An international overview of assessment issues in technology education : disentangling the influences, confusion and complexities

Set in the context of wider research, this review of international literature describes some of the issues that contribute towards the prevailing confusion regarding the 'what', 'when' and 'why' of assessment. It explores the complexities embedded within assessment of, for and as learning and the difficulties arising in Technology Education. It discusses what comprises the goals and purposes, and precise nature of 'content' and how this impacts on what is considered as important to measure in terms of attainment, performance and achievement in Technology Education. The paper examines the influence of external assessment, the influence of the teacher and the influence of the various approaches and instruments of assessment on pedagogy, achievement and learner performance and motivation. The dimensions and discriminators of performance and progression in Technology Education are complex. The key issues need to be disentangled to provide some clarity and inform practice. Greater creativity is needed to help devise multi-dimension, multi-expression assessment strategies which celebrate the complexity and influence pedagogy appropriate for learning in the 21st century

Freedom of science

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of "freedom of science"("academic freedom")for the advancement of society and mankind, which, however, is permanently endangered by powerful organisations, groups and individuals, who in pursuit of their one-sided interests are seeking to constrain information about the truth. As a broad term, freedom of science embraces freedom in research, learning, teachingand publication. All of these activities should be dedicated to identifying the truth and learning about the truth. Design/methodology/approach – Three theoretical approaches are of importance for framing issues related to freedom of science, which in this paper are integrated into the framework of mindset agency theory: freedom is a value; "freedom" is claimed by agents who pursue specific interests (goals), which might constrain others; and individuals are agents who are interacting with each other within a social system–cooperation, ignorance or conflict. Findings – Freedom as a value is at the core of intellectual autonomy. Intellectual autonomy is a necessarycondition for innovation and advancement of knowledge. The observable modes of interaction/coexistenceamong researchers are influenced by individual research goals and by the researchers' access to resources, which may be deliberately constrained by opponents or other researchers as competitors. Research limitations/implications – For further research, which is beyond this paper, the authors can refer to: analyses of challenges of "academic freedom" – in terms of ethics, protection of individual humanrights, political pressures and conflicts of interests; the issues of truth, i.e. the impact of fake news andcreation of "alternate facts"; and the relation between academic freedom and employment (academic tenure) inpresent-day societies. Owing to lack of space, this paper cannot deal with the danger emerging from powerful organisations or powerful individuals, who are challenging freedom of science. Social implications–If there is no freedom of science then social progress is constrained. If there is no access to right data, decisions will be wrong. Originality/value – So far, a comprehensive cybernetic model was not published, which supports systems thinking about scholars and teachers (inter)acting in research organisations

Developing student’s accounting competencies using Astin’s I-E-O model: an identification of key educational inputs based on Indonesian student perspectives

This paper discusses a model for developing Students’ Accounting Competencies (SAC) using Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model. SAC based on AICPA core competency is considered important due to business and environment changes. Student Motivation, Student Previous Achievement, Student Demographic Characteristics, Learning Facilities, and Comfort of Class Size are educational inputs. Student Engagement and SAC are proxies for Environment and Outcome respectively. Empirically, the aforementioned educational inputs except Student Demographic Characteristics are important inputs for improving SAC. Student Engagement effectively mediates the influence of inputs on SAC. The I-E-O model is appropriate for analysing relationships among a single input, Student Engagement, and SAC. This model becomes less powerful for analysing simultaneous relationships among multiple inputs, Student Engagement, and SAC. Future research on using other assessments for gauging SAC, identifying other significant inputs, identifying the impact of real class size on Student Engagement and SAC, and developing Student Engagement for accounting courses are required

Persistence in STEM: An Analysis of Achievement Goals, Gender, and Class Belonging

Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3rd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)This study investigated what factors contribute to motivational engagement, and specifically, persistence on coursework, for students in collegiate physics courses. Data were collected from 994 students in 1,000- and 2,000-level physics courses, who were surveyed as part of a larger study on motivation and engagement. Achievement goal orientations, sense of class belonging, and gender effects were examined via multiple linear regression in order to determine how each of these factors contributes to students' persistence on coursework within physics. Mastery-approach goal orientations and class belonging were found to be significantly and positively related to persistence, while performance-avoidance goal orientations were not found to have a significant relation to the persistence outcome. Despite previous work on female belonging in STEM, gender did not moderate the relation between class belonging and persistence. Implications and future directions are discussed.No embarg

Squaring the circle: a new alternative to alternative-assessment

Many quality assurance systems rely on high-stakes assessment for course certification. Such methods are not as objective as they might appear; they can have detrimental effects on student motivation and may lack relevance to the needs of degree courses increasingly oriented to vocational utility. Alternative assessment methods can show greater formative and motivational value for students but are not well suited to the demands of course certification. The widespread use of virtual learning environments and electronic portfolios generates substantial learner activity data to enable new ways of monitoring and assessing students through Learning Analytics. These emerging practices have the potential to square the circle by generating objective, summative reports for course certification while at the same time providing formative assessment to personalise the student experience. This paper introduces conceptual models of assessment to explore how traditional reliance on numbers and grades might be displaced by new forms of evidence-intensive student profiling and engagement

The Teaching of Vocabulary through the Multisensory Approach to EFL Third Age Adults in a Public Nursing Home in Pereira, Colombia

El aprendizaje del idioma inglés es un proceso que conlleva beneficios cognitivos, personales, sociales y de crecimiento. Esta investigación cualitativa tuvo como objetivo integrar a una población de adultos mayores en lecciones de vocabulario en inglés basadas en los principios de la teoría de la andragogía

The First-Year Gateway Experience: A Groundbreaking Model

Based on calls for a paradigm shift in higher education, which have appeared in the literature for years (Barr &Tagg, 1995; Tagg, 2003, Bryant University transformed its first-year experience into an innovative model, The First-Year Gateway). Informed by research from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education, the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ Liberal Education for America’s Promise, and the Wabash National Study, a group identified five learning outcomes: effective communication, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, diversity awareness, and information literacy. Key to this undertaking was faculty development, and utilizing assessment data to improve curricular design and learning outcomes. The result is an interdisciplinary 13 credit first-year program developed to foster a successful transition into Bryant University. Launched in fall 2012, assessment data was gathered to determine whether common learning outcomes were achieved. Faculty embedded student success goals into their courses, which are designed to foster purposeful adjustment to higher education. Preliminary assessment indicates institutional gains in retention, academic standing, and student and faculty engagement during the implementation year. The new model, based on Wenger’s community of practice (COP), created opportunities to discuss pedagogy. Most importantly, the model fostered faculty’s deeper understanding of first-year transitions