The criteria by which raters judge pragmatic appropriateness of language learners' speech acts are underexamined, especially when raters evaluate extended discourse. To shed more light on this process, the present study investigated what factors are salient to raters when scoring pragmatic appropriateness of extended request sequences, and which…

This paper is one of a collection of papers written by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) to support the use of content review as the basis for establishing communication and computation prerequisites. "Student Success: The Case for Establishing Prerequisites Through Content Review" was adopted at the Fall 2010…

This paper responds to the vision of a new assessment culture, which will be a meaningful integration of teaching, learning and assessment. It reviews the advice in the literature about assessment, and from there identifies principles for the assessment of the development of higher level abilities in various domains. It envisages the student as an…

The purpose of this paper was to identify existing criteria that may be considered in evaluating journals in the scholarship of teaching and learning in agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences. This can assist faculty authors and evaluators of promotion and tenure cases to explain indicators of the quality of the publications. The…

Colleges and universities are increasingly being held accountable for assessing and reporting student learning. Recently there has been increased focus on using assessment to improve learning over time. In this paper we present a simple, step-by-step assessment process that will deliver meaningful results to achieve these ends. We emphasize the…

Learning support materials, including commercially prepared textbooks, play a central role in the implementation of a new curriculum. In South Africa, classroom resource materials such as textbooks are reported to have had a considerable influence on Teachers' pedagogical practices. The aim of the article is to explore the criteria that Grade 9…

Phonological awareness, or the ability to detect or manipulate the sounds in words independent of meaning, has been identified as a key early literacy skill and precursor to reading. For the purposes of this review, "phonological awareness training" refers to any practice targeting young children's phonological awareness abilities.…

Recent estimates suggest there are roughly 1.6 million homeless children and this number is growing (National Center on Family Homelessness, 2011). This trend is particularly worrisome given that homeless children face a number of obstacles within society and education, not the least of which is negative teacher attitudes (Swick, 2000; U.S.…

In accordance with the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) membership criteria laid down in the Statutes of ENQA, member agencies are required to undergo external reviews against the membership criteria, and thereby the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) as…

Objective: The authors examined outcomes of a graduate course on evaluating social work practice that required students to use published research, quantitative measures, and single-system designs in a simulated practice evaluation project. Method: Practice evaluation projects from a typical class were analyzed for the number of research references…

This "Instructor's Corner" describes a step forward on the journey to write, review, and publish high-quality qualitative research manuscripts. This article examines two existing perspectives on generating high-quality qualitative manuscripts and then compares and contrasts the different elements of each. First, an overview of Rocco's (2010) eight…

Undergraduates use a wide range of information resources for academic and nonacademic purposes, including web sites that range from credible, peer reviewed, online journal sites, to biased and inaccurate promotional web sites. Students are taught basic critical appraisal skills, but do they apply these skills to make decisions about information in…

In this article, we present the background to the development of test reviewing by the British Psychological Society (BPS) in the United Kingdom. We also describe the role played by the BPS in the development of the EFPA test review model and its adaptation for use in test reviewing in the United Kingdom. We conclude with a discussion of lessons…

Although it is still unclear what causes autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), over time researchers and clinicians have become more precise with detecting and diagnosing ASD. Many diagnoses, however, are based on the criteria established within the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM"); thus, any change in these diagnostic…

At many universities and colleges across this nation there is an annual commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his vision of "a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." At these ceremonies, it is common for various campus leaders and administrators to vow renewed…