This paper presents a case study of how librarians can situate themselves as pedagogical partners by bringing their unique information literacy perspective and expertise to the programmatic assessment process. This report resulted from the Thun Library and the Penn State Berks Composition Program's collaboration to assess the institution's…

Rater cognition or "think-aloud" studies have historically been used to enhance rater accuracy and consistency in writing and language assessments. As assessments are developed for new, complex constructs from the "Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)," the present study illustrates the utility of extending…

This study describes the development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Recognizing Effective Special Education Teachers (RESET) observation instrument. The study uses generalizability theory to compare two versions of a rubric, one with general descriptors of performance levels and one with item-specific descriptors of performance levels,…

The purpose of this study is to better understand the norms, processes, and implications of a standards-based assessment (SBA) system in a project-based, STEM-focused secondary school in the United States. The SBA system had both formative and summative components in relation to classroom teaching and grading, respectively. We focus on both…

Accounting instructors can embed effective writing into the curriculum, but how much instruction is enough to make a significant improvement in students' written products? In this quasi-experimental study, we compare the effect of three levels of minimal instructional intervention: all students in the study received a rubric outlining the…

This study set out to examine the range of legibility demonstrated by Western Australian students required to handwrite tasks of increasing intrinsic cognitive load. A representative sample of students in Years 1, 2 and 3 (N=437) was recruited for a cross sectional study and teachers administered handwriting tasks. Year 1 students were…

Evaluation of online instructors is a developing field of research. Institutions have made great progress in recent years to refine their efforts to evaluate online teaching in order to improve online teaching. Some institutions, however, still struggle to evaluate online instructors who did not design the course they are teaching. The purpose of…

This article focuses on the validity of the new Narrative Reflection Assessment Rubric (NARRA) used to assess students' reflective narratives in higher education. We evaluate its formulation and usefulness from an instructional point of view. To those ends, we engage in both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis, using data from 100+…

Evidence suggests that facilitated interventions in study abroad enhance gains in intercultural development, but many recent studies are not generalizable due to small numbers and lack of experimental design. In this study, subjects received individual or small-group interventions online in a course with trained intercultural mentors. The authors…

The purpose of this quantitative, comparative, descriptive study was to examine and compare the self-assessments of interprofessional collaborative competence of graduating nursing students (GNS) to the assessments of the preceptors at the end of their preceptorship rotation in Las Vegas, Nevada. The participants' demographic variables including…

Schools routinely face federal and state mandated changes, like the Common Core State Standards or standardized testing requirements. Sometimes districts and schools want to take on new policies and practices of their own, like anti-bullying programs or using technology to deliver instruction. Regardless of the origin of the change, implementation…

In "Demonstrating Student Mastery with Digital Badges and Portfolios," David Niguidula shows how students can meet standards and express their individuality through digital badges and portfolios. Building off an essential question--What do schools want their students to know and be able to do?--he then shows how schools can implement a…

A goal of introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS) curricula is to prepare students to effectively use physical models and quantitative reasoning in biological and medical settings. To assess whether this goal is being met, we conducted a longitudinal study of the impact of IPLS on student work in later biology and chemistry courses. We…

Self Directed learning, oral presentation and peer group assessment are some of the phrases gaining momentum in the domain of teaching and learning. The merits and challenges in using them had attracted the attention of many educational researches. This study hopes to contribute by investigating one element which plays an important role in oral…

The increasing popularity of standardized online course design mandates that administrators and course designers understand faculty and student perceptions of the value of specific course components in the online learning management system (LMS). The results of a survey sent to online faculty and students revealed that both groups value the…