This work compares the results of three assessment systems used in two Spanish universities (the "Universidad Politecnica de Madrid" and the "Universidad Catolica de Avila"): the traditional system based on final examinations, continuous assessment with periodic tests and a proposed system (specially designed for heterogeneous…

Students in an introductory psychology course took a quiz a week over each textbook chapter, followed by a cumulative final exam. Students missing a quiz in class could make up a quiz at any time during the semester, and answers to quiz items were available to students prior to the cumulative final exam. The cumulative final exam consisted of half…

Discusses the potential of a test to instruct students and thus facilitate their learning. The author shows various ways of giving a carefully prepared test on a second occasion. (RM)

Describes a technique in which students grade their own tests. (SL)

The five studies reported on in this article investigated the effects of testing schemes on end-of-course achievement. Variables were frequency of testing, repeated or non-repeated tests, and single-unit or cumulative tests. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Describes innovative method of administering a final examination. (AD)

Discusses a study of differences in seven instructors' grading of four college business writing assignments. (DD)

Programed instruction in sex knowledge was presented via computer to 30 college students under varying conditions of informational feedback delay (IF). Immediate feedback following each response was compared with feedback following a 15-second delay for each response. Delay conditions provided significantly more retention than immediate…

In an attempt to selectively improve student performance, one-half of a set of difficult test items from a FORTRAN programming class had handouts explaining the concepts underlying the items distributed to the students. Each handout contained a written learning objective, a short prose passage explaining the objective, and one or more practice…

I have examined how frequency of assessment impacts learning in an undergraduate biology course employing a student-centered, active-learning pedagogy. Frequent assessment was associated with better student performance and greater retention of course concepts. Improvement of higher-order thinking skills may require more classroom practice.…

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of providing students with instruction on how to use the information contained in examples and non-examples of disjunctive concepts, and of five different instructional sequences of examples and non-examples. Students (192) enrolled in a mathematics course for prospective elementary teachers served…

Optimize action learning and successful evaluation through adopting new views of IQ. IQ as developed here relates to success in life and it is among the most changeable of characteristics. However, IQ as measured in the past is one of the least malleable of factors. Had you rather measure for and teach toward something that is not changeable or…

This selection of readings in the field of educational reform presents 46 articles, mostly from the news media, and 2 cartoons related to improvement of the educational system. It opens with "Network Notes," brief reports and reviews about events and recent publications of interest to those concerned with educational reform. The first…

An interactive computer simulation program has been developed at Northern Illinois University for use by undergraduate students majoring in special education. It was designed so that these students could learn to evaluate the exceptional student using diagnostic and remediation skills. Initially, the special education undergraduate is given only…