Visual inference involves using prior knowledge and contextual cues to make educated guesses about incomplete or ambiguous information. This study explores the role of visual inference as a function of expertise in the context of fingerprint examination, where professional examiners need to determine whether two fingerprints were left by the same…

Manual composition of tasks and exams is a challenging and time-consuming task. Especially when exams are taken remotely without the personal monitoring by examiners, most exams can easily lose their integrity with the use of previously done exercises or student communication. This research introduces an approach that incorporates the principles…

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and the sudden shift to online learning, higher education institutions adopted various approaches to reduce cheating in online assessments, mainly involving online live proctoring (OLP). The international assessment integrity regulation trend also applied to a university in South Africa, where…

This study aims to better understand the learning experiences of doctoral examiners in relation to their assessment practices in the PhD viva, which directly impacts the PhD candidates' success in doctoral assessment. A narrative approach was employed to uncover the narratives of learning to examine in the PhD viva from twelve doctoral examiners…

In recent decades the doctorate and its purposes have undergone fundamental change. The scholarly model has evolved from one of 'apprentice' to independent, supported learner and the doctoral training process has been revolutionised; many candidates now experience cohort-based, structured research. The UK's final PhD examination, however, has…

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate doctoral examiners' narratives on their expectations of the candidate's oral performance in the PhD viva. Both the PhD examiners and handbooks that offer advice on the PhD viva preparation appear to share the same expectation of the candidate's oral performance in the viva. That is, candidates must answer…

Taking into consideration the unique relational position of convenors (Chairs) in PhD oral examinations, this qualitative study explores insights from 55 convenors at a research-intensive university in New Zealand into the ways academic staff developers can better prepare doctoral supervisors and examiners for oral examinations. One striking…

With the wide application of the OSCE in the field of pharmacy, the development of e-assessment in OSCE is a predictable trend. However, the feasibility of its practical application and the acceptance of examiners who are accustomed to using traditional paper-based methods are worthy of being discussed. The e-assessment system (EAS) was…

There are two major myths concerning A level exam standards in England. First, the Ancient Myth, which insists that standards were norm-referenced until the 1980s, when they transitioned to being criterion-referenced. Second, the Modern Myth, which insists that standards transitioned again, during the 2010s, to being based upon the comparable…

Purpose: Little is known about the impact external Viva examiners coming from the international community of scholars have on the quality of PhD research. This study aims to argue that the encounter between local and international examiners (IEs) is subject to various complexities, raising doubts about whether IEs' participation and approval of…

Variation in examiner stringency is an ongoing problem in many performance settings such as in OSCEs, and usually is conceptualised and measured based on scores/grades examiners award. Under borderline regression, the standard within a station is set using checklist/domain scores and global grades acting in combination. This complexity requires a…

For many practical purposes, it is often assumed that the quality of a marker is directly related to their seniority. At its extreme, the assumption is that the most senior marker (the Principal Examiner) is always right even in cases where large numbers of junior markers have a collectively different opinion regarding the mark that should be…

The quality assurance 'regime' that spans the higher education sector internationally is underpinned by a number of unchallenged assumptions. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the external examiner system in the UK, an instrument for the professional self-regulation of higher education. One such assumption is that external examiners are…

It has been extensively researched how satisfied students are with the vast majority of goods and services offered by educational institutions of higher learning. However, there appears to be a paucity of research on students' satisfaction with the facilities and services of computer-based assessment (CBA) centers in higher education institutions,…

This article reports a study of written feedback comments in the context of teacher education. While feedback is believed to have the potential to improve students' learning, the provision will rest upon educators' and examiners' ability and means to convey details about their assessment. In the context reported here, compulsory feedback beyond…