This contribution investigates gains in technical economy in measuring language ability by considering one recurrent interest of JD Brown: cloze tests. In the various versions of the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL), its Sesotho and Afrikaans (Toets van Akademiese Geletterdheidsvlakke -- TAG) counterparts, as well as related other tests…

Restrictions and challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged higher education institutions to innovate to keep reaching teaching and learning goals. In South Africa, existing social inequalities were exacerbated by the pandemic restrictions and many students faced severe challenges in terms of access and support to aid in their…

This study examined the existence of latent classes in TIMSS 2015 data from three countries, Singapure, Turkey and South Africa, were analyzed using Mixture Item Response Theory (MixIRT) models (Rasch, 1PL, 2PL and 3PL) on 18 multiple-choice items in the science subtest. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the data obtained from TIMSS…

Learners underperform in stoichiometry as they lack conceptual reasoning of the underlying concepts and the ability to solve stoichiometric problems. Therefore, it was necessary to determine if there is a statistical correlation between problem-solving skills and conceptual reasoning in stoichiometry and if so, whether one can significantly…

The Bachelor of Education (BEd) undergraduate degree at a university in the Gauteng province, South Africa, aims to prepare pre-service teachers by using their experiences to expose them to the South African schooling context. This is done using a scaffolded process that includes formative assessment, summative assessment and Work-Integrated…

Background: Poor mathematics performance in South Africa is well known. The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to exacerbate the situation. Aim: To investigate Grade 7 learners' mathematical knowledge at the end of primary school and to compare mathematical performance of Grade 7 and 8 learners in the context of the pandemic. Setting: Data were…

Whether or not the scores for multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and written questions (WQs) in formative assessments are the same, has been a subject of intense scrutiny. However, the evidence for their similarity at different levels of cognitive ability in applied courses has not been sufficiently documented. This study analysed the comparability…

The ability to reason about numbers in relative terms is essential for quantitative literacy, which is necessary for studying academic disciplines and for critical citizenship. However, the ability to reason with proportions is known to be difficult to learn and to take a long time to develop. To determine how well higher education applicants can…

Eight faculties in South Africa offer undergraduate physiotherapy training with gross anatomy included as a basis for clinical practice. Little information exists about anatomy education for this student body. A 42-question peer-reviewed survey was distributed to physiotherapy gross anatomy course coordinators in all the eight faculties. Seven…

After a long six-year lapse, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement introduced in 2012 included geometry as part of the South African Grade 12 Mathematics Paper 2. The first cohort of matriculation students wrote Paper 2 in 2014. This article reports on the understanding of geometry terminology with which a group of 154 first-year…

Following the challenges faced in the selection and implementation of e-assessment tools for student assessment, I undertook a journey of implementing an e-assessment system within the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This article describes the path traversed and highlights the potholes and expressways on this road towards e-assessment…

Large classes are a reality in many tertiary programmes in the South African context and this involves several challenges. One of these is the assessment process, including the provision of meaningful feedback and implementing strategies to support struggling students. Due to large student numbers, multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are often used…

The force concept in physics is known to be poorly understood by high school and university students throughout the world, with alternative conceptions being prevalent. In this study, I surveyed the conceptions regarding force of a large and varied convenience sample of South African physical sciences teachers, and sought patterns between levels…

For a number of years now, South Africa, like many other countries, has been debating a major paradigm shift in education, a shift from learning and teaching, which focused primarily on content to learning and teaching focused on outcomes. One of the most dramatic trends in education over the past decade has been the shift towards the use of…

Assessment for learning has an important role to play in self-regulated learning but the assessment interface can impact learner motivation and performance. Learners are able to assess their knowledge of learning content and, through repeated assessment and high-quality feedback, close the gap between their current performance and the performance…