Researchers evaluated the effects of Educationally Purposeful Activities (EPAs) on transfer and nontransfer students' cumulative GPAs. Hierarchical, linear, and multiple regression models yielded seven statistically significant educationally purposeful items that influenced undergraduate student GPAs. Statistically significant positive EPAs for…

Critical reflection allows students to synthesize their learning and deepen their understanding of an experience (Ash & Clayton, 2009). A recommended reflection method is for students to write essays about their experiences. However, on a large scale, such reflection essays become difficult to analyze in a meaningful way. At Roanoke College,…

Many university leaders and faculty have the goal of promoting learning that connects across domains and prepares students with skills for their whole lives. However, as assessment emerges in higher education, many assessments focus on knowledge and skills that are specific to a single domain. Reworking assessment in higher education to focus on…

The new data sciences of education bring substantial legal, political, and ethical questions about the management of information about learners. This piece provides a synoptic view of recent scholarly discussion in this domain and calls for a proactive approach to the ethics of learning research.

Asking college students how much they have learned or grown is a common assessment practice in student affairs and elsewhere. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that these self-reported gains do a very poor job of measuring actual student learning and growth. This paper provides an overview of the psychological process of how students likely…

Employment within student affairs divisions offers environments in which students can apply the knowledge they have gained, as well as acquire new competencies, helping them to build solid foundations for their futures. Researchers used an online survey to assess the outcomes associated with part-time student employment within the student affairs…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are playing an increasingly important role in higher education around the world, but despite their popularity, the measurement of student learning in these courses is hampered by cheating and other problems that lead to unfair evaluation of student learning. In this paper, we describe a framework for maintaining…

Examinee effort can impact the validity of scores on higher education assessments. Many studies of examinee effort have briefly noted gender differences, but gender differences in test-taking effort have not been a primary focus of research. This review of the literature brings together gender-related findings regarding three measures of examinee…

"Circuits and Electronics" (6.002x), which began in March 2012, was the first MOOC developed by edX, the consortium led by MIT and Harvard. Over 155,000 students initially registered for 6.002x, which was composed of video lectures, interactive problems, online laboratories, and a discussion forum. As the course ended in June 2012,…

Despite the extensive testing for federal accountability mandates, college students' understanding of federal accountability testing (e.g., No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Spellings) has not been examined, resulting in a lack of knowledge regarding how such understanding (or lack thereof) impacts college students' behavior on accountability…

This paper describes an ongoing study at a small public university to assess student, faculty and alumni perceptions of academic integrity and business ethics. The phases of the research are detailed for application or replication by other institutions of higher education. The study involves anonymous surveys and academic integrity-based…

The effects of gathering test scores under low-stakes conditions has been a prominent domain of research in the assessment and testing literature. One important area within this larger domain concerns the implications of a test being low-stakes on test evaluation and development. The current study examined one variable, the testing context, that…

Differential Item Functioning (DIF) occurs when there is a greater probability of solving an item based on group membership after controlling for ability. Following administration of a 50-item scientific and quantitative reasoning exam to 286 two-year and 1174 four-year students, items were evaluated for DIF. Two-year students performed…

Do students change as a result of completing their general education requirement? This question was examined by using a pretest/posttest design with five different cohorts of students required to complete a general education program in American history and politics. Differences among various groups in Cohen's d (the standardized difference between…

Virginia's assessment of student learning outcomes has been lauded by national organizations for its respect of institutional autonomy while providing meaningful information on student learning outcomes. Virginia recently implemented a process by which each institution's plan to assess student learning outcomes are evaluated by peer institutions.…