We explore the various Mathematica functions for performing Gaussian elimination, specifically when the linear system contains input parameters. On the one hand, we want the solution, perhaps heuristically found, to be in terms of the input parameters, and as general as possible. On the other hand, we must adhere to all necessary conditions and…

In this edition of Assessment News, Charles Darr uses a case study from the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) to highlight how students can benefit from activating deliberate thinking in assessments. The key message underscores the value of using assessment information to generate insights that inform better teaching and…

The Campbellian validity typology has been used as a foundation for outcome evaluation and for developing evidence-based interventions for decades. As such, randomized control trials were preferred for outcome evaluation. However, some evaluators disagree with the validity typology's argument that randomized controlled trials as the best design…

Even though agent-based modelling is seen as committing to a mechanistic, generative type of causation, the methodology allows for representing many other types of causal explanations. Agent-based models are capable of "integrating" diverse causal relationships into coherent causal mechanisms. They mirror the crucial, multi-level…

For a librarian with an innovator's mindset, inquiry can be a collaborative strategy for continual growth. When a librarian innovates with their community, radical, human-centered change is possible. According to the author, school librarians see the needs in the communities across grades, content areas, and demographics. The best advocacy is…

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education has been significantly propelled by developments in generative AI tools, which hold considerable promise for transforming teaching and assessment methodologies. This paper explores the distinctive opportunities and challenges associated with the incorporation of generative…

Though there is an extensive research literature on understanding and assessing individual modeling competencies, less attention has been given to characterizing the social context of the classroom in which modeling occurs. Yet a classroom's culture of modeling--its negotiated system of beliefs and values about the nature of modeling and what…

Instructional strategies employing complex problem-solving examine how learners represent the problem space and argue for decisions. Unlike problems with few solutions (e.g., multiple choices), instructors struggle to evaluate solutions to ill-structured problems quickly and consistently across students. This prevents instructors to provide timely…

Conventional advice discourages controlling for postoutcome variables in regression analysis. By contrast, we show that controlling for commonly available postoutcome (i.e., future) values of the treatment variable can help detect, reduce, and even remove omitted variable bias (unobserved confounding). The premise is that the same unobserved…

Integrating computational thinking (CT) and science education is complex, and assessing the resulting learning gains even more so. Arguments that assessment should match the learning (Biggs, "Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education," 21(1), 5-16. 1996; Airasian and Miranda, "Theory into Practice," 41(4), 249-254. 2002;…

Recently a teacher friend enquired about the S-I-R equations for disease spread, and what follows was stimulated by that exchange. COVID-19 provides an opportunity to put mathematical flesh on verbal bones such as "self-isolation", "lockdown", "herd immunity", "flattening the curve", "closed…

We have the ability to capture data from students' interactions with digital environments as they engage in learning activity. This provides the potential for a reimagining of assessment to one in which assessment become part of our natural education activity and can be used to support learning. These new data allow us to more closely examine the…

The requirement to assure the teaching of critical thinking put the school in front of its own weaknesses. A profound criticism highlights limitations, hindrances and obstacles that are difficult to pass without the personal efforts of the teachers. Following criticism, one can identify a set of requirements that would allow for improvement and…

Collaboration skills have been identified as an important educational outcome, not just as a means to enable learning mechanisms to be enacted, but also as a demonstrable skill of interest to assessment practitioners. In recent years, there has been an ambition to develop models of assessment that are underpinned by the collaborative process, and…

Today, experts agree that the level of cognitive development of modern young people affects the long-term life goals and outcomes that they set for themselves. During the course of numerous studies experts have identified such key competencies as problem solving, information literacy, and critical thinking. However, there are still many unanswered…