‘We kind of try to merge our own experience with the objectivity of the criteria’: The role of connoisseurship and tacit practice in undergraduate fine art assessment

This article explores connoisseurship in the context of fine art undergraduate assessment practice. I interviewed twelve fine art lecturers in order to explore and unpack the concept of connoisseurship in relation to subjectivity, objectivity and tacit practice. Building on the work of Bourdieu (1973, 1977, 1986) and Shay (2003, 2005), both of whom problematize the view that subjectivity and objectivity are binary opposites, my research illustrates the ways that connoisseurship is underpinned by informed professional judgements located in communities of practice. Within this particular conception of connoisseurship, the lecturers’ expertise is co-constituted in communities of assessors through participation and engagement. Standards reside in communities of practice

Взаємозв’язок великих кондратьєвських циклів розвитку економіки і системних світових конфліктів

Однією з найважливіших проблем, що постала перед сучасною наукою у зв’язку із стрімким розгортанням глобальної економічної кризи, загостренням світових конфліктів, є вироблення науково обґрунтованих «метричних» експрес прогнозів розвитку суспільства на ближчу і далеку перспективу

Development of a portfolio of learning for postgraduate family medicine training in South Africa: a Delphi study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Within the 52 health districts in South Africa, the family physician is seen as the clinical leader within a multi-professional district health team. Family physicians must be competent to meet 90% of the health needs of the communities in their districts. The eight university departments of Family Medicine have identified five unit standards, broken down into 85 training outcomes, for postgraduate training. The family medicine registrar must prove at the end of training that all the required training outcomes have been attained. District health managers must be assured that the family physician is competent to deliver the expected service. The Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) require a portfolio to be submitted as part of the uniform assessment of all registrars applying to write the national fellowship examinations. This study aimed to achieve a consensus on the contents and principles of the first national portfolio for use in family medicine training in South Africa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A workshop held at the WONCA Africa Regional Conference in 2009 explored the purpose and broad contents of the portfolio. The 85 training outcomes, ideas from the WONCA workshop, the literature, and existing portfolios in the various universities were used to develop a questionnaire that was tested for content validity by a panel of 31 experts in family medicine in South Africa, via the Delphi technique in four rounds. Eighty five content items (national learning outcomes) and 27 principles were tested. Consensus was defined as 70% agreement. For those items that the panel thought should be included, they were also asked how to provide evidence for the specific item in the portfolio, and how to assess that evidence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Consensus was reached on 61 of the 85 national learning outcomes. The panel recommended that 50 be assessed by the portfolio and 11 should not be. No consensus could be reached on the remaining 24 outcomes and these were also omitted from the portfolio. The panel recommended that various types of evidence be included in the portfolio. The panel supported 26 of the 27 principles, but could not reach consensus on whether the portfolio should reflect on the relationship between the supervisor and registrar.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A portfolio was developed and distributed to the eight departments of Family Medicine in South Africa, and the CMSA, to be further tested in implementation.</p

Framing assessment today for the future: Issues and challenges

Assessment-and its interface with curriculum, teaching and learning-has always been a significant component of classroom practice. Research has indicated that typical teachers spend between one-third and one-half of their class time engaged in one or another type of assessment or learning evaluation activity (Stiggins & Conklin, 1992). However, research has also expressed concern that the knowledge that teachers hold about assessment matters has been limited, with scant attention paid to this area in teacher-preparation programs (Christie et al., 1991; Louden et al., 2005; Matters, 2006).Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Education and Professional StudiesFull Tex

Summative assessment of portfolios: an examination of different approaches to agreement over outcomes

The issue of arriving at agreement over outcomes in summative assessment of portfolios has been a major concern, given the complexity of the assessment task, the educational and political context, and the widespread and growing use of portfolios in higher education. This article examines research findings in this area. The discussion takes place in a philosophical and theoretical context. The first section of this article considers various approaches to portfolio assessment (e.g. positivist, interpretivist, feminist) and the assumptions underlying them. The second section examines research findings in these different traditions, pointing out the findings and gaps in each, as well as suggesting potential meeting points between them. The article does not argue that any approach offers all answers to all problems connected with agreement over outcomes in portfolio summative assessment. Rather, the purpose of this article is to clarify the choices facing assessors. The underlying issues raised here have relevance to other methods of assessment, apart from portfolios

Reducing the Socio-Economic Status Achievement Gap at University byPromoting Mastery-Oriented Assessment

Malgré des directives officielles visant à réduire les inégalités à l'Université, le statut socio-économique des étudiants est toujours un déterminant majeur de succès universitaire. La littérature sur la double fonction de l'université suggère que l'université serve non seulement une fonction éducative, mais aussi une fonction de sélection. Parce que des pratiques d'évaluation actuelles se concentrent sur la sélection plus que sur la fonction éducative, leurs caractéristiques vont mieux avec les normes et les valeurs partagées par les groupes de haut statut dominants et ainsi peuvent favoriser les étudiants issus de milieux socio-économiques élevés en comparaison avec les étudiants de statut socioéconomiques plus faibles. Cette recherche a testé l'hypothèse selon laquelle la fonction éducative plutôt que la fonction sélective était une caractéristique qui pouvait réduire la différence de réussite des étudiants en fonction de leur appartenance socioéconomique. Ainsi, les résultats montrent que les situations d'évaluation orientées vers la maitrise sont susceptibles de réduire les écarts de performances qui existent entre les groupes sociaux considérés