Take-Home Tests: Educational Fast Food for the New Millennium?

Author(s):  
Liz Hall

AbstractChanges such as a ‘user pays’ philosophy in tertiary education and the student loan scheme have placed pressure on New Zealand academics and students alike. Teachers of adults may need to adjust to the ‘new breed’ of student and the faster paced semesterised education system. It is proposed that focussing on the learner and creating a learning environment that encourages students to assume responsibility for their own learning is more important in the new educational environment.The present paper conceptualises take-home tests as being analogous to an educational fast food - a familiar, made-to-order commodity - that curiously appears to be missing from the educational smorgasbord outside the United States of America. Results of a pilot study using take-home tests in a first year management class at the University of Otago suggested they fit the proposed new mood of education. Students in the self-selected experimental group (n=35) achieved a higher course grade than those in the control group (n=35). The students recommended that take-home tests be used more frequently and they saw them as having ‘learning’ and ‘anxiety reducing’ benefits.

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Hall

AbstractChanges such as a ‘user pays’ philosophy in tertiary education and the student loan scheme have placed pressure on New Zealand academics and students alike. Teachers of adults may need to adjust to the ‘new breed’ of student and the faster paced semesterised education system. It is proposed that focussing on the learner and creating a learning environment that encourages students to assume responsibility for their own learning is more important in the new educational environment.The present paper conceptualises take-home tests as being analogous to an educational fast food - a familiar, made-to-order commodity - that curiously appears to be missing from the educational smorgasbord outside the United States of America. Results of a pilot study using take-home tests in a first year management class at the University of Otago suggested they fit the proposed new mood of education. Students in the self-selected experimental group (n=35) achieved a higher course grade than those in the control group (n=35). The students recommended that take-home tests be used more frequently and they saw them as having ‘learning’ and ‘anxiety reducing’ benefits.


Author(s):  
Dennis B. Roble ◽  
Laila S. Lomibao ◽  
Charita A. Luna

The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the creative constructs of students enrolled in Differential Calculus at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. This study was composed of 132 engineering and mathematics education students enrolled in two different semesters. The experimental group was chosen randomly, exposed to the problem-based HALP model teaching approach and problem posing while the control group was taught using Polya’s problem-solving heuristics. Multiple Solution Tasks (MST) test in Calculus was administered to determine their creative constructs which can be measured in terms of their level of mathematical fluency, flexibility and novelty of solutions before and after the experiment. Results indicated that the experimental group exhibited a remarkable improvement of their mathematical fluency and flexibility but still in the developing level when they are required to posit novel solutions to problems as influenced by the problem-based HALP and problem posing activities. Hence, it is recommended that mathematics teachers may utilize these methods to successfully develop students’ mathematical creativity and future research may also be explored on integrating technology and how it can influence developing student’s mathematical creativeness as well as the mediating role of their affective domains and IQ (intelligent quotient).  


Author(s):  
Hasanul Arifin Zul And Masitowarni Siregar

This thesis is focused on the investigation of the effect of applying animal cartoon pictures on students’ achievement in writing narrative text. This study aims to find whether applying animal cartoon pictures significantly affect the students’ writing achievement or not. The data in this study were obtained by administering a written test. The population was the 2015/2016 first year (grade XI) of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam and 66 students were taken as the sample by using random sampling. The sample was divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught by applying animal cartoon pictures while the control group without animal cartoon pictures (x = lecturing). The data were taken the scores from the pre-test and post-test to both experimental and control groups. These data were analyzed by using t-test. The result of computing the t-test obviously showed that t-observed is higher than t-table (5.21 >1,67) with the degree of freedom 64 (df =N-2) at the level significance 0,05 one tail test. It showed that the application of animal cartoon pictures significantly affected the students of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam achievement in writing narrative text.


Author(s):  
Maruh Sianturi And Berlin Sibarani

This study was aimed at finding out the effect of using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy on Students’ Achievement in Reading Comprehension. This study was designed with the experimental design. The population of this study was the first year students at academic 2013/2012 of SMA swasta YP St. Paulus Martubung, Medan. There were fourty students taken as the sample of the research. The sample was divided into two groups: the first group (20 students) as the experimental group and the second group (20 students) as the control group. The experimental group was taught by Using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy, while the control group was taught by using conventional method. The instrument for collecting the data was multiple choices which consisted of 40 items. To obtain the reliability of the test, the researcher used Kuder -Richardson (KR-21) formula. The calculation showed that the reliability of the test was 0.75. The data were calculated by using t-test formula. The result of the analysis shows that t-observed (4.98) was higher than t-table (2.025) at the level of significance (α) 0.05 and the degree of freedom (df) 38. Therefore, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. It meant that teaching reading comprehension by using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy significantly affects reading comprehension.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariha Azalea

University is relatively considered a stressful moment in the life of students due to numerous academic workloads and academic activities. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that some university students are in emerging adulthood, a developmental period which is psychologically fraught with uncertainty, instability and identity issues among others. Added to these, the context of most universities like Cameroon which is marred with political, economic and social turbulence common to other developing societies in the sub Saharan region makes life unbearable. Looking at the challenges that confront tertiary education students in the third decade of life, increases possibilities of fears that they will founder thus narrowing the route to a blossomed transition into adulthood and through the university from home into the world of work. However, observations reveal that some have remained hopeful as they continuously believe in themselves and their worth. As such, they have resiliently shrugged off the vast burden placed on them by the adult society as they struggle intentionally with continuous efforts to succeed. Being hopeful and self-efficacy beliefs are observed to be some of the effective drivers that pull emerging adults through the storms of university transition thus facilitating positive development into subsequent life stages. Unfortunately just a paucity of literature albeit theoretically actually narrates via scholarly corridors the monumental successes recorded by students as they sail flourishingly through university in the midst of storms an in the third decade of life. This paper examines and addresses the foregoing through the lenses of some theories.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. A4.2-A4
Author(s):  
Matthew Warren-James ◽  
Julie Hanson ◽  
Belinda Flanagan ◽  
Mary Katsikitis ◽  
Bill Lord

BackgroundWhilst there is evidence to suggest paramedics experience significant stress when working in the ambulance setting little is known about the experiences of first year paramedic students. This research aimed to: (i) identify whether levels of stress, anxiety and depression experienced by first year paramedic students changed after ambulance placement compared to a control group, and (ii) identify the main perceived and actual sources of stress around ambulance placement.MethodsA before-and-after quasi-experimental design was used to compare whether the experience of ambulance placement altered the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in an experimental group that attended an ambulance placement (n = 20) and the control group who did not (n = 10). Online surveys encompassing the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and qualitative questions about sources of stress were concurrently deployed to both the experimental and control groups before and after the ambulance placement. Participants were first year paramedic students working in Queensland Ambulance Service, Australia.ResultsThere was a significant reduction in levels of stress in participants after undertaking their first ambulance placement (Mdn = -4.00) when compared to a control group (Mdn = 0.00), U = 52.5, p = .035, n2 = 0.15. Responses to survey questions suggest anticipation about experiencing death and dying of patients was the most frequently reported stressor of student paramedics before undertaking ambulance placements, however insecurity about knowledge, competence and fear of failure was the most frequently experienced stressor reported after completing ambulance placements.ConclusionsThe findings from this study suggest that the fear of the unknown may be worse than the reality. Anticipatory stress is the foremost problem for first year paramedic students attending their first ambulance placement. Placement pre-briefing should focus on educational interventions to build knowledge and skills competency to reduce stress levels and fear of failure.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (77) ◽  
pp. 63-66
Author(s):  
A.V. Sanin ◽  
A.V. Deyeva ◽  
A.N. Narovlyansky ◽  
A.V. Pronin ◽  
V.V. Behalo

Among the most important issues of food safety, which conducted an extensive international discussion, is the use in livestock of drugs, such as recombinant bovine growth hormone, or somatotropin, and, in particular, ractopamine, stimulating the growth of cattle, pigs and poultry. Ractopamine is used in veterinary medicine to increase the meatiness of the carcass. Ractopamine improves feed conversion, reduces body fat through lipolysis and an intense muscle-building. In the United States, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and many other countries, ractopamine is allowed for usage as growth stimulator in livestock. However, in most countries of the European Union the use of ractopamine is forbidden. In this regard, it seems very important to develop effective and safe drugs that can stimulate the production of endogenous somatotropic hormone (STH). We propose to use for this purpose Gamavit – well-studied veterinary medicine stimulating metabolism and widely used by veterinary specialists in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and some other countries. The aim of this work was to study the effect of Gamavit on STH production in suckling piglets and lambs. Previously it was shown elsewhere that Gamavit induced 2-fold increase in the STH blood level in calves. The experiment was done using 30 suckling piglets of Landrace breed at the age of 0 to 7 days and 10 newborn lambs of the Stavropol breed. All animals were kept in identical conditions, they were fed the same balanced diet. The study was conducted according to the following protocol: The piglets of the 1st group (control) received 0.9% NaCl solution at a dose of 0.5 ml/kg intramuscularly on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th days of the experiment. Piglets of group 2 (experimental) were inoculated with Gamavit at a dose of 0.5 ml/kg intramuscularly on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th days of the experiment. Lambs were inoculated with Gamavit at a dose of 0.5 ml/kg of body weight on 7th, 14th and 21st days after birth. Using method of enzyme immunoassay we shown that during the study level of STH in the experimental group of piglets inoculated with Gamavit gradually increased from 8.5 mIU/l before the experiment to 14.3 mIU/l on the 5th day. In the control group it ranged from 7.5 mIU/l to 10.2 mIU\l. At the end of the experiment greatest body weight gain was observed in the experimental group and amounted 45.450 g compared with 26,700 g in the control group piglets. In the experimental group of newborn lambs Gamavit induced raise in the STH serum level 2 from 6.5 mIU/l at day 0 to 13.1 mIU/l at day 21. Thus, Gamavit, unlike synthetic growth hormone, ractopamine and other beta-agonists used in livestock, induces the production of endogenous STH, which stimulates growth of the animal, while being safe and rapidly metabolizing on its own metabolic pathway.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Marcin Starzak ◽  
Hubert Makaruk ◽  
Anna Starzak

Abstract Introduction. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a training programme aimed to enhance toe-toboard consistency on footfall variability and performance in the long jump. Material and methods. The study involved 36 male physical education students. The experimental group participated in a 12-week training programme, whereas the control group was limited to taking part in the classes held at university. All participants performed 6 long jump trials during two testing sessions. The kinematic parameters were assessed using the Optojump Next device and were further analysed to determine the variability of footfall placement during the approach run. Results. The analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.01) decrease in footfall variability in the experimental group between the pre-test and post-test. After the completion of the training programme, the participants significantly (p < 0.05) improved their take-off accuracy. Additionally, they significantly (p < 0.05) increased their velocity in the last five steps before take-off and the effective distance of the jump (p < 0.001). Conclusions. The results of this study indicate that through specific training, it is possible to improve the consistency of the steps in the acceleration phase of the approach run in the long jump. Moreover, decreasing footfall variability helps achieve a more stable step pattern which may be beneficial for greater accuracy at the take-off board and makes it possible to increase step velocity at the final stage of the approach run.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Hanik Nuzulimah

This paper attempts to explore whether there is significant difference of achievement in vocabulary between students taught by using pictures and those are not. The subject of this study is the first year students of SLTP Muhammadiyah Simo Susukan, Semarang where the sample contains 50 students that is divided into experimental group (with treatment) and control group (without treatment). The data is gathered from participants’ score obtained from pre test and post test. Using t test as technique of data analysis, result shows that students taught by using pictures perform better than those are not. It means that there is significant difference between the two groups. Keywords: Vocabulary Teaching; Picture


2021 ◽  
Vol LXIV (5) ◽  
pp. 463-475
Author(s):  
Radoslav Bozic ◽  
◽  
Djurdjica Takaci ◽  

In this paper the efficiency of collaborative learning of functions, of the functions with parameters, in GeoGebra environment is analyzed. The research was conducted during the calculus course at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, with the students with two groups of students, major physics and chemistry. The students in the experimental group learned in small, four member groups, formed by using Kagan’s (1994) principles, and the students in the control group learned individually. The students from both groups learned in GeoGebra environment. Their work is compared and analyzed.


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