This book explores the challenges of assessing quality in applied and practice-based research in education. It offers various views on quality in applied and practice-based research and proposes ways in which qualitycriteria may reflect more closely the diversity of applied research and its complex entanglements with practice and policy.
Tina Besley has edited this collection which examines and critiques the ways that different countries, particularly Commonwealth and European states, assess the quality of educational research in publicly funded higher education institutions. Such assessment often ranks universities, departments and even individual academics, and plays an important role in determining the allocation of funding to support university research.
Teachers spend much of their time on assessment, yet many higher education teachers have received minimal guidance on assessment design and marking. This means assessment can often be a source of stress and frustration. Assessment and Feedback in Higher Education aims to solve these problems. Offering a concise overview of assessment theory and practice, this guide provides teachers with the help they need.
There has been a remarkable growth of interest in the assessment of student learning and its relation to the process of learning in higher education over the past ten years. This interest has been expressed in various ways – through large scale research projects, international conferences, the development of principles of assessment that supports learning, a growing awareness of the role of feedback as an integral part of the learning process, and the publication of exemplary assessment practices. At the same time, more limited attention has been given to the underlying nature of assessment, to the concerns that arise when assessment is construed as a measurement process, and to the role of judgement in evaluating the quality of students’ work. It is now timely to take stock of some of the critical concepts that underpin our understanding of the multifarious relationships between assessment and learning, and to explicate the nature of assessment as judgement. Despite the recent growth in interest noted above, assessment in higher education remains under-conceptualized. This book seeks to make a significant contribution to conceptualizing key aspects of assessment, learning and judgement.
Assessment and evaluation have always been an integral part of educational process. Quality and purposeful assessment can assist in students’ learning and their achievement. While there has been a rapid growth in international, standardized student assessments in the past few decades, a large number of education systems participating in these assessments are now focusing their attention on developing new national, within-country assessments to evaluate educational standards and to modify the curriculum to better suit to the demands of the 21st century. Education systems that are successful in linking the national curriculum and assessments directly to international standards are performing better on international standardized assessments of reading, mathematics, and science. This book covers studies related to educational assessment in addressing quality of education and performance improvement. The book presents the distinguished and exemplary works by educators and researchers in the field highlighting the contemporary trends and issues, creative and unique approaches, innovative methods, frameworks, pedagogies and theoretical and practical aspects in assessment processes in various educational settings.
What is a university degree for? What can it offer to students? Is it only about getting a job? How can we measure the quality of an undergraduate degree? Paul Ashwin shows how, around the world, economic arguments have come to dominate our thinking about the purpose and nature of university education. He argues that we have lost a sense of the educational purposes of an undergraduate degree and the ways in which going to university can transform students' lives. Ashwin challenges a series of myths related to the purposes, educational processes, and quality of an undergraduate education. He argues that these myths have fuelled the current misunderstanding of the educational aspects of higher education and explores what is needed to reinvigorate our understanding of a university education. Throughout, Ashwin draws on his deep engagement with international research to offer an accessible and thought-provoking analysis of the nature of university education.
"This book provides insights concerning the use of E-assessment in Higher Education. It also provides the opportunity for a reflection on this important issue, increasing the understanding of using E-assessment in the context of several different contexts, providing relevant academic work, empirical research findings, and an overview of this relevant field of study"--
This publication¿the latest report from AAC&U¿s Liberal Education and America¿s Promise (LEAP) initiative¿defines a set of educational practices that research has demonstrated have a significant impact on student success. Author George Kuh presents data from the National Survey of Student Engagement about these practices and explains why they benefit all students, but also seem to benefit underserved students even more than their more advantaged peers. The report also presents data that show definitively that underserved students are the least likely students, on average, to have access to these practices.
Critics within and outside the field of education often point out the absence of a strong reciprocal connection between research and practice. The emergence of standards-based reform and the passage of NCLB have generated increasing pressure for evidence-based decision making at all levels. Yet there is little clarity about how research results are actually used in education, or what kinds of evidence are most useful to practitioners and policymakers. In this book, leading scholars in the field examine the culture, incentives, and opportunities that shape the decision-making practices of educational professionals (teachers, administrators, and policymakers) as well as individuals, intermediary organizations, and private sector groups who engage in and disseminate research. The authors explore the multiple ways in which research--or the lack of it--influences the quality of instruction, both directly and indirectly. They identify strategies for making researching and development a more vital and relevant part of educational decision making and provide suggestions for strengthening the research-to-practice pipeline. Part description and part prescription, the book maps out avenues for important changes in education research, policy, and practice. "With all the fuss about evidence-based decision making, The Role of Research in Educational Improvement makes a stellar contribution. The chapters cover the full range of issues from federal, state, district, and school levels. In each case instruction is the focus. This invaluable resource, at once comprehensive and focused, unravels the mystery of research and makes it accessible. A great read whether you are in the schoolhouse or the statehouse." -- Michael Fullan, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto "Turn a gaggle of scholars loose on a vital subject--the relation of education research to education practice--and if you are lucky, you get a collection like this. It draws on the authors' long experience and reams of research to provide lessons worth pondering by everybody from the Congress to the classroom." -- Carol Hirschon Weiss, Beatrice B. Whiting Professor, Emerita, Harvard Graduate School of Education "An excellent and important contribution to our knowledge of how teachers, school leaders, and policymakers use evidence-based practices to improve teaching and learning in schools. The authors highlight the challenges, obstacles, and benefits of using research evidence to improve schooling." -- Lance D. Fusarelli, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, North Carolina State University Edited by John D. Bransford, Deborah J. Stipek, Nancy J. Vye, Louis M. Gomez, and Diana Lam
This book examines important advances and offers a realistic image of the state of the art in student learning outcomes assessment in higher education—a field close to the core of nearly every higher education institution. Producing sound information on what students know and can do is critical to higher education practitioners and future social prosperity. Spanning international, national and institutional developments, the book presents methodological and empirical insights, highlights research challenges, and showcases the enormous progress made in recent years. The book will be of interest to researchers in education assessment and neighbouring fields, and stakeholders like institutional leaders, teachers and graduate employers looking for better insight on returns, governments searching for information to assist with funding and regulation, and members of the public wanting more clarity about outcomes and public investment. This book was originally published as a special issue of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.
