The onset of COVID-19, along with its various mutations, has played havoc with many activities, not the least of which is education. For the majority of 2020 and 2021 in Australia, much of the teaching in both schools and universities was undertaken online, leading to a re-think of how learning and teaching might look in the future. This paper…

This article critically considers the promise of computer adaptive testing (CAT) and digital data to provide better and quicker data that will improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of schooling. In particular, it uses the case of the Australian NAPLAN test that will become an online, adaptive test from 2016. The article argues that…

In this paper, we explore the improvisations made in examination practices in higher education during the pandemic of 2020. Drawing on STS, we start from the theoretical assumption that examinations constitute an obligatory passage point in universities and colleges: a sacred point which students need to pass if they want to gain recognized…

This paper reflects on some of the themes emerging from a consideration of recent research at the nexus of technologies, learning and culture. The authors comment on the expansive nature of the concept of learning spaces in papers featuring an investigation of technology enhanced learning (TEL) and communication design studios in the UK and…

This paper attempts to address the possibility of real change after a hundred years of exam-based assessments that produce a single mark or grade as feedback on students' progress and abilities. It uses visual feedback and analysis of graduate attribute assessment to foreground the diversity of aspects of a student's performance across subject…

High levels of engagement with technology are characteristic of young people in the 21st century. Teachers and curriculum designers can utilize students' comfort with technology to enhance learning. Easy access to information on the Internet is also significant because the former role of teachers as a primary source of information is no longer…

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that allows countries to compare outcomes of learning as students near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA core assessments measure the performance of 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, and reading literacy every 3 years. Coordinated by…

Research in automated creation of test items for assessment purposes became increasingly important during the recent years. Due to automatic question creation it is possible to support personalized and self-directed learning activities by preparing appropriate and individualized test items quite easily with relatively little effort or even fully…

This article is based on an experiment designed to conduct an interpreting test for multiple candidates online, using web-based synchronous cyber classrooms. The test model was based on the accreditation test for Professional Interpreters produced by the National Accreditation Authority of Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) in Australia.…

Effective criterion referenced assessment requires grade descriptors to clarify to students what skills are required to gain higher grades. But do students and staff actually have the same perception of the grading system, and if so, do they perform better than those whose perceptions are less accurately aligned with those of staff? Since…

Online marking and feedback systems are critical for providing timely and accurate feedback to students and maintaining the integrity of results in large class teaching. Previous investigations have involved much in-house development and more consideration is needed for deploying or customising off the shelf solutions. Furthermore, keeping up to…

While a number of studies have been conducted on the impact of online assessment and teaching methods on student learning, the field does not seem settled around the promised benefits of such approaches. It is argued that the reason for this state of affairs is that few studies have been able to control for a number of confounding factors in…

Assessment has long been at the center of education policy debates, and for good reason. The goal of schooling is to maximize student learning, and assessments provide a picture of what students know and are able to do. Assessments also have a strong influence on what goes on in classrooms. The United States is now poised to make the most dramatic…

Purpose: Group-based tasks or assignments, if well designed, can yield benefits for student employability and other important attribute developments. However there is a fundamental problem when all members of the group receive the same mark and feedback. Disregarding the quality and level of individual contributions can seriously undermine many of…

Purpose: Self- and peer assessment has proved effective in promoting the development of teamwork and other professional skills in undergraduate students. However, in previous research approximately 30 percent of students reported that its use produced no perceived improvement in their teamwork experience. It was hypothesised that a significant…