The aim of this study was to investigate the direction of the effect between goal orientation, self-regulation and deep processing strategies in order to understand the impact of these three constructs on students' achievement. The participants were 110 freshmen from the engineering faculty at the Universite catholique de Louvain in Belgium, who…

Problem-based learning (PBL) represents a major development in higher educational practice and is believed to promote deep learning in students. However, empirical findings on the promotion of deep learning in PBL remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships between students' approaches to learning (SAL) and…

This sequential mixed methods study analyzed how program evaluation was used to assess educational administration and examined thematic trends in educational evaluation published over 10 years (2001-2010). First, qualitative content analysis examined the articles in eight peer-reviewed evaluation journals. This analysis revealed that numerous…

In Germany, the "Abitur" grades awarded at the end of upper secondary education are critical in the allocation of sought-after university places. Drawing on a representative sample of 3526 grade 13 "Abitur" students in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, this article examines whether and to what extent grading is affected by the mean…

Whereas several studies investigated the effects of implementation of state-wide exit exams on student achievement, there is still little known about the impacts of the exams on students' self-regulated learning. This paper examines the question as to whether the implementation of state-wide high school exit exams is associated with a change in…

This paper is meant to highlight the occurrence of Simpson's Paradox when using aggregated data obtained from two IEA studies in Israel, while ignoring the effect of a powerful intervening variable in the local context--the ethnicity factor. It will demonstrate faulty conclusions regarding either the absence of relationships between a contextual…

A sample of educational evaluators was asked to design an outcomes-focused evaluation of a school program that aims to improve the academic achievement and self-esteem of students. Evaluators provided detailed descriptions of their evaluation design and methodology in their responses. These descriptions were coded and analyzed to determine the…

We use the PISA 2006 results to analyse students' proficiency in EU countries with regard to two indexes that represent the home background, viz the educational resources available at home and the family background of students. However, many factors affect proficiency and therefore, using a DEA-bootstrap, we intend to measure the efficiency of the…

In many European languages, the words "assessment" and "evaluation" are synonymous, but in English the two terms are used differently. Educational "assessment" is learner-focused and part of professional pedagogy, relating directly to the accountability of practitioners and schools to learners and their families. Educational "evaluation" is…

Developments in school education in Australia over the past decade have witnessed the rise of national efforts to reform curriculum, assessment and reporting. Constitutionally the power to decide on curriculum matters still resides with the States. Higher stakes in assessment, brought about by national testing and international comparative…

The study analyzes the effects of grade repetition on science and mathematics achievement and on self-concept in mathematics using longitudinal data from a representative sample of 9th graders in Germany. Same-age comparisons were applied between three groups: (a) the retained students, (b) a matched group of promoted students, and (c) the entire…

This study illustrates the development and validation of an admission test, labeled as Performance Samples on Academic Tasks in Educational Sciences (PSAT-Ed), designed to assess samples of performance on academic tasks characteristic of those that would eventually be encountered by examinees in an Educational Sciences program. The test was based…

Kahneman and Tversky's (1979, 2000; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) work in decision-making was applied to student preferences for grading practices. Undergraduate psychology students (n = 240) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 framing conditions related to how a university course might be graded: a 100 point system, a percentage system, and an open…

Students in Germany are tracked into different forms of secondary schooling based on teachers' recommendations. The literature shows that school tracking is largely affected by academic achievement levels, but neglects the influence of individual achievement growth. The authors used data from the Berlin study ELEMENT (N = 2242) to characterize…

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) study is the largest and most ambitious study undertaken to date by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. TIMSS provides a tool for investigating student achievement and school effectiveness, taking into account the varying influences of…