Discussions of what it means to be an effective outdoor leader are common in outdoor education literature (Martin et al., 2025; Smith, 2021). Research has identified core competencies (Martin et al., 2025), conceptual frameworks (Pomfret et al., 2023), and course curricula/qualifications for effective leadership (Baker & O'Brien, 2019; Seaman…

At a time when institutions of higher education are exploring alternatives to traditional admissions testing, institutions are also seeking to better support students and prepare them for academic success. Under such an engaged model, one may seek to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that students would bring to a new academic…

Mixed-format assessments made up of multiple-choice (MC) items and constructed response (CR) items that are scored using rater judgments include unique psychometric considerations. When these item types are combined to estimate examinee achievement, information about the psychometric quality of each component can depend on that of the other. For…

Automated scoring is a current hot topic in creativity research. However, most research has focused on the English language and popular verbal creative thinking tasks, such as the alternate uses task. Therefore, in this study, we present a large language model approach for automated scoring of a scientific creative thinking task that assesses…

Embedded Standard Setting (ESS; Lewis & Cook, 2020) transforms standard setting from a standalone workshop to an active part of the assessment development lifecycle. ESS purports to lower costs by eliminating the standard-setting workshop and enhance the validity argument by maintaining a consistent focus on the evidentiary relationship…

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…

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 article addresses the transformative potential of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize human potential by making education more efficient and effective. We describe a new teaching method called "Dynamic Personalized Learning." In this method, AI dynamically provides feedback and adjusts the level and pace of…

This study examines the potential to use non-expert, crowd-sourced raters to score essays by comparing expert raters' and crowd-sourced raters' assessments of writing quality. Expert raters and crowd-sourced raters scored 400 essays using a standardised holistic rubric and comparative judgement (pairwise ratings) scoring techniques, respectively.…

This study examines the potential to use non-expert, crowd-sourced raters to score essays by comparing expert raters' and crowd-sourced raters' assessments of writing quality. Expert raters and crowd-sourced raters scored 400 essays using a standardised holistic rubric and comparative judgement (pairwise ratings) scoring techniques, respectively.…

This study examined the adherence of Senior High School teachers to the principles of test construction, administration, and scoring. Achievement tests play a critical role in assessing student learning and guiding instructional decisions, yet challenges in their effective implementation persist. Using a descriptive research design, data were…

An increasing number of language testing companies are developing and deploying deep learning-based automated essay scoring systems (AES) to replace traditional approaches that rely on handcrafted feature extraction. However, there is hesitation to accept neural network approaches to automated essay scoring because the features are automatically…

This study explores the potential of OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 (gpt-4-0613) as an automated essay scoring (AES) tool in a trial involving 300 essays from an American university's academic English program placement test. Three prompting strategies (minimal/detailed rubric, require/not require rationale, and with/without scoring examples) were tested for…

Information units (IUs) have been proposed as a way of grading students' notes. However, little work has been done to validate and check the reliability of such an approach. This study explores how teacher-researchers (TRs) use information units (IUs) to rate content items in students' listening notes using a rubric. Data were collected from six…

This column describes the game of Royal Pickles -- a "King of the Court'' variation of pickleball that removes the bored spectator element from the class and creates a solution for the challenge of having too many students and not enough court space.