Rhetorical relationships with students: A higher education case study of perceptions of online assessment in mathematics

Some students perceive that online assessment does not provide for a true reflection of their work effort. This article reports on a collaborative international project between two higher education institutions with the aim of researching issues relating to engineering student perceptions with respect to online assessment of mathematics. It provides a comparison between students of similar educational standing in Finland and Ireland. The students undertook to complete questionnaires and a sample of students was selected to participate in several group discussion interviews. Evidence from the data suggests that many of the students demonstrate low levels of confidence, do not display knowledge of continuous assessment processes and perceive many barriers when confronted with online assessment in their first semester. Alternative perspectives were sought from lecturers by means of individual interviews. The research indicates that perceptions of effort and reward as seen by students are at variance with those held by lecturers. The study offers a brief insight into the thinking of students in the first year of their engineering mathematics course. It may be suggested that alternative approaches to curriculum and pedagogical design are necessary to alleviate student concerns

On-line assessment for e-learning: options and opportunities

The desire to produce educational multi-media packages of ever greater sophistication is such that other, more problematic, elements of e- or on- line learning receive less attention by academics and courseware developers alike. One such problematic area is that of assessment, which is surprising, as e-learning assessment procedures are more critical in defining the learning that takes place. However, because e-learning can create a much richer, more varied active learning experience than would normally occur via the passive didactic teaching mode currently utilised in most universities and centred on the use of the lecture, it also has the potential to provide new and innovative assessments modes and systems. The extent to which the potential of innovatory assessment is realised via e-learning depends on two factors. First, the level of computer component and interactivity utilised in elearning. Second, the attitude of academic staff towards their teaching role, and, more specifically, how they operate within an elearning environment. The speed of the development in online technologies and techniques is such that the information given here will not provide all the answers, it should, nevertheless, enable some of the correct questions to be pose

Developing e-assessment using the quiz activity within Moodle: empowering student learning

Using formative assessment within Moodle has been shown to encourage self-directed learning (Bromham & Oprandi, 2006). Our experience of using formative assessment quizzes as stand alone entities, as well as within Moodle lessons, has been used to introduce Moodle assessment quizzes over the past year in Level 1 and Level 2 Life Sciences courses. This experience has been distilled to inform the content of this workshop. Some advantages of incorporating assessments in the form of Moodle quizzes are that they allow for quick, reproducible and flexible assessment with a relatively small initial set-up cost, and substantial long-term staff and administration savings. One significant advantage is that staff and room pressures can be reduced as students can attempt the assessment at a time and location of their choice within a specified time period. This flexibility can help to reduce student stress associated with completion of a continuous assessment for their course. It is also a relatively simple process to account for students entitled to extra time during assessments. Providing clear instructions beforehand and at the start of the quiz ensures that students understand their responsibilities for completion of this assessment and ultimately the course. There are some disadvantages and limitations to the system as it currently exists, for example there is the perceived ability for students to “cheat” by completing the assessment as a group, accessing books and the internet. Strategies to account for these can be put in place and will be discussed in detail during the workshop. This workshop aims to take the participants through the initial set up of a quiz, highlighting the various question types and how these can be used to create a challenging assessment that can be quickly graded and prove informative for staff and course development. Reference Bromham L. & Oprandi P. (2006) Evolution online: developing active and blended learning by using a virtual learning environment in an introductory biology course. Journal of Biological Education 41 (1): 21-25

School use of learning platforms and associated technologies – case study: secondary school 2

Study of benefits and effective use of learning platforms in schools based on 12 case studie

Supporting graduate teaching assistants in two STEM areas

No abstract available

原理に基づいた決断：日本の大学生対象EFLコース設計に関する考察

大学生EFL 学習者対象に新しいコースをデザインするとき、教師にはさまざまな教育的選択が委ねられる。なかでもシラバスと評価方法に関する考察は特に重要だと言える。そこで、本研究では、原理・理論に基づいたコースの開発・実施後に、コース設計時に教師が下した教育的決断を学習者も有益だと認識したか検証するため学習者の評価を調査した。その結果、学生は（1）成果・過程混成シラバスの構成要素である計画性と反復性が特に有益だと認識していたこと、（2）形成的評価、総括的評価の両者の混成評価を好んでいることが分かった。本研究で明らかになったことは、制限はあるものの、今後同様にコース開発に関わるEFL教師の意思決定過程に役立つものと考える

Investigating how educational technologies can enhance learning experiences by assisting different learning activities

Current educational technology implementations are done independently and not necessarily linked, neither with key elements of the pedagogic model, nor accommodating different learning styles. This work focuses on developing a framework that would standardise the use of assistive technologies in education. In particular, the focus of this work is on how social media, computer-assisted assessment, augmented and mixed reality can be used to improve the learning experience in certain educational contexts. This research study is based on a combination of grounded theory that included a literature review on the following relevant areas, covering key topics that correspond to the dimensions of the proposed framework: i) communication in education; ii) assessment; iii) and feedback. This stage provided a review of the learning activity spectrum that can be affected by educational technologies. The deliverable of this stage was a detailed literature review with distinct links to the action research in the form of specific pilot studies. The following stage provides a discussion on the impact of educational technologies on learning activities. The main deliverable is a review of current technologies with emphasis on how they affect specific learning activities The research also included an element of action research in the form of six pilot studies: i) Google Glass: Student Experience; ii) Google Glass: Presentation Feedback; iii) Google Glass: Feedback on Feedback; iv) Google Glass: Voting System; v) Social Media: Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn; vi) Student Observable Behaviour. The pilots were conducted and analysed in order to provide sufficient evidence supporting the proposed framework guidelines. The framework proposed consists of four dimensions: i) content; ii) communication; iii) assessment; iv) feedback. This framework is a framework of good practice. It can be used to support academics who wishes to deploy educational technologies in support of a range of learning activities. Furthermore, the framework has the flexibility of applying different educational technologies for different scenarios without missing a standardised evaluation criteria