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1.
Increasingly, student assessments of courses are being conducted online as opposed to administered in class. A growing body of research compares response rates and course ratings of courses evaluated online versus on paper. The present study extends this research by comparing student course assessments before and after the University of South Florida made online evaluations mandatory for all courses. This change only directly affected courses taught on-campus, as online courses were already being assessed online. However, we examine the effect of this change on courses taught on-campus and online, because we expect this change in policy to have differential effects. We hypothesise that by making online assessments mandatory for all courses, online assessments went from a novel method of evaluation to the norm; and, therefore, increased response rates for online courses, but had the opposite effect for on-campus courses. We find mixed support for our hypothesis. 相似文献
2.
Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are widely used to measure teaching quality in higher education and compare it across different courses, teachers, departments and institutions. Indeed, SETs are of increasing importance for teacher promotion decisions, student course selection, as well as for auditing practices demonstrating institutional performance. However, survey response is typically low, rendering these uses unwarranted if students who respond to the evaluation are not randomly selected along observed and unobserved dimensions. This paper is the first to fully quantify this problem by analyzing the direction and size of selection bias resulting from both observed and unobserved characteristics for over 3000 courses taught in a large European university. We find that course evaluations are upward biased, and that correcting for selection bias has non-negligible effects on the average evaluation score and on the evaluation-based ranking of courses. Moreover, this bias mostly derives from selection on unobserved characteristics, implying that correcting evaluation scores for observed factors such as student grades does not solve the problem. However, we find that adjusting for selection only has small impacts on the measured effects of observables on SETs, validating a large related literature which considers the observable determinants of evaluation scores without correcting for selection bias. 相似文献
3.
Research on teaching and learning in condensed-course formats is varied and difficult to generalize. We analyze this research and identify factors that may account for the varied findings. Additionally, we present a mixed methodology study of 20 matched-pair courses (i.e., full and condensed formats) from 11 disciplines which examines student learning and student and faculty perception data. We find that faculty and students perceive condensed courses as more effective, but that student learning varies depending upon the measures used to assess it. We conclude by considering the implications of our study for teaching and assessment practices. 相似文献
4.
In this quasi-experimental mixed methods study, we examined the effectiveness of a faculty-to-faculty mentoring program to increase student success rates in online courses at an American university. Over one semester, 24 faculty mentees worked with 6 faculty mentors on improving course organization and implementing student engagement techniques. Using methodological triangulation, we found positive results for two of our effectiveness measures (i.e., mentor and mentee feedback and mentors’ ratings of mentees’ courses). However, in terms of our third measure (i.e., student learning data), although institutional data showed that there was a 4.1% aggregate increase in online student success after the intervention, the intervention group made no significantly greater gains than two control groups. Our findings highlight some benefits and shortcomings of these types of university initiatives and also emphasize the importance of using triangulation to integrate participant feedback with formal measures of student success. 相似文献
5.
Learning to program is known to be difficult for novices. High attrition and high failure rates in foundation-level programming courses undertaken at tertiary level in Computer Science programs, are commonly reported. A common approach to evaluating novice programming ability is through a combination of formative and summative assessments, with the latter typically represented by a final examination. Preparation of such assessment is driven by instructor perceptions of student learning of programming concepts. This in turn may yield instructor perspectives of summative assessment that do not necessarily correlate with student expectations or abilities. In this article, we present results of our study around instructor perspectives of summative assessment for novice programmers. Both quantitative and qualitative data have been obtained via survey responses from programming instructors with varying teaching experience, and from novice student responses to targeted examination questions. Our findings highlight that most of the instructors believed that summative assessment is, and is meant to be, a valid measure of a student's ability to program. Most instructors further believed that Multiple-choice Questions (MCQs) provide a means of testing a low level of understanding, and a few added qualitative comments to suggest that MCQs are easy questions, and others refused to use them at all. There was no agreement around the proposition that if a question was designed to test a low level of skill, or a low level in a hierarchy of a body of knowledge, that such a question should or would be found to be easy by the student. To aid our analysis of assessment questions, we introduced four measures: Syntax Knowledge; Semantic Knowledge; Problem Solving Skill and the Level of Difficulty of the Problem. We applied these measures to selected examination questions, and have identified gaps between the instructor perspectives of what is considered to be an easy question and also in what is required to be assessed to determine whether students have achieved the goals of their course. 相似文献
6.
Scott Anderson Allen Goss Mike Inglis Laleh Samarbakhsh Melissa Toffanin 《Journal of Further & Higher Education》2018,42(6):797-807
We studied the impact of clickers, also known as electronic student response systems, on the performance of students on two undergraduate finance courses. Consistent with some of the recent literature, we found that clickers have very little impact on student performance, as measured by final course grades. Further, we found that clickers do not have a significant impact on course grades for students in relation to their designated performance ability (weak versus strong) or whether the course in question is less or more difficult. However, after simultaneously controlling for course difficulty and student aptitude, we found that clickers have a meaningfully positive impact on the performance of poorly performing students on more challenging quantitative courses. Our results suggest that the impact of clickers on student performance may depend on the type of student (academically weak, average or strong) and the type of course (average or difficult). This finding has particular implications for curriculum planners at the post-secondary level, although the findings may also have application at the secondary school level. 相似文献
7.
Nearly every state evaluates teacher performance using multiple measures, but evidence has largely shown that only one such measure—teachers’ effects on student achievement (i.e., value-added)—captures teachers’ causal effects. We conducted a random assignment experiment in 66 fourth- and fifth-grade mathematics classrooms to evaluate the predictive validity of three measures of teacher performance: value-added, classroom observations, and student surveys. Combining our results with those from two previous random assignment experiments, we provide additional experimental evidence that value-added measures are unbiased predictors of teacher performance. Though results for the other two measures are less precise, we find that classroom observation scores are predictive of teachers’ performance after random assignment while student surveys are not. These results thus lend support to teacher evaluation systems that use value-added and classroom observations, but suggest practitioners should proceed with caution when considering student survey measures for teacher evaluation. 相似文献
8.
We explore the effectiveness of repeating the student-teacher match on test scores, for the universe of 8th graders in Chile using information on all student-teacher matches across multiple subjects and years, and a national, anonymous measure of test scores. Using a fixed effect and a regression discontinuity approach, we find that repeating matches has a robust positive effect on test scores. We show that this positive effect aggregates up to the student, class, and school-level, and also has longer-term effects on university admission exams. As channels, we find a significant positive effect on attendance, progression, student behaviour and teacher expectations. Reallocating teachers to classes with which they are familiar appears to offer a feasible strategy to improve student performance at low cost. 相似文献
9.
Kristen E. Fong Tatiana Melguizo 《Community College Journal of Research & Practice》2013,37(9):566-592
ABSTRACTThis study describes student behavior through the actual assessment and placement (A&P) process. It then uses an alternative A&P policy that utilizes an additional measure that assesses prior math preparedness alongside subtest choice. Utilizing data from a community college that allows its' students to choose the assessment subtest used to place them, we find a misalignment between students’ subtest choice and the highest math course they passed. After correcting for this misalignment through our alternative A&P criteria, we found that students experience increased access to higher levels of math while exhibiting similar success rates in their placed courses. 相似文献
10.
Daugherty Lindsay Gerber Russell Martorell Francisco Miller Trey Weisburst Emily 《Research in higher education》2021,62(7):1086-1111
Traditionally colleges have relied on standalone non-credit-bearing developmental education (DE) to support students academically and ensure readiness for college-level courses. As emerging evidence has raised concerns about the effectiveness of DE courses, colleges and states have been experimenting with approaches that place students into credit-bearing coursework more quickly. To better understand which types of students might be most likely to benefit from being placed into college-level math coursework, this study examines heterogeneity in the causal effects of placement into college-level courses using a regression discontinuity design and administrative data from the state of Texas. We focus on student characteristics that are related to academic preparation or might signal a student’s likelihood of success or need for additional support and might therefore be factors considered for placement into college-level courses under “holistic advising” or “multiple measures” initiatives. We find heterogeneity in outcomes for many of the measures we examined. Students who declared an academic major designation, had bachelor’s degree aspirations, tested below college readiness on multiple subjects, were designated as Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and/or were economically disadvantaged status were more likely to benefit from placement into college-level math. Part-time enrollment or being over the age of 21 were associated with reduced benefits from placement into college-level math. We do not find any heterogeneity in outcomes for our high school achievement measure, three or more years of math taken in high school.
相似文献11.
Melinda Mechur Karp Julia Raufman Chris Efthimiou Nancy Ritze 《Community College Journal of Research & Practice》2013,37(1):42-55
ABSTRACTIn response to strikingly low completion rates in public 2-year colleges, including for students who are well-prepared academically, most community colleges across the country offer student success courses as one approach to improving outcomes for students. Some colleges have begun to revise these courses in response to research indicating that their impact fades over time. This article examines Bronx Community College’s efforts to restructure their student success course into a First Year Seminar (FYS) that integrates college orientation activities, disciplinary content, and academic success skills. The course emphasizes student-centered pedagogies in order to encourage learning that persists beyond the semester of participation. We use mixed methods to assess the early outcomes of students in FYS courses and understand whether and why the course’s impact has the potential to be sustained. Using propensity score matching to compare 1,138 FYS participants to 1,138 similar nonparticipants, we find early evidence that the FYS approach leads to positive outcomes, including higher grade point averages (GPA) and earning more credits. Using classroom observations (N = 40), instructor interviews (N = 10), and interviews with participants (N = 27), we find that FYS appears to facilitate student-centered, contextualized, and applied learning, thereby helping students apply their FYS-related skills in future courses. This study has implications for reforming student success courses in a way that achieves long-term positive student outcomes. 相似文献
12.
This paper uses data on roommates from two different selective institutions to investigate the effect of peers on first-year performance, with a specific focus on the underlying mechanism. We compare measures of academic ability across student sub-groups by race, income, and gender, and across institutions. Male, minority, and aided students are affected most strongly by their peers. The size and presence of peer effects are dependent on the ability measure used as well as the setting. Standardized estimates suggest ability measured by high school grades have roughly twice the effect of ability measured by SATs. We also test the use of a standardized measure of first-year performance and find more consistent evidence of peer effects across both schools. Our results provide an explanation for the mixed findings in the literature and suggest that the driving force behind peer effects lies in the transfer of general academic know-how rather than in the teaching of specific knowledge or social proximity. 相似文献
13.
Relationships of student characteristics to student performance and attitudes were explored by meta-analysis for studies conducted in kindergarten through twelfth grade since 1960. Six student characteristics (general ability, language ability, mathematics ability, socio-economic status, gender, and race) were selected for inclusion in this investigation based on their frequency of use in the literature. Studies in which these student characteristics were associated with student science performance or science attitudes were included in this investigation. Associations of ability and socio-economic status with science performance and attitudes were summarized by correlational analysis. An effect size measure was used to summarize associations of gender and race with science performance and attitudes. 相似文献
14.
This research investigates the effectiveness of an early academic intervention in Principles of Economics courses at a large public university. After the end of the fourth week of classes, students who fell below a 70% threshold on a performance measure, or had an attendance rate below 75%, were referred to the university's Student Success Center for additional academic support. A referral consisted of students being informed of their status and being given optional assistance in course specific skills through tutoring, as well as training in general skills like time management and study skills. Using a regression discontinuity framework at the referral threshold, we find that the performance intervention improved student scores on common questions on the final exam by 6.5 to 7.5 percentage points for students at or near the performance threshold. The gains are particularly large for students who entered college with below average math placement scores. These results indicate that low-cost light-touch interventions may significantly affect student academic performance. 相似文献
15.
League tables that rank universities may use reputational measures, performance measures, or both. Each type of measure has
strengths and weaknesses. In this paper, we rank disciplines in Australian universities both by reputation, using an international
survey of senior academics, and with actual performance measures. We then compare the two types of measures to see how closely
they match. The criterion we use for both sets of measures is ‘international academic standing’. We find a high correlation
between the survey results and the various measures of research performance. We also find a correlation between the quality
of student intake and the survey rankings, but the satisfaction levels of recent graduates do not correlate well with the
rankings by academics. We then construct an overall measure of performance, which gives very similar rankings to the survey
results, especially for the top-ranked institutions.
相似文献
| Ross WilliamsEmail: |
16.
We have conducted action research involving an instructional intervention over a 20-year period. This has demonstrated that spatial ability influences academic performance in engineering, and can be increased through instruction focused on using perception and mental imagery in three-dimensional representation. Prior to our intervention, the first-year engineering graphics course at our university had a failure rate of 36% for all engineering students and failure rates of 80% for African students studying at our university. Similar high failure rates were reported in engineering drawing and design courses at other Southern African universities, and similar association between low scores on tests of spatial ability and academic performance, suggesting that the problem was one encountered by many engineering students, not just by students at our university. Over the initial 2 years of the intervention, pass rates for the first-year engineering graphics course increased from 64 to 76%. With further changes in teaching, and the training of senior students as tutors to support the lecturing and practical activities provided in the course, the pass rates have risen to 88% annually, over a period in which the composition of the first-year student has become increasingly diverse, with greater numbers of students entering the university from disadvantaged educational backgrounds. The instructional model we have used is based on Piagetian principles, and confirms Piaget's theories with respect to the trainability of spatial ability in adulthood. Our findings suggest the importance of early identification of students with difficulty, as well as the potential value of an intervention aimed at training the processes involved in visualization through three-dimensional modelling and representation of objects. While spatial ability appears to be trainable through the methods we have developed, our research also indicates that level of spatial ability at time of intake to university is an important influence on academic performance, suggesting the value of instruction in visualization and three-dimensional representation at school level. Social factors are also important influences on academic performance, suggesting the value of tutorial-based interventions aimed at improving spatial ability in those university and technikon courses for which visualization and three-dimensional representation are a requirement. 相似文献
17.
Within the education sector, accountability regulations have been used with the intended purpose of improving student outcomes. In higher education, one such regulation aims to improve the ability of borrowers to repay their student loans by placing sanctions on institutions with excessive student loan defaults. This paper examines whether student loan accountability regulations were able to (1) lower student loan defaults, and (2) address the broader objective of improving repayment ability, by exploiting a change to the period in which the regulation’s performance measure was monitored. I find that the change to the regulation resulted in less student loan defaults at for-profit colleges. I also find that this reduction in student loan defaults resulted in a short-term improvement in repayment ability at for-profit, but not nonprofit, institutions. 相似文献
18.
In some professions, speed and accuracy are as important as acquired requisite knowledge and skills. The availability of computer-based testing now facilitates examination of these two important aspects of student performance. We found that student response times in a conventional non-speeded multiple-choice test, at both the global and individual question levels, closely approximated lognormal distributions. We propose a new measure, pace, which is derived from the survival function of these distributions for analysis of individual person response times. These pace estimates could be used both to rank and compare students; pace also performed maximally compared to other parameterizations in generalizability and dependability studies. While pace was very weakly related to person ability, there was no detectable relationship to question parameters of shift, natural logarithmic mean, or natural logarithmic standard deviation. That is, pace was a person-dependent, question-independent measure. Pace measurements were also successfully used as covariates in models for estimation of person response time to specified questions and person accuracy in response to specified questions. Thus, the analysis of pace can contribute significantly to comprehensive evaluation of student performance in both the speed and ability domains and is a requisite to best practice in testing and assessment. 相似文献
19.
Standards-based accountability approaches in education are increasingly being adopted in many industrialised countries. This tends to involve the scrutiny of student performance in national academic tests and then holding schools accountable for subsequent progress. International assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are not accountability measures in themselves, but are often utilised in a similar way and national policies are judged against performance in these tests. Drawing upon the examples of PISA and national assessments in the USA, this paper explores how students with special educational needs and disability (SEND) are included in, and served by, these assessment policies. The analysis suggests that while these approaches are inclusive in their intent (most obviously through efforts to include students with SEND in testing) they may poorly represent the progress of these students. It is argued that more equitable inclusion of students with SEND must find a balance between accountability measures which measure performance in traditional attainment-focused tests and other relevant assessments which are meaningful to the given student and/or SEND sub-group. 相似文献
20.
The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of curriculum-based measures as indicator of growth in content-area learning. Participants were 58 students in 2 seventh-grade social studies classes. CBM measures were student- and administrator-read vocabulary-matching probes. Criterion measures were performance on a knowledge test, the social studies subtest of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), and student grades. Both the student- and examiner-read measures reflected change in performance; however, only the student-read measure resulted in interindividual differences in growth rates. Significant relations were found between the growth rates generated by the student-read vocabulary measure and student course grades, ITBS scores, and growth on the knowledge test. These results support the validity of a vocabulary-matching measure as an indicator of student learning in the content areas. The results are discussed in terms of the use of CBM as a system for monitoring performance and evaluating interventions for students with learning disabilities in content-area classrooms. 相似文献