scholarly journals Exams and Student Feedback: An experiment in Marking Efficiencies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denard Lynch ◽  
Andrew Kostiuk
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Examination ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Timely Feedback ◽  
Laboratory Component ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Grade Performance ◽  
Summative Feedback

Providing summative feedback to studentsin a timely fashion, and managing the associated markingin larger classes has been a perpetual challenge in aneducation environment, and is even more so in a resourcechallenged environment. This paper discusses the resultsof an experiment in evaluation in an engineering courseby implementing a modified evaluation and gradingapproach. The objectives were to i) provide timelyfeedback to students, ii) improve engagement and reduceoverall course loading for students, and iii) reducemarking effort for instructors, all without negativelyaffecting student grade performance. The results showthat improvements over traditional methods can be madein two of the three areas.The course in question, (redacted), covers basicelectrical concepts and devices for non-electricalengineering students. The course had been offered in fourprevious years using a traditional evaluative approach:weekly assignments (submitted, marked and returned),laboratory exercises (comprehensive reporting orexercises submitted, marked and returned), midterm(s)(graded and returned), and a final examination. Themodified approach was implemented over the past twoyears and included the same learning strategies, but witha potentially lower resource commitment for students andinstructors. Modifications to the strategy wereimplemented the first and second years. The experimentintroduced procedural and administrative modificationsin assignments, laboratories and examinations, and theaddition of short weekly quizzes to improve engagementin an active learning environment.Approximately ten assignments were offered to helpstudents test and improve their understanding andknowledge. In the first year, assignments and solutionswere posted simultaneously; no submission was requiredand there was no grade contribution offered. Therationale for this strategy was that students would receivevirtually instant feedback by having solutions immediatelyavailable, and the freedom to judge the quantity and levelof completion required to meet their individual learningneeds. In the second year, assignments wereadministered through an online assignment system formark credit. This was intended to reinstate the incentiveof mark credit to improve student engagement while stillproviding instantaneous feedback on correctness.The course has always included a critical “hands-on”laboratory component which was traditionally timeintensive for both students and instructors. While thelaboratory submissions were still required for markcredit, the reporting requirement was reduced to aminimal, specified sampling of results to provide evidencethat the practical work was addressed. Expectedoutcomes were again provided for students to providerelevant and timely feedback. In the second year, a 3-bingrading system was adopted to improve the granularity ofthe marks while still requiring considerably less markingeffort.Examinations were also modified to improve timelinessof feedback and reduce marking effort. In the first year,three “midterm” examinations were distributed throughthe term to monitor student learning and verify studentparticipation in the self-directed parts of the course.Each of these exams consisted of 12 questions and weresimply graded on a correct response (no “partial marks)to reduce marking effort. In the second year, two midtermexaminations were deemed sufficient, but were gradedusing a 3-bin approach, thus allowing for “partialmarks”. Exams were returned to students in the nextlecture period in both cases. The Final examination inthe first year was designed using a 3-bin scheme to allowfor partial marks while still reducing marking effort. Inthe second year, this was increased to a 4-bin scheme toimproved granularity. The increase in granularity hadvery little effect on marking effort for both the midtermand final.One additional modification was made in the secondyear with the addition of brief weekly quizzes, for markcredit, to encourage students to complete assigned prereadingexercises and keep up with course work. Thequizzes consisted of two brief questions: one on assignedreading for the coming week and one on the previousweek’s material. These quizzes were administered andgraded using a classroom response system and automatically integrated with the learning managementsystem.Analysis consisted of comparison of grades withprevious years, anecdotal evidence and observations onstudent effort, course evaluation data and survey results.Preliminary results indicate student load and instructormarking effort were significantly reduced. While graderesults were approximately the same. A direct objectivecomparison with previous years is not significant due tovariations in course content and cohort.

Contextual learning strategies in the early stages of architecture education

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 313-320
Author(s):  
Murat Sahin
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Narrative Structure ◽  
Contextual Learning ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Architecture Education ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Early Stages

The main objective of this paper is to present a series of interconnected contextual learning strategies applied in the early stages of architecture education. The study presents the design and implementation process of a term project assigned to first-year architecture students. It applied the contextual learning strategies by combining the autobiographical memory and design problem to explore unique narrative structure. This method allows for aligning multiple contexts-course content, the objective of the course, students profile, the learning environment and the basis of the design disciplines. The process was a performative one that involves storytelling, video making, quasi-research skills and informal discussions with parents and guardians to uncover and present the changing nature of the urban fabric as seen and understood by students. The results show that the students engaged and unearth various material within the contextual paradigm. Keywords: Narrative reflection, contextual learning, alignment, architectural education.

scholarly journals A learning philosophy assignment positively impacts student learning outcomes

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil C. Haave ◽  
Kelly Keus ◽  
Tonya Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Student Learning Outcomes ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Bachelor Of Science ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Second Year

Engaging students in metacognition can improve their learning outcomes. Students’ consideration of their learning philosophy is one way for students to be metacognitive about their learning. This study analyzed the effect of a learning philosophy assignment on students’ intellectual development and mastery of first-year biology and second-year biochemistry course content. All students were invited to complete the Learning Environment Preferences (LEP) survey at the beginning and end of the term to determine if students’ cognitive complexity was impacted by the assignment. The ability to master course content was assessed by comparing students’ midterm and final exam marks. We found that the learning philosophy assignment rescued Bachelor of Science students in the first-year biology course from a decrease in cognitive complexity. Additionally, the guided metacognition rescued second-year biochemistry students from performing poorer on the final relative to the midterm exam and promoted an increase in their cognitive complexity. These results suggest that a learning philosophy assignment may be an effective way of engaging students’ in metacognition of their learning to promote their intellectual development and mastery of course material.

The Impact of Specially Designed Digital Games-Based Learning in Undergraduate Pathology and Medical Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rani Kanthan ◽  
Jenna-Lynn Senger
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Satisfaction Survey ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Examination ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Context—The rapid advances of computer technologies have created a new e-learner generation of “Homo-zappien” students that think and learn differently. Digital gaming is an effective, fun, active, and encouraging way of learning, providing immediate feedback and measurable process. Within the context of ongoing reforms in medical education, specially designed digital games, a form of active learning, are effective, complementary e-teaching/learning resources. Objective—To examine the effectiveness of the use of specially designed digital games for student satisfaction and for measurable academic improvement. Design—One hundred fourteen students registered in first-year pathology Medicine 102 had 8 of 16 lecture sessions reviewed in specially designed content-relevant digital games. Performance scores to relevant content sessions were analyzed at midterm and final examinations. Seventy-one students who registered in second-year pathology Medicine 202 were exposed to the games only during the final examination, with the midterm examination serving as an internal matched-control group. Outcome measures included performance at midterm and final examinations. Paired 2-tailed t test statistics compared means. A satisfaction survey questionnaire of yes or no responses analyzed student engagement and their perceptions to digital game-based learning. Results—Questions relevant to the game-play sessions had the highest success rate in both examinations among 114 first-year students. In the 71 second-year students, the examination scores at the end of the final examination were significantly higher than the scores on the midterm examination. Positive satisfaction survey noted increased student engagement, enhanced personal learning, and reduced student stress. Conclusions—Specially constructed digital games-based learning in undergraduate pathology courses showed improved academic performance as measured by examination test scores with increased student satisfaction and engagement.

scholarly journals Non-English Majored Students’ Use of English Vocabulary Learning Strategies with Technology-Enhanced Language Learning Tools

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Tham My Duong ◽  
Thao Quoc Tran ◽  
Thao Thanh Pham Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Knowledge Retention ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
First Year ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies ◽  
Second Year

Abstract: Technology has become an integral part in language education in general and English language teaching and learning in specific. Accordingly, the use of technology enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in English language learning has become common as they can improve the knowledge retention and increase engagement. The study aims at unravelling the employment of TELL tool based English vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) among non-English majored students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). The participants were a cohort of 240 first-year and second-year students answering the questionnaires and 20 students in responding the semi-structured interview questions. The SPSS was utilized to process the qualitative data in terms of descriptive statistics and T-Test, while the content analysis approach was employed for qualitative data analysis. The results showed that the participants employed the TELL tool based English VLS at a high level. Additionally, it is noticeable that second-year students utilized the TELL tool based English VLS more often than their first-year students.   Keywords: English vocabulary, strategies, TELL tools.

The Role of Test Anticipation in the Link Between Performance-Approach Goals and Academic Achievement

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Crouzevialle ◽  
Fabrizio Butera
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Study Strategies ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Course Content ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Approach Goals ◽  
Goal Endorsement

Abstract. Performance-approach goals (i.e., the desire to outperform others) have been found to be positive predictors of test performance, but research has also revealed that they predict surface learning strategies. The present research investigates whether the high academic performance of students who strongly adopt performance-approach goals stems from test anticipation and preparation, which most educational settings render possible since examinations are often scheduled in advance. We set up a longitudinal design for an experiment conducted in high-school classrooms within the context of two science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, namely, physics and chemistry. First, we measured performance-approach goals. Then we asked students to take a test that had either been announced a week in advance (enabling strategic preparation) or not. The expected interaction between performance-approach goal endorsement and test anticipation was moderated by the students’ initial level: The interaction appeared only among low achievers for whom the pursuit of performance-approach goals predicted greater performance – but only when the test had been scheduled. Conversely, high achievers appeared to have adopted a regular and steady process of course content learning whatever their normative goal endorsement. This suggests that normative strivings differentially influence the study strategies of low and high achievers.

An inevitable crisis? From first to second year in counsellor training

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-89
Author(s):  
Hugh Crago
Keyword(s):  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
First Year ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Counsellor Training ◽  
Student Dropout ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Neurological Research ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
And Control

In a seminal 1973 paper, Robert Clark described the very different “cultures” of the first and second year students in a four year clinical psychology PhD programme. The author applies Clark’s template to his own experiences as trainee or trainer in five different counsellor education programmes, one in the US and four in Australia. Each of the programmes, to varying degrees, demonstrates key features of the pattern identified by Clark, where the first year is “therapeutic” and other-oriented, the second is “professional” and self-focused. The author concludes that all the surveyed programmes exhibited some level of “second year crisis”, in which a significant number of students felt abandoned, dissatisfied, or rebellious. The author extends and refines Clark’s developmental analogy (first year = childhood; second year = adolescence) to reflect recent neurological research, in particular, the shift from a right hemisphere-dominant first year of life, prioritising affiliative needs, to a left hemisphere-dominant second year, prioritising autonomy and control. This shift is paralleled later by a more gradual move from a protective, supportive childhood to necessary, but sometimes conflictual, individuation in adolescence. The first two years of a counsellor training programme broadly echo this process, a process exacerbated by the second year internship/placement, in which students must “leave home” and adjust to unfamiliar, potentially less nurturing, authority figures. Finally, the author suggests introducing more rigorous “academic holding” into the first year, and greater attention to “therapeutic holding” of dissident students in the second, hopefully decreasing student dropout, and achieving a better balanced training experience.

Implementation of the Second-year course in an Engineering Professional Spine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Iqbal ◽  
Deena Salem ◽  
David Strong
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Research University ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Core Courses ◽  
Second Year ◽  
First Time ◽  
Academic Year

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.

Exploring the Implementation of Early Math Assessments in Kindergarten Classrooms: A Research-Practice Collaboration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer McDonald ◽  
Rebecca Merkley ◽  
Jacqueline Mickle ◽  
Lisa Collimore ◽  
Daniel Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Math Education ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Early Numeracy ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Second Year

Research in cognitive development has highlighted that early numeracy skills are associated with later math achievement, suggesting that these skills should be targeted in early math education. Here we tested whether tools used by researchers to assess mathematical thinking could be useful in the classroom. This paper describes a collaborative project between cognitive scientists and school board researchers/educators implementing numeracy screeners with kindergarten students over the course of three school years. The Give-A-Number task (Wynn, 1990) was used with first-year kindergarten students and the Numeracy Screener [BLINDED] with second-year kindergarten students. Results indicated that educators (N = 59) found the tools feasible to implement and helpful for exploring their students’ thinking and targeting instruction. The Educators’ feedback also helped inform improvements to the implementation of the tools and future directions for both the schools and the researchers. This work emphasizes the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration to address the research-practice gap.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document