Effie Maclellan

Assessment for learning : the differing perceptions of tutors and students

The purpose of this study was to describe assessment practices as these were experienced by tutors and students in one higher education establishment. Eighty members of faculty staff (80% return) and 130 3rd-year undergraduates (100% return) completed a 40-item questionnaire on their experiences of assessment. The questionnaire included items on the purpose of assessment, the nature and demand level of the tasks which were assessed, the timing of assessment and the procedures for marking and reporting. Statistical analyses of the data showed that there was a significant difference of perception between the two groups. These results are discussed in terms of alternative theoretical models of assessment and suggest that while staff declared a commitment to the formative purposes of assessment and maintained that the full range of learning was frequently assessed, they engaged in practices which militated against formative assessment and authentic assessment being fully realised.

How convincing is alternative assessment for use in higher education

The current preference for alternative assessment has been partly stimulated by recent evidence on learning which points to the importance of students’ active engagement in the learning process. While alternative assessment may well fulfil the aims of formative assessment, its value in the summative assessment required in higher education is more problematic. If alternative assessment devices are to be used for summative purposes, the validity of alternative assessment has to be considered. The paper argues that task specification and marking consistency in alternative assessment can make comparability of performance difficult to effect, thereby leaving alternative assessment a less than convincing form for use in higher education.

Reading to learn

ABSTRACT Learning from text has long been a central activity in higher education. While it is doubtless important, there is evidence that the task of ‘reading to learn˚s is problematic for students in higher education. The article pursues a conceptual analysis of what ‘reading to learn˚s means in terms of conceptual and strategic knowledge and then explores what intervention could usefully help students to learn more effectively from text. A case is made for ‘reading to learn˚s in higher education being viewed as requiring a ‘deep˚s approach and that as an aid to, and manifestation of, the intention to interact vigorously with the text, students should be both enabled and required to engage routinely in the summarisation of what they read.

How Reflective Is the Academic Essay

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of reflection in academic essays. Forty essays, all previously deemed to be of merit quality, were analysed in terms of three elements of reflection—how the educational issue is conceptualized; what the issue means for practice; and how practice might be changed to resolve the problematic. Each element was then assigned one of four levels of reflection—technical, descriptive, dialogical and critical. The main finding was that most of the elements were either at a descriptive level of reflection (which the literature argues is not difficult to achieve) or at a dialogical level (which recognizes that knowledge is not certain but does not tease out the relative merits of differing views). These different levels of reflection are seen as developmental stages (from naive to sophisticated) in gaining control over the process of coordinating extant understanding and new evidence.The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of reflection in academic essays. Forty essays, all previously deemed to be of merit quality, were analysed in terms of three elements of reflection—how the educational issue is conceptualized; what the issue means for practice; and how practice might be changed to resolve the problematic. Each element was then assigned one of four levels of reflection—technical, descriptive, dialogical and critical. The main finding was that most of the elements were either at a descriptive level of reflection (which the literature argues is not difficult to achieve) or at a dialogical level (which recognizes that knowledge is not certain but does not tease out the relative merits of differing views). These different levels of reflection are seen as developmental stages (from naive to sophisticated) in gaining control over the process of coordinating extant understanding and new evidence.

Conceptual Learning: The Priority for Higher Education

ABSTRACT:  The common sense notion of learning as the all-pervasive acquisition of new behaviour and knowledge, made vivid by experience, is an incomplete characterisation, because it assumes that the learning of behaviour and the learning of knowledge are indistinguishable, and that acquisition constitutes learning without reference to transfer. A psychological level of analysis is used to argue that conceptual learning should have priority in higher education.

The significance of motivation in student-centred learning: a reflective case study

The theoretical underpinnings of student-centred learning suggest motivation to be an integral component. However, lack of clarification of what is involved in motivation in education often results in unchallenged assumptions that fail to recognise that what motivates some students may alienate others. This case study, using socio-cognitive motivational theory to analyse previously collected data, derives three fuzzy propositions which, collectively, suggest that motivation interacts with the whole cycle of episodes in the teaching–learning process. It argues that the development of the higher-level cognitive competencies that are implied by the term, student-centred learning, must integrate motivational constructs such as goal orientation, volition, interest and attributions into pedagogical practices.

Mental Calculation: its place in the development of numeracy

Abstract Recent curricular initiatives in the UK have been emphasising the importance of mental calculation in the achievement of improved numeracy standards. This article argues that while the emphasis on mental calculation is to be welcomed, the construct itself needs to be understood in all its complexity. This means recognising what is involved in mental calculation and, further, recognising the developmental shift from additive to multiplicative reasoning which is necessary for a mature conceptualisation of number. It is suggested that this shift is difficult to achieve because it involves reconceptualising the essential meaning of ‘a number’. Furthermore, the pedagogical practices which could possibly support children in their transition from additive to multiplicative reasoning must be more than helping children to develop an ever increasing repertoire of mental strategies.

Reflective commentaries: what do they say about learning?

Abstract In the context of a growing literature which points to reflection being the means through which students can enhance and refine their own learning, the purpose of the study was to distinguish developmental differences in the reflective writing of PGCE(P) students at the end of their year of pre-service teacher education. The written content of 25 student commentaries was analysed in terms of three categories. Each category was then assigned a level of reflection. The main finding was that most of the categories were at a descriptive level of reflection, a level which the literature argues is not difficult to achieve. It is unclear why there should be a dominance of descriptive reflection at the expense of more demanding levels, but it is suggested that part of the reason may lie in the students conceptions of the purpose of the writing task.

How might teachers enable self-confidence? A review study

In the context of learner-centred learning and curricular reform, self-confidence is invoked as an important construct. However, there is no easily available research-informed guidance on what self-confidence means for the professional teacher. This study uses the analytic technique of Concept Analysis to review psychology and education literatures to provide a “take-home” message for teachers. The review identifies conceptual artefacts (ideas, theories, concepts which explain, connect, predict or apply knowledge) that the teacher can appropriate in order to enable learner self-confidence. These conceptual artefacts are classified in three groups: characterising self-confidence; self-judgements of confidence; and factors that influence the development of self-confidence. The review finds self-confidence to be a robust and stable psychological construct, best promoted through teachers’ attention to learners’ development of knowledge and engagement in socially designed learning activities. It further finds that teachers’ attention to activities which involve learners’ self-regulation are of importance.

Academic achievement The role of praise in motivating students

The motivation of students is an important issue in higher education, particularly in the context of the increasing diversity of student populations. A social-cognitive perspective assumes motivation to be dynamic, context-sensitive and changeable, thereby rendering it to be a much more differentiated construct than previously understood. This complexity may be perplexing to tutors who are keen to develop applications to improve academic achievement. One application that is within the control of the tutor, at least to some extent, is the use of praise. Using psychological literature, the article argues that in motivating students, the tutor is not well served by relying on simplistic and common sense understandings of the construct of praise and that effective applications of praise are mediated by students’ goal orientations, which of themselves may be either additive or interactive composites of different objectives and different contexts.