We know from research across all levels of education that feedback and interactive teaching have the greatest positive effect on students' achievement. However, in higher education, teachers' constructive feedback often logistically cannot be delivered in time for all students to apply to future tasks. In this article, we report on a study of an…

When grading students' quizzes and exams, I find that students are seemingly always changing their answers from the right answer to the wrong answer. In fact, I have cautioned students against changing their answer. Colleagues have made similar observations and some books on test-taking strategies advise against answer-changing. In an effort to…

Authentic experiences of research are seen as valuable elements of undergraduate science, providing motivation for students and linking the research and teaching activities of academics. But as such experiences are made available to increasing numbers of students as formal, graded parts of the curriculum, important questions are raised about their…

Instructors often use spreadsheet software (e.g., Microsoft Excel) in their statistics courses so that students can gain experience conducting computerized analyses. Unfortunately, students tend to make several predictable errors when programming spreadsheets. Without immediate feedback, programming errors are likely to go undetected, and as a…

Three field studies tested the hypothesis that anticipating a graded test as opposed to a pass-fail test enhances metacognitive monitoring. Participants were teacher candidates who completed a mid-term and a final test in psychology courses. Each participant chose whether the result of the final test should be evaluated with one of five grades or…

This paper reports on an existing undergraduate academic skills module where the assignment, a printed portfolio, has been replaced with an online portfolio. Qualitative feedback reveals that students most valued the provision of rapid and regular feedback on work, and had a raised awareness of employability goals. Tutors most valued the ability…

Online education continues to become an increasingly prominent part of higher education, but many students struggle in distance courses. For this reason, there has been considerable interest in predicting which students will succeed in online courses and which will receive poor grades or drop out prior to completion. Effective intervention depends…

In an economy driven by technological innovation and a complex social landscape, schools can no longer count on traditional academic preparation to set children up for success later in life. The types of skills that will enable students to succeed in the 21st century--such as the ability to solve complex problems, transfer knowledge to new…

In the high-stakes accountability English educational system, decisions made by government and agencies about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment drive school planning and actions. This paper analyses the drivers for the recent change to French German and Spanish GCSEs and highlights particular areas of the new specification which may damage the…

Online monitoring of high-voltage (HV) equipment is a vital tool for early detection of insulation failure. Most insulation failures are caused by partial discharges (PDs) inside the HV equipment. Because of the very high cost of establishing HV equipment facility and the limitations of electromagnetic interference-screened laboratories, only a…

Recent reforms in England and the USA give evidence that teaching methods and content can change rapidly, given a strong external pressure, for example through economic incentives, inspections, school choice, and public display of schools' and pupils' performances. Educational activities in the Scandinavian countries have increasingly become…

Institutions of higher education commonly employ a conjunctive standard setting strategy, which requires students to resit failed examinations until they pass all tests. An alternative strategy allows students to compensate a failing grade with other test results. This paper uses regression discontinuity design to compare the effect of first-year…

Given the longstanding role of grades in education, and their increased use for high-stakes decisions including student mobility, admission, selection, and accountability, this paper presents a systematic review of grading policies across all 10 Canadian provinces and 3 territories. In total, 23 policies were inductively analyzed for their…

This article proposes a film assignment that uses a series of activities built around the film "Draft Day" to supplement traditional pedagogies for teaching contract law in introductory courses. This film facilitates learning by reinforcing the contract formation principles faculty teach in introductory courses; showing contract…

This paper is a discussion and critical review of grading practices at a large flagship public university. In this paper, I examine the rights a student has when calling into question the authority and decision-making abilities of teachers in a classroom setting. Following my recent experience with a professor (noted at the beginning of this…