This dissertation investigates the application of network models in educational assessment across diverse learning settings, encompassing both clinical and classroom environments. As educational paradigms shift and digital tools become more embedded in learning processes, traditional assessment methods often fall short in effectively capturing the…

In second language (L2) reading strategy research, two concerns need addressing: (1) the discrepancy in assessing strategy use between written surveys and verbal reports, and (2) the effect of using strategies on readers' comprehension outcomes when different types of comprehension tasks are utilized. The present study addressed these concerns by…

In this paper, I argue for more and better learning metrics in higher education, eventually through an international, comparative assessment of students' learning outcomes. Better learning measures may help to improve transparency in the system by addressing the information asymmetry problem. If not addressed adequately, the lack of transparency…

There are two primary challenges for instructors in offering a high-quality course at large scale. The first is scaling educational experiences to such a large audience. The second major challenge encountered is that of enabling adaptivity of the educational experience. This thesis addresses both major challenges in the way of high-quality…

The focus of this research is to examine the impact of an instructional instrument to improve the quality of pre-service teachers' lesson plans. The HEAT instrument focuses on four components essential to high-quality lesson plans: "H"igher-Order Thinking, "E"ngaged Learning, "A"uthentic Learning, and…

Literacy educators and researchers have long recognized the importance of increasing students' writing proficiency across age and grade levels. With the release of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a new and greater emphasis is being placed on writing in the K-12 curriculum. Educators, as well as the authors of the CCSS, agree that…

Including students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) is a challenge for large-scale assessments. In order to draw inferences with respect to students with SEN-L and to compare their scores to students in general education, one needs to assure that the measurement model is reliable and that the same construct is measured for…

This research aimed to develop a model of a collaborative blended learning (CoBl) to develop learning achievement and thinking ability of undergraduate students in the Institute of Physical Education. The research is divided into three phases using the blended learning model via collaborative learning with thinking abilities approach as follows:…

The reading and mathematics measures of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have been, and continue to be, reported on scales that appear to have the properties of "cross-grade" scales: Reported scores are higher for 8th-grade students than for 4th-grade students, and higher for 12th-grade students than for 8th-grade students.…

In recent years, various forms of group work have been introduced in university courses across various subject domains, including construction management courses. Although the use of group work in higher education has sound pedagogical reasons and advantages, group work has its own drawbacks. Therefore, the acceptance by students and the success…

Background: The relation between academic self-concept and achievement has been examined in a large number of studies. The majority of these studies have found evidence for a reciprocal effects model. However, there is an ongoing debate on how students' achievement should be measured and whether the type of achievement indicator (grades, tests,…

This report presents the value-added models that will be used to measure school and teacher effectiveness in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) in the 2010-2011 school year. It updates the earlier technical report, "Measuring Value Added for IMPACT and TEAM in DC Public Schools." The earlier report described the methods used…

We developed a rubric for measuring students' ability to reason and write scientifically. The Rubric for Science Writing (Rubric) was tested in a variety of undergraduate biology laboratory courses (total n = 142 laboratory reports) using science graduate students (teaching assistants) as raters. Generalisability analysis indicates that the Rubric…

Classrooms are a primary site of evidence about learning. Yet classroom proceedings often occur behind closed doors and hence evidence of student learning is observable only to the classroom teacher. The informal and undocumented nature of this information means that it is rarely included in statistical models or quantifiable analyses. This…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…