This teaching note describes one example of a shift from content to competence in a graduate MSW course teaching advanced mindfulness complex practice behaviors and skills for use in direct practice. The development of advanced mindfulness competencies and skills provides a conceptual base o shift teaching from lengthy lectures to experiential…

Since 1973, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about student achievement in mathematics. Results of these periodic assessments, produced in print and web-based formats, provide valuable information to a wide variety of audiences. They inform citizens about the nature of students' comprehension of the…

An achievement test for the secondary school vocational electricity programs in South Carolina was constructed by a research coordinating unit (RCU) project. A trade and industrial supervisor and consultant, three electricity instructors, and four industry representatives comprised an advisory committee that participated in its development. Three…

Describes how one instructor developed a biology questionnaire designed to get students interacting and thinking about biology course content on the first day of class. Discusses why student interest is captured, how the questions are made, and how the questionnaire results are used in class. Contains a 15-question true/false questionnaire. (LZ)

The Multi-Digit (MDT) testing procedure is a computer-scored testing innovation conceptualized in 1982. It is fully compatible with multiple choice and true/false tests well suited for the testing of discreet terms and concepts such as in fill-in-the-blank examinations. The student reads the question and selects the appropriate response from an…

This paper reports on a newly designed judgmental method for setting test performance standard that: (1) overcome many of the practical and psychometric problems associated with the Angoff and Ebel methods; (2) can be used to set multiple cut points on a score scale; (3) may be readily and efficiently implemented with assessments that use…

Describes the practical workup of a multiple choice examination system in electrical engineering. Discusses some of the pedagogical advantages obtained by statistical handling of the data. Provides some examples of items. (TW)

In the spring of 1988, the High School Outreach Community Service Project was conceived at Sonoma State University (SSU) to teach Marin County students to use the academic libraries and to develop search strategies to locate and evaluate information on any given topic. The program addressed community needs, namely the development and/or furthering…

Promotes the use of machine-scored tests in basic engineering science classes. Discusses some principles and practices of machine-scored testing. Provides several example test items. Argues that such tests can be used to enhance basic understanding of concepts and problem solving skills. (TW)

Discusses multiple-choice test questions, their advantages, important features, well and poorly written items, and the need to assess students' ability to use higher levels of learning. Cites two ways to include higher level learning skills into the science curriculum and eight rules to consider when constructing multiple-choice tests. (RT)