Rubrics (e.g., Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics) that measure specific skills exist, and researchers have demonstrated their benefits; however, most of them were designed for use with undergraduate students. Although some rubrics have been created to assess dissertations and oral defenses, few have been…

A diversity of approaches for critically appraising qualitative and quantitative evidence exist and emphasize different aspects. These approaches lack clear processes to facilitate rating the overall quality of the evidence for aggregated findings that combine qualitative and quantitative evidence. We draw on a meta-aggregation of implementation…

Many colleges and universities now require faculty search committees to use rubrics when evaluating faculty job candidates, as proponents believe these "decision-support tools" can reduce the impact of bias in candidate evaluation. That is, rubrics are intended to ensure that candidates are evaluated more fairly, which is then thought to…

Rock and mineral labs are fundamental in traditional introductory geology courses. Successful implementation of these lab activities provides students opportunities to apply content knowledge. Inquiry-based instruction may be one way to increase student success. Prior examination of published STEM labs indicates that geology labs, particularly…

There is increasing interest in using factor scores in structural equation models and there have been numerous methodological papers on the topic. Nevertheless, sum scores, which are computed from adding up item responses, continue to be ubiquitous in practice. It is therefore important to compare simulation results involving factor scores to…

This paper describes the development of the "Flourishing Classroom System Observation Framework and Rubric," which provides a framework and practical approach to defining and describing multiple interconnected observable characteristics of a classroom system that individually and together can be targeted to cultivate collective…

Generative artificial intelligence technologies, such as ChatGPT, bring an unprecedented change in education by leveraging the power of natural language processing and machine learning. Employing ChatGPT to assist with marking written assessment presents multiple advantages including scalability, improved consistency, eliminating biases associated…

It is widely recognised that feedback is an important part of learning: effective feedback should result in a meaningful change in student behaviour (Morris et al., 2021). However, individual feedback takes time to produce, and for large cohorts -- typified by the North of 300 challenge in computing (CPHC, 2019), it can be difficult to do so in a…

Background: Concept maps are a valid assessment tool to explore student understanding of diverse topics. Many types of academic programs have integrated concept mapping into their courses, resulting in various activities and scoring methods to understand student perceptions. Purpose: Few prior reviews of concept mapping have addressed their use…

Contribution: This concept article shows how the mathematical competencies research framework (MCRF) can guide the design of rubrics to assess engineering mathematics tasks. Practical guidance is given for engineering mathematics educators wanting to create effective rubrics that support student learning and promote academic success. Background:…

The rubric, a canonical matrix of criteria presented to students as the road map to academic success. An "Ah-ha" moment, "that is what I'm looking for" utopia for the instructor. While rubrics provide the possibility for solving the complexity of some teaching problems, we have come to know them as a tool that is as useful as…

Literature reviews are often used as part of teaching undergraduates about secondary research. The assignment, however, presents challenges for inexperienced researchers and writers and can be difficult for instructors to read and grade. This "quick fix" piece offers an alternative assignment to begin students in gaining secondary…

In this article, the author shares some tips for improving university-wide assessment conversations, focusing on meetings with faculty creating and doing assessment. The lessons are from a multi-year project where the author observed meetings and interviewed faculty about their involvement in university-wide assessment.

Simulation has been considered a valid pedagogy for health professionals in education and actual practice. Its proper execution is vital for proper assimilation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes within the pre-licensure students throughout their curricular journey. High fidelity and multi-patient simulation scenarios were employed for beginner…

In design-oriented biomedical engineering courses, some instructors teach need-driven methods for health technology innovation that use a "need statement" to reflect a student team's hypothesis about the most fruitful direction for their project. While need statements are of the utmost importance to the projects, we were not aware of any…