Cross institutional benchmarking provides the opportunity to ensure comparability of standards by comparing learning outcomes and assessment practices, and acts as a catalyst for change and improved practice. The comparability of standards is crucial for the transparency and portability of qualifications as well as the assurance of quality student…

This study reports on an adaptation of the course experience questionnaire (CEQ) to the Arab learning context. An Arabic version of the CEQ was used to test the perceptions of a random sample of students at a public university in the UAE as regards their learning environment. The participants were 488 women students who study at nine different…

Processes for moderating assessments are much debated in higher education. The myriad approaches to the task vary in their demands on staff time and expertise, and also in how valid, reliable and fair to students they appear. Medical education, with its diverse range of assessments and assessors across clinical and academic domains presents…

In calibration tasks students assess exemplar texts using criteria against which their own work will be assessed. Typically, these tasks are used in the context of training for peer assessment. Little research has been conducted on the benefits of calibration tasks, such as benchmarking, as learning opportunities in their own right. This paper…

Like its 2008 predecessor, the, 2014 Research Excellence Framework was a high-stakes exercise. For universities and their constituent departments, it had zero-sum implications for league table position in a way that the 2001 exercise did not, and "post facto" it is having a significant effect on investment and disinvestment as…

External referencing of assessment and students' achievement standards is a growing priority area within higher education, which is being pressured by government requirements to evidence outcome attainment. External referencing benefits stakeholders connected to higher education by helping to assure that assessments and standards within courses…

A rubric for research theses was developed, based on the manual of the American Psychological Association, to be used as an assessment tool for teachers and students. The aim was to make students aware of what is expected, get familiar with criteria, and interpret teacher and peer feedback. In two studies, it was examined whether students use and…

The aim of this research was to identify the factors that could be used for quality assessments of the placement centres used by the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Education. To achieve this, a multiple case study method (bachelor's degrees in Education, Social Education and Social Work) was used, which was based on a survey methodology. A…

In this paper, we report on a study to quantify the impact on student learning and on student assessment literacy of a brief assessment literacy intervention. We first define "assessment literacy" then report on the development and validation of an assessment literacy measurement instrument. Using a pseudo-experimental design, we…

This theoretical paper examines current practice in work-based studies where recognition of prior unaccredited work is normally limited to around 50% of the total programme. The basis of this limiting concept is challenged and consideration is given to a number of factors that have contributed to it. Comparison is made with the current practice of…

A survey revealed best practices of state higher education agencies in the organization and use of transfer student information systems. The best practices fall within the areas of: purpose of the information system, its structure, assessing the educational progress of students, interactivity of the information system, and linking information with…

A study of faculty published research output in Australia's university system in 1991 resulted in national benchmarks of faculty publications productivity (number of publications per 10 equivalent academic staff members), for each of 13 publication types, for the highest performing institution, and the highest performing units within any…