One of the means of transforming classroom experience is by conducting action research with students. This paper reports about the action research with university students. It has been carried out within a semester of the course "Methods of Upbringing". Its goal has been to improve evaluation of higher education teaching. Different forms…

Service-learning is an instructional strategy used by faculty at hundreds of institutions, including those that are members of Campus Compact, an organization committed to service-learning and community/civic engagement. For this study, researchers examined a variety of online survey assessment tools used in service-learning projects. The…

Teacher evaluation is at the center of current education policy reform. Most evaluation systems rely at least in part on principals' assessments of teachers, and their discretionary judgments carry substantial weight. However, we know relatively little about what they value when determining evaluations and high stakes personnel decisions.…

This case focuses on one parent's request to have his daughter exempted from district-mandated computer tests (called STAR Enterprise tests). These tests are administered several times per year as a formative assessment to gauge student achievement in the areas of reading and math. The parent was concerned that the district was spending too…

This qualitative study explores aspects of formative peer assessment through looking at teachers' and students' perceptions and practices. The study takes place in a first semester course, where mastering peer assessment was a learning outcome and where formative peer assessment was designed into the course plan as a learning activity.…

Aligned assessment is a cornerstone of higher education curriculum design. Yet, it does not address the problem of how students learn "how" they should proceed when faced with a new assessment task. That teaching task is often left to the role of "feedback". This article examines changes to a first year law unit, introduced…

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) only becomes an effective tool for improving teaching and learning when the relevant stakeholders seriously consider and plan appropriate actions according to student feedback. It is common practice in medical education to provide clinical teachers with student feedback. However, there is limited evidence about…

This study analyses the educational support offered through information and communication technology during formative assessment in two different cases in higher education. We analysed one blended and one virtual case from two different universities. The study aimed at identifying specific patterns of educational support intended to foster two…

Audits of 23 degree programmes in eight universities showed wide variations in assessment patterns and feedback. Scores from Assessment Experience Questionnaire returns revealed consistent relationships between characteristics of assessment and student learning responses, including a strong relationship between quantity and quality of feedback and…

Despite acknowledgement of the benefits of self-assessment in higher education, disparity between student and academic assessments, with associated trends in overrating and underrating, plagues its meaningful use, particularly as a tool for formal assessment. This study examines self-assessment of capabilities in certain employability skills in…

Many of the studies used to support the claim that student evaluations of teaching are reliable measures of teaching effectiveness have frequently calculated inappropriate reliability coefficients. This paper points to three coefficients that would be appropriate depending on if student evaluations were used for formative or summative purposes.…

Students on the MSc Physiotherapy (pre-registration) programme at Manchester Metropolitan University work at postgraduate level, whilst studying to become physiotherapists. To facilitate the transition to postgraduate attainment, students participated in two sessions designed to inform them about assessment processes and standards. The hypothesis…

Undergraduate students accessing on-line tests in Human Biology in three Western Australian universities were asked to complete an on-line post-test reflective survey about their perceptions of their test performance in light of automated feedback. The survey allowed pre-determined choices and comment text boxes relating to students'…

This article adds to the existing literature on nonformal learning in education in general and the role played by written feedback in providing the space for such learning in particular. The study was conducted in an English as a Foreign Language context in which the participating students received written feedback on their English writings.…

In 2009, over 300 community colleges across the country adopted the Community College Student Survey of Engagement (CCSSE) in an effort to assess the campus environment through student perceptions. In addition, community colleges across the country are searching for ways to measure student learning. The Collegiate Assessment of Academic…