Assessment for learning? Thinking outside the (black) box

This article draws on a survey of 83 teachers, to explore the concepts of ‘assessment for learning’, ‘assessment’ and ‘learning’. ‘Assessment for learning’ is categorized as meaning: monitoring pupils’ performance against targets or objectives; using assessment to inform next steps in teaching and learning; teachers giving feedback for improvement; (teachers) learning about children’s learning; children taking some control of their own learning and assessment; and turning assessment into a learning event. Conceptions of assessment include assessment-as-measurement and assessment-as-inquiry. These conceptions are related to two conceptions of learning: learningas- attaining-objectives and learning-as-the-construction-of-knowledge. The conceptions of assessment-as-measurement and learning-as-attaining-objectives are dominant in English educational policy today. The article suggests that these conceptions need to be challenged and expanded, since conceptions held by those who have power in education determine what sort of assessment and learning happen in the classroom, and therefore the quality of the student’s learning processes and products

Knowledge construction and personal relationship : insights about a UK university mentoring and coaching service

This article examines interview data from twelve mentors/coaches and eight of their clients, in order to explore a mentoring and coaching service among UK university staff. Both mentors/coaches and clients were administrative or academic employees of the Institute of Education or affiliated colleges at London University, UK. Their roles related to the administration for, or leadership of, teaching programmes as well as educational research and consultancy projects pursued by the Institute. The mentors/coaches in this Service aimed to construct or co-construct knowledge with their clients rather than to transmit advice to them. In this article, the author explores the learning of mentors/coaches and clients, conceptualizing their ‘co-construction’ of knowledge as either collaborative construction or as participation. The link is examined between the construction of knowledge and personal relationship, considering the personal relationship both of mentor/coach with clients, and among mentors/coaches themselves. Additionally, the author draws on the divide alluded to by Fielding (1996) between functional and personal. She concludes by considering implications from the findings about mentoring and coaching. Emphasised is their potential to play a subversive role within the established functional systems of an institution, if mentoring and coaching prioritise personal relationship

Some considerations related to the use of the Scherrer equation in powder X-ray diffraction as applied to heterogeneous catalysts

This short overview summarises some of the basic considerations which should be undertaken when the Scherrer equation is applied to reflection widths in X-ray diffraction patterns of heterogeneous catalysts in order to extract meaningful information. Frequently, little account has been taken of the apparent complications arising from the presence of microstructural strain and disorder such as that which can be introduced upon doping or of anisotropic effects and such considerations are highlighted. Scanning electron micrograph showing the highly anisotropic nature of biogenic iron oxide found in a natural iron ochre source

The validity of collaborative assessment for learning

This article explores the features relating to the validity of assessment for learning, in particular the features of a collaborative assessment for learning, because of the learning benefits associated with collaborative learning. The article indicates what some of the learning benefits of highly valid collaborative assessment for learning might be, assuming that a valid assessment for learning actually promotes learning. It explores the idea that, for an assessment for learning to be valid, its learning outcomes must be socially appropriate for learners of the twenty-first century. The article illustrates some of these conceptual points, using descriptions of three collaborative assessments for learning currently being practised. Two of the illustrations are taken from the UK and one from the Eastern Caribbean