This paper argues for the use of "developmental" evaluation as a design-based research tool for sustainable curriculum innovation in professional higher education. Professional education is multi-faceted and complex with diverse views from researchers, professional practitioners, employers and the world of politics leaving little…

Academic librarians are encouraged to provide library services, resources, and instruction to all patrons, including the adult learner. Statistics reported that worldwide, adults are a growing student population in colleges and universities; however, the adult learner as an academic library patron is often neglected. Academic libraries can…

The present study has two aims. Firstly, it aims to determine eighth grade students' conceptual understanding of floating and sinking through formative assessment probes. Secondly, it aims to determine whether or not there is a significant difference between students' performance in formative assessment probes and their achievement in the…

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the…

This study examines the formative aspects of teaching in the World Language community college classroom: formative feedback, reflection, and assessment, and then recommends a new educational technique that applies the aforementioned formative elements into the classroom. To this end, in the fall semester of 2015, three sections of Spanish I at the…

In this webinar, Dr. Edward Roeber, Assessment Director for the Michigan Assessment Consortium, addressed what educators need to know about formative, summative, and interim assessments and how each functions in a coherent assessment system. This Q&A addressed the questions participants had for Dr. Roeber following the webinar. The webinar…

This study aims to develop and evaluate a language learning system supported by the "flipped jigsaw" technique, called "Flip-J". This system mainly consists of three functions: (1) the creation of a learning material database, (2) allocation of learning materials, and (3) formation of an expert and jigsaw group. Flip-J was…

On October 14, 2013 the Mathematics Education Department at Teachers College hosted a full-day conference focused on the Common Core Standards Mathematical Modeling requirements to be implemented in September 2014 and in honor of Professor Henry Pollak's 25 years of service to the school. This article is adapted from my talk at this conference…

This article examines the effectiveness of a software that supports formative assessment in real-time of learners' vocabulary knowledge through an interactive highlighting method. Students in a classroom are given a passage on their computer screen and asked to highlight the words they do not understand. This information is summarized on the…

To address teacher retention in rural and remote areas, universities have begun to offer Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) programs to help people living in these communities gain their teacher certification. However, because many students who enrol in such programs have been out of school for many years, they often struggle with academic writing.…

"Transforming Science Assessment: Systems for Innovation," is a series of resources designed to provide state education leaders with: (1) Information about how states are currently pursuing statewide assessment systems in science; (2) Analyses of what features influence different approaches, with an eye to supporting state leaders as…

Nowadays, assessment is widely recognized as a key element in higher education systems. Current studies are moving towards the revision of traditional modalities of testing, the individuation of alternative forms of assessment, and, above all, the analysis of conceptions that teachers and students have about assessment. The present research is…

Many publications and surveys refer to the high drop out rate in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which is around 90%, especially if we compare the number of students who register against those who finish. Working towards improving student engagement in MOOCs, we focus on providing specific research-based recommendations on formative assessment…

This paper is part of a series of studies to improve the efficacy of online physics homework activities by integrating narrated animated solutions with mastery inspired exercises. In a clinical study using first- and second-year university students, the mastery group attempted question sets in four levels, with animated solutions between each…

Online and blended learning have become common educational strategy in higher education. Lecturers have to re-theorise certain basic concerns of teaching, learning and assessment in non-traditional environments. These concerns include perceptions such as cogency and trustworthiness of assessment in online environments in relation to serving the…