178,524 research outputs found
Students' perceptions about assessment using an e-learning platform.
SCAPâs Information Systems Department is
composed of about twenty teachers who have, for several
years, been using an e-learning environment (Moodle)
combined with traditional assessment. A new e-assessment
strategy was implemented recently in order to evaluate a
practical topic, the use of spreadsheets to solve management
problems. This topic is common to several courses of different
undergraduate degree programs. Being e-assessment an
outstanding task regarding theoretical topics, it becomes even
more challenging when the topics under evaluation are
practical. In order to understand the implications of this new
type of assessment from the viewpoint of the students,
questionnaires and interviews were undertaken. In this paper
the analysis of the questionnaires are presented and discussed
Feeding back to feed forward:formative assessment as a platform for effective learning
Students construct meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs, 2003) which are largely determined by the type, amount, and timing of feedback (Carless, 2006). The aim of the present study was to develop a greater awareness and understanding of formative assessment and feedback practices and their relationship with learning. During 2011 five focus group discussions were undertaken with students and academic staff involved with a range of modules and degree pathways at a UK University. Three of the focus groups were with undergraduate students (one at each level of study), and one was with taught postgraduate students. Discussions focussed on integration of formative assessment and feedback into modules, as well as an exploration of the effectiveness of feedback on future learning. The findings revealed that in order to emphasise continuous learning â feeding back to feed forward (Rushton, 2005) â and to encourage self-regulated learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006), students need to have opportunities to make mistakes and to learn from them prior to summative assessment (through formative assessment and feedback). There was also firm evidence of different approaches to learning, emphasising in particular the transitional importance of the first year of study as the foundation upon which future achievement is built
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Quality in MOOCs: Surveying the Terrain
The purpose of this review is to identify quality measures and to highlight some of the tensions surrounding notions of quality, as well as the need for new ways of thinking about and approaching quality in MOOCs. It draws on the literature on both MOOCs and quality in education more generally in order to provide a framework for thinking about quality and the different variables and questions that must be considered when conceptualising quality in MOOCs. The review adopts a relativist approach, positioning quality as a measure for a specific purpose. The review draws upon Biggsâs (1993) 3P model to explore notions and dimensions of quality in relation to MOOCs â presage, process and product variables â which correspond to an inputâenvironmentâoutput model. The review brings together literature examining how quality should be interpreted and assessed in MOOCs at a more general and theoretical level, as well as empirical research studies that explore how these ideas about quality can be operationalised, including the measures and instruments that can be employed. What emerges from the literature are the complexities involved in interpreting and measuring quality in MOOCs and the importance of both context and perspective to discussions of quality
Designing an e-tutoring system for large classes: mixed-method research
This study aimed at assessing the perceptions of 167 teachers about the tutoring system
adopted in an online training course involving teachers from 20 Schools of Sesimbra, SetĂșbal
and Palmela counties. The course, called âDistributed Knowledge with Web 2.0â, was
officially certified as a blended learning modality, with the duration of 50 hours, 41 of which
occurred online in two editions, the first in February and the second in July of 2012, each one
of them involving respectively 82 and 85 teachers, divided in four classes with about 20
trainees each. This blended learning course was designed at producing educational materials
in digital format, and included autonomous and group activities, knowledge sharing and
reflection. A learning environment, supported by the Ning platform, was set up. At the end of
the course, the trainees answered to a pencil and paper survey, in order to evaluate the
adopted online tutoring strategy. Additionally the traineesâ final reports contained evidence of
how the trainees assessed the tutoring model component of the course; both the survey and
the reports were the basis for this research. The results show that the teachers who attended
the two course editions disclosed very positive perceptions about online learning, a modality
they consider adequate to their current professional status and conditions. The trainees also
showed their intention of, in the future, opting for blended training arrangements. Future
developments of this study involve a content analysis of the tutorâs posts, in order to
understand more accurately the tutorâs messages characteristics, in their social and cognitive
dimensions
Understanding the Impact of Technology: Learner and School Level Factors
The first part of this report focuses on the factors impacting on learner performance in national tests at primary and secondary level. This was the central research question of this research.
The second section focuses on teacher and learner perceptions of their own responses to learning and the learning environment. This was centred on, but not confined to, their school.
The institutional structures record the level of development of the schools sampled here and investigate the use of two key technologies â interactive whiteboards and learning platform
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