Assessment practices in the developing world: predictors of assessment practices in Ugandan institutions of higher learning

This study analysed the predictors of assessment practices employed by faculty at selected institutions in Uganda. An Assessment Practices Inventory Modified (APIM) scale was distributed to a sample of 350 academic staff selected from both private and public universities in Uganda. Random sampling was used to select the participants for this study. MANOVA and multiple regression analysis were employed for data analysis. Differences were revealed in faculty assessment practices according to their academic levels and specialisations, and not in the type of universities. Differences in academic levels cut across all the assessment practices sub-scales (design, administration, interpretation, and application) while in specialisations differences were only in assessment interpretation. It was also found out that academic levels and formal assessment course undertaken are the only significant predictors of the academic staff’s assessment practices among the many hypothesised predictors (type of universities, specialisations, academic levels, class size, and assessment course). Generally, from the descriptive results of this study it has been noted that academic staff in Ugandan universities lack appropriate assessment skills in assessing their students. This has led to a recommendation that formal assessment training programmes should be made mandatory to all academic staff in universities in Uganda in order to improve their assessment skills to ensure quality in the way they assess students

Sustaining and strengthening higher education in International Islamic University Malaysia : the role of quality assurance exercises

The focus of the current quality assurance frame,Yorks appears to fit well with the structure of the efforts by many higher learning institutions including higher learning institutions in Malaysia. The delivery of academic services designed according to the set standard by university academic systems helps promote a university's quality initiatives. It is essential in strengthening the roles of an higher learning institution, and shaping its direction to face the increasingly challenging demands towards higher learning institution. The exercise of quality assurance helps a higher learning institution to substantiate, and in turn strategically strengthen its role as a higher learning institution especially in managing its functions in carrying out the university's mission and attaining its vision. In this regard, many higher learning institutions have adopted the many available quality-related systems including the ranking and rating systems. There are a number of pertinent impacts and issues which are associated with this exercise. This chapter presents an evaluation of institutional level study of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), which has been participating in, and benefiting from, a number of quality assurance related system

Factors influencing assessment practices among University academic staff: a multiple regression analysis

This study investigated the factors influencing assessment practices among academic staff in universities, in Uganda. Academic levels, type of the university, specialisation, class size, and assessment-based training were hypothesised as factors influencing the university academic staff’s assessment practices. A purely quantitative approach was adopted to collect and analyse data for this study. An Assessment Practice Inventory Modified scale was used to collect data from 321 university academic staff considering their categorisations. Using multiple regression analysis, out of the five predictors included in the model academic levels and assessment-based training were found to be significant predictors of the university academic staff’s assessment practices; (F [2, 310] = 46.331, p < .001). According to the results revealed in this study, it is recommended that universities should ensure that their academic staff rise in academic levels and also, they should provide them with assessment-based training to improv

A construct validation of the Malaysian University English Test and the English Placement Test: Two high-stakes English language proficiency tests

Malaysian students are normally required to show a certain level of English language proficiency before they are offered a place by a local institution of higher learning. One of the examinations conducted to ascertain their level of proficiency is the Malaysian University English Test (MUET). Apart from MUET some universities also conduct their own test for the same reason. This paper discusses a study on the comparability of MUET with the English Placement Test (EPT) conducted by the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). This study was conducted to see whether the two tests could be used interchangeably for admission and placement purposes. The two tests were administered on second year pre university students of IIUM. Analyses show that though significant, the correlation coefficients of the two tests were not high enough for them to be used interchangeably

Self-repair as indicator for communicative competence: Observation in the speech of L2 undergraduates

One of the primary goals of L2 teaching and learning in the 21st century is for students to develop necessary communicative competence. However, various employment agencies and organisations have raised the concerns over the poor competency in English language among Malaysian students. This study sets out to look into self repair practice as one aspect of communicative competence among undergraduates through a qualitative approach. In particular, this study analyses aspects of speeches that trigger self-repair and subsequently, examines the strategies employed to self-repair. Conversation Analysis was employed as the methodological framework and the guiding principles for the data collection procedure. Participating students were recorded while doing their presentations and/or having consultations with their supervisor. The recording was orthographically transcribed and incidence of self-repair was later identified and coded according to reasons that contribute to its occurrence and strategies for students to restore the disrupted speech. The findings of this research offer insights into resources for language teaching and learning as well as reasons for poor communicative competence among students

Gender inclusive education in higher education: illusory or a necessity?

Introduction: Malaysia, which achieved its independence in 1957, has undergone incredible socio-economic changes that have brought about wealth to its citizens. The growth and development of the Malaysian economy can largely be attributed to the success of the Malaysian education system which has seen literacy rate increases from 80 per cent for men in 1980 to more than 90 per cent in 2000. Similar increase is also observed in women, albeit slightly lower; from 62 per cent in 1980 to 82 per cent in 2000 (Aminah, 1998). The Malaysian higher education system has also undergone great transfonnations in the last five decades with, to date, a two-fold increase in the number of government universities compared to before the turn of the century

ADOPTION OF INTERNET ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (IALL): THE DIFFERENCES AMONG GENDER AND FIELD OF STUDY

The purpose of this study is to identify types of Internet Assisted Language Learning (IALL) tools most frequently used by Yemeni English major students, and to study the gender and discipline differences in this regard. The current study investigates the use of 15 IALL tools, namely YouTube, Facebook, Sharedlingo, Google Translate, Electronic Books, WhatsApp, BBC learning English, Busuu.com, British Council Online Website, Online English Movies, Aljazeera English Online, Skype, Online dictionaries and thesaurus, Podcasts and TOFEL and IELTS online materials. Samples include 724Yemeni English major students, from English departments in the three Faculties in Sanaa University namely Faculty of Education, Faculty of Languages and Faculty of Arts. A 5 Likert Scale checklist was used to collect the data employing simple random sampling. The statistical techniques employed include descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, and standard deviation) as well as the Independent Sample t-test. The research findings point out that the most frequently used IALL tool is Google Translate by WhatsApp, Online dictionaries and thesaurus, and electronic books respectively. Regarding the differences in students’ gender, eight tools show a statistically significant difference while the other 7 tools show no significant difference in scores for males and females students. Regarding students’ majors, seven tools show a statistically significant difference while the other eight tools show no significant difference in scores between education and non-education students. This study makes a contribution by providing empirical evidence about the current adoption of IALL among English major students in Yemen. Educators, as well as the Ministry of Higher Education, could benefit from the outcomes of the present study as an avenue to increase awareness of the current adoption. This process will engender better integration of IALL in the mainstream educational institution in the Yemeni context

An empirical examination of knowledge and interactivity on enhancing internet-assisted language learning (IALL) acceptance

Despite the benefits that Internet assisted language learning (IALL) has to offer, coupled with the ubiquity of internet technology, the adoption of IALL tools in language learning in Arab countries in general, and in Yemen in particular, is not as widespread as expected. Hence, the focus of this research is to explain English major students’ intention to adopt IALL through cognitive behavioral lenses. The conceptual framework of the study is represented by extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with the inclusion of objective knowledge, subjective knowledge and IALL interactivity as exogenous variables. The study first seeks to examine how well core TAM constructs explain Yemeni English major students’ intention towards adoption of IALL tools. Also, of particular interest to this study is the role that objective and subjective knowledge play in influencing intention towards adoption of IALL through attitude and IALL interactivity through perceived usefulness. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the study constructs. The hypothesized structural model explained indirect explanatory strength for IALL interactivity, subjective knowledge and objective knowledge in English students’ intention to adopt IALL using perceived usefulness and attitudes as mediators fits the data well. Furthermore, the results of the study showed that both English major students’ gender and academic achievement have significant moderating impact on their intention to adopt IALL. The model explained 71% of variance in Yemeni English major students’ intention to adopt IALL tools. It could be concluded that, the extended TAM framework explains Yemeni English major students’ intention to adopt IALL well

Interaction between test-taker characteristics, task facets and l2 oral proficiency test performance

The nature of test-taker characteristics and their impact on second language test performance has drawn a considerable amount of research interest among language testers in the last two decades. this is hardly surprising given the potential influence of test-taker attributes on second language (L2) learning and assessment. however, examining the influence of these attributes on test performance alone is insufficient. There are other elements in the assessment framework which also yield a significant amount of influence on test-taker reactions towards certain tasks and test perfromance. it is, therefore, necessary to further investigate the nature of these other factors in the assessment framework and examine how they relate to test-taker reactions and how they impact test perfromance. in this study, the interaction between three main factors in the assessment framework-test task facets, test-taker personla attributes, and language ability-and their simultaneous effect on oral proficiency test perfromance are examined through the use of structural equation modeling which allows the effects of the different factors in the assessment framework to be directly observed and modeled, and their individual effect on test performance estimated

Assessment

KEY CONCEPTS: ASSESSMENT AND TEST Assessment refers to any procedure that is used to obtain information on students’ learning. Unlike tests or any other forms of measurement, assessment does not necessarily result in a quantitative outcome. Regardless of whether an assessment is quantitative or qualitative, it is connected to particular goals or objectives for which it has been designed for. A test can be defined as a “systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behaviour by posing a set of questions in a unified way” (Linn & Gronlund, 2000). As a restricted amount of time is usually allocated to assess whole content domains, tests can only include a limited sample of questions. Questions formulated for a test must be unified so that they measure the same intended construct or domain, and not anything else. Tests are a special form of assessment made under fixed, artificial, or contrived situations so that they are standardized and can be easily administered and controlled. All tests are assessments; however, not all assessments are tests