Demonstrating the impact of faculty development, is an increasingly mandated and ever elusive goal. Questions have been raised about the adequacy of current approaches. Here, we integrate realist and theory-driven evaluation approaches, to evaluate an intensive longitudinal program. Our aim is to elucidate how faculty development can work to…

Online education is gradually being incorporated into college and university programs. It is proving to be an effective educational tool for our rapidly changing global marketplace. The fact that online courses operate differently than on ground courses cannot be ignored. Thus, they require teaching techniques and assessment techniques…

One central task in higher education is to provide students with interpersonal communication competence in their profession. To achieve this, specialised training, based on an understanding of disciplinary communication practices and appropriate assessment methods, is needed. However, there is a lack of reliable assessment instruments which are…

Many factors affect students selecting a university to attend and almost as many factors that can present challenges once they enroll and begin attending classes. Once they start taking courses, the next challenge is completing them, and this can be particularly taxing for online students. In the case of online universities, quality assessment…

In this article, I outline three structured protocols that professional development school steering committees and other collaborative groups could use to support an intentional reflective process aimed at growth and improvement. Using these protocols provides all participants with a voice in identifying current strengths and areas for growth,…

Networks aiming for fundamental changes bring together a variety of actors who are part and parcel of a problematic context. These system innovation projects need to be accompanied by a monitoring and evaluation approach that supports and maintains reflexivity to be able to deal with uncertainties and conflicts while challenging current practices…

This research study was designed to inform the development of a new teacher assessment model. The goal of the Teacher Success Model (TSM) initiative is to develop a systematic, evidence-informed statewide model for teacher assessment. While the initiative included all teachers, support professionals, and evaluators, this study focused on induction…

The aim of this study was to investigate whether, in the Hong Kong context, self- and peer-assessment promote students' self-reflection and enable students to understand their own strengths and weaknesses better. A three-stage assessment strategy was employed in three Science courses at The Chinese University of Hong Kong: (1) students developing…

This chapter describes evaluator behaviors revealed by the case analysis of a participatory and developmental evaluation. The analysis revealed that the evaluator paid specific attention to individual stakeholder cues. These cues were related to three elements of the evaluation: negotiating the design, monitoring individual stakeholder needs, and…

This study investigates the effects of a competency-oriented course and the effects of feedback training on students' reflection skills. Thirty-one nursing students enrolled in a conventional course with lectures and assignments following a traditional test. Subsequently, they enrolled in a competency-oriented course, which included more…

The study is to examine if preservice teachers improve their social studies teaching and learning when they follow a structured and guided methods course based on the four-step social studies teaching cycle. The four steps are 1) preinstructional exploration, 2) assessment development, 3) instructional development, and 4) reflective extension. The…

In recent years, a growing political emphasis has been placed upon the development of transformative assessment-driven reform in schools. There is global consensus on the value of assessment activities that are carefully designed to be consistent with desired learning outcomes, and which coherently connect learning theory, the curriculum,…

This paper reports on a study of student learning about collaboration and discusses the effectiveness of different forms of assessment in facilitating learning. The study was conducted in a large health and social care faculty in which all students on pre-qualifying professional programmes learn together in modules aimed at developing…

To assess own actions and define individual learning needs is fundamental for professional development. The development of self-assessment skills requires practice and feedback during the course of studies. The "Interactive Examination" is a methodology aiming to assist students developing their self-assessment skills. The present study…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact upon a group of ten early childhood inservice educators of a collaborative professional development course in early literacy development presented using the tools of narrative and reflection. The study considered impact in terms of teachers' beliefs, values, practice, and sense of…