Digital Circuit Design in a Computer Science Degree