James Dalziel

Using Marks To Assess Student Performance: Some Problems and Alternatives.

ABSTRACT Numerical scoring of assessment performance is extremely widespread within education, and yet the use of numbers in this context requires theoretical assumptions which are rarely articulated or tested. Traditional marking systems use numerals in a way that is equivalent to psychological measurement, and hence encounter all of the same problems associated with psychological measurement in terms of the meaning of the numerals used. This paper outlines the theoretical relationship between measurement and marking, and presents an overview of the problems of psychological measurement and their relevance to assessment in education. In particular, the problems associated with aggregating marks to form a final score are discussed. These problems are illustrated by the assessment of a first‐year psychology course of 17 components and 1039 students. Simulations based on this case‐study show the substantial problems of determining final marks when the issues previously discussed are taken into account. Some...

Students as research subjects: Ethical and educational issues

Abstract This paper evaluates the ethical and educational questions provoked by student participation in psychological research as a course requirement. Both conceptual arguments and empirical evidence are presented in favour of the practices educational value, and the author argues that a preoccupation with “coercion” is misguided, given the comparability of participation with other equally coercive course expectations such as attendance, essays, and exams. The argument regarding “experimenter gain” is also placed in an educational context, and the mutually beneficial nature of interaction between students and academics is emphasised. The current Australian Psychological Societys (1994) guidelines for the ethical conduct of research are also discussed from an educational perspective: the lack of clarity surrounding the ethics of student participation in experiments is identified, and the need for clarification is suggested. Methods for improving the educational value of participation are discussed, and...