This report describes the initial automated scoring results that were obtained using the constructed responses from the Writing and Speaking sections of the pilot forms of the "TOEFL Junior"® Comprehensive test administered in late 2011. For all of the items except one (the edit item in the Writing section), existing automated scoring…

At community colleges, student preparedness for college-level work is a significant initial barrier. Over 70% of community college students are reported to be inadequately prepared for college mathematics. Because students need to pass college-level math in order to enroll in subsequent courses required for their majors or to complete general…

Energy literacy is multidimensional, comprising broad content knowledge as well as affect and behavior. Our previous study has defined four core dimensions for the assessment framework, including energy concepts, reasoning on energy issues, low-carbon lifestyle, and civic responsibility for a sustainable society. The present study compiled a…

Are there computers in the classroom? Does it matter? "Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection" examines how students' access to and use of information and communication technology (ICT) devices has evolved in recent years, and explores how education systems and schools are integrating ICT into students' learning…

The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) studied the extent to which young people have developed computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. Many countries recognize the importance that education in information and communication technologies (ICT) has for enabling…

A substantial amount of research has been conducted over the past 40 years on technical aspects of computerized adaptive testing (CAT), such as item selection algorithms, item exposure controls, and termination criteria. However, there is little literature providing practical guidance on the development of a CAT. This paper seeks to collate some…

Because mobile technologies are overtaking personal computers as the primary tools of Internet access, and cloud-based resources are fundamentally transforming the world's knowledge, new forms of teaching and assessment are required to foster 21st century literacies, including those needed by K-12 teachers. A key feature of mobile technology…

The challenges that massive open online courses (MOOCs) bring to the learning arena spur adult educators to improve delivery. A framework for a new type of MOOC is presented to address some of the challenges presented by earlier models. This new MOOC, called a mesoMOOC, can bridge several challenges that hinder current effective delivery of MOOCs…

We investigate how the computerized dynamic assessment system improves the learning achievements of vocational high school students studying accounting. Our experiment was conducted under the one-group pretest-posttest design of 34 junior students. The questionnaire results were analyzed to determine student-learning attitudes and reactions toward…

Some evidence has emerged in recent years that plagiarism can be reduced through the use of online mastery tests that are designed to train introductory psychology students in awareness of academic integrity and referencing conventions. Although these studies demonstrated a reduction in incidents of plagiarism they did not directly examine whether…

The present set of 7 experiments systematically examined the effectiveness of adding causal explanations to simple refutations in reducing or eliminating the impact of outdated information on subsequent comprehension. The addition of a single causal-explanation sentence to a refutation was sufficient to eliminate any measurable disruption in…

Sensitivity to spacing information within faces improves with age and reaches maturity only at adolescence. In this study, we tested 6-16-year-old children's sensitivity to vertical spacing when the eyes or the mouth is the facial feature selectively manipulated. Despite the similar discriminability of these manipulations when they are embedded in…

Highly abstract predicates (e.g. "think") present a number of difficulties for language learners (Gleitman et al., 2005). A partial solution to learning these verbs is that learners exploit regularities in the syntactic frames in which these verbs occur. While agreeing with this general approach to learning verbs, we caution that this…

Information communication technologies (ICT) in education is an expanding field, and within this field there is a need for development of effective systems for faculty and learners to communicate feedback and assess performance. The increasing migration of many academic disciplines and courses to an online format has prompted an increased need for…

This article reports the design, development, and evaluation of an online software application for assessing students' understanding of curricular content based on concept maps. This computer-based assessment program, called the Assessment Agent System, was designed by following an agent-oriented software design method. The Assessment Agent System…