Pupil observation and educator?pupil discourse have recognised relevance within early years practitioners' repertoires, with long traditions of practice in England and elsewhere. Observation is now enshrined within the Foundation Stage Curriculum for 3?5 year-olds (England) (soon to become part of the Early Years Foundation Stage for Birth?5) and…

Concept mapping is a powerful learning technique that can be enhanced by computer technology. Software tools are already available for the preparation of concept maps but as yet, few systems provide feedback on their content. The claim made by this article is that by enlisting the student as an assessment partner, computer-based feedback becomes…

This is the final paper in a four-part series by two pre-service teacher educators. The authors define self-study of teacher education practices and outline their research methodology. They then draw on excerpts from their written reflections to examine how self-study of teacher education practices can enhance the reflective dimension of action…

Whether staff members are working in urban, rural, or suburban branches, for many years national organizations have been committed to preparing them to work effectively with young people. Over the past couple of decades, national organizations have sought and received strong funding to develop targeted, comprehensive professional development…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to undertake a formative evaluation of a young person's Smokebuster club and to examine how young people's experience of being a club member can be used to inform the club's future development. Design/methodology/approach: After seeking and being granted Local Research Ethics Committee approval to undertake the…

This paper presents a new constructivist model of knowledge development in a case study that illustrates how a group of postgraduate students defined and evaluated effective postgraduate supervision. This new model is based on "personal construct theory" and "repertory grid technology" which is combined with interviews and group discussion. It is…

This paper reports on the effects of automating formative feedback at the student's discretion and automating summative assessment with individualised spreadsheet assignments. Quality learning outcomes are achieved when students adopt deep approaches to learning (Ramsden, 2003). Learning environments designed to align assessment to learning…

Enterprise initiatives come in a number of guises but, whether they are grant-funded or a commercial aspect of a university's business, the key driver is output. This usually means numbers--of students, of businesses, of ideas developed and sold, of financial gain and reputations made. A critical element impeding progress to the successful…

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)'s Evaluation Online (EON) offers a variety of options to faculty who want to solicit formative feedback electronically. Researchers interviewed faculty who have used this system for midterm student evaluation to examine their perceptions of it. In general, instructors reported that collecting…

We teach them the craft of word-spinning. The damage is done, we should be teaching them the art of seeing. (Frank Pick) In 1937 the Council for Art and Industry sponsored a national exhibition in London of materials "for use in connection with teaching in elementary schools." Local Education Authorities were encouraged to send…

This article deals with using formative assessments to individualize instruction and promote learning. Formative assessment serves the dual purpose of giving the teacher information on the effectiveness of the lesson and giving students information on the current state of their learning. Such information can guide future instructional decisions.…

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the relationships between hands-on experiences with formative assessment, students' assessment preferences and their approaches to learning. The sample consisted of 108 university first-year Bachelor's students studying criminology. Data were obtained using the "Revised two-factor study…

Performance feedback has facilitated the acquisition and maintenance of a wide range of behaviors (e.g., health-care routines, seat-belt use). Most researchers have attributed the effectiveness of performance feedback to (a) its discriminative functions, (b) its reinforcing functions, or (c) the combination of the two. In this study, we attempted…

This article reports findings from formative assessments of one state's administrator mentoring and induction program during two years of program piloting in 2002/03 and 2003/04. The purpose of this evaluation research was to establish baseline data and to detect problem areas, so that changes could be made in subsequent years. More broadly, the…

On August 31, 2005, Nebraska state educational and policy leaders participated in the Nebraska Education Forum to discuss ways to improve student transition from high school to postsecondary education and careers. The forum was sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and…