This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the evaluation of the arts within performance-based research funding systems (PRFSs). Previous literature on PRFSs has overlooked the arts and focussed primarily on outputs in relation to the sciences and humanities. We develop a typology of how artistic outputs are evaluated within 10 countries'…

The field of educational research is broad and changes form over time and space. This article reviews educational research in New Zealand over the past 100 years as a background to current policy and practice. It describes a series of landmarks over the century, the changing contexts and the assumptions which underlay them and identifies recurring…

Assessment is a central feature of teaching and learning. It is both complex and challenging in ordinary times, and these aspects are magnified in an online learning environment. Given its central role, it is crucial that its design and purpose is rigorous and robust. This paper presents justification for using interactive oral assessment as an…

Medical educators are tasked with decisions on trainee progression and credentialing for independent clinical practice, which requires robust evidence from workplace-based assessment. It is unclear how the current promotion of workplace-based assessment as a pedagogical approach to promote learning has impacted this use of assessments for…

Leading from a distance presents unique challenges, particularly with regards to building leadership capacity. This article draws from a small research project that explored the role of the professional leader supporting teachers within kindergartens and early childhood centres in a large geographically dispersed kindergarten association in…

This study explores difficulties in the conceptual positioning of the higher education performance indicator of qualification completion within a standard logic model taken from the public sector performance literature, involving inputs, processes, impacts and outcomes. Organisations are held to be more accountable for the delivery of outputs than…

Dominant discourses on professional development for teachers internationally are increasingly geared to the priority of ensuring individual teachers are meeting prescribed standards-based performance benchmarks which we call "performativities" in this paper. While this intent is invariably played out in individualised performance…

University policies are increasingly developed with reference to students' learning experiences, with a focus on the concept of the "student voice." Yet the "student voice" is difficult to define and emphasis is often placed on numerical performance indicators. A diverse student population has wide-ranging educational…

This article explores ways the Performance-based Research Fund (PBRF) produces gendered results and expresses a cultural cringe. It is argued that the research evaluation is fixated with being "world-class" at the expense of academic practice that focuses on New Zealand. In this context, disadvantage faced by female academics under the…

This study aimed to evaluate and compare approaches to learning by a longitudinal cohort of undergraduate students as they progressed from their first to third years of study in anatomy and physiology. "The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students" (ASSIST) was completed at the beginning and end of their first year of…

This article first reviews the objectives/ends of research quality assessment in several countries to draw lessons for the UK Research Excellence Framework and similar exercises. It then reviews work on performance management as a framework for reviewing the views of participants on the means to the ends--the management of their experience in…

The effectiveness of academic induction is under-monitored by higher education institutions (HEIs) despite growing evidence that some academics, facing increased expectations and rising accountability within higher education (HE), perceive a lack of support from their institution. In this paper, we argue that HEIs should follow the example of…

The opening-up of the market for education and training, including vocational education and training (VET), has increased the importance of regulation and quality assurance mechanisms in ensuring the integrity of qualifications. This report investigates approaches to the regulation and quality assurance of vocational education and training in a…

Assessing student learning in ways that offer students, institutions and systems with sound information is a considerable challenge for higher education. Despite demonstrable progress, a disconnect remains between methods used for assessing learning, improvement and accountability. This muddled situation is illustrated through a review of…

Researchers and educators recognize that performance assessments and naturalistic observations are well suited for assessing young children's thinking abilities and understanding. The need to establish explicit evaluation criteria to guide assessment decisions has led to the widespread use of rubrics. Rubrics tend to channel assessors to look for…