Analyzing Baseline Phase Data

This chapter discusses the analysis of the baseline phase. The baseline serves as the comparison for information collected during subsequent phases. It allows the researcher or practitioner to determine if the target behaviors are changing in a desirable or undesirable direction. Two different types of baselines are presented, concurrent and reconstructed. In a concurrent baseline, data are collected simultaneously, while other assessment activities are being conducted. A reconstructed baseline is an attempt to approximate naturally occurring behavior based on memories or case records. Issues related to comparing phases are discussed and illustrated, including stability of the baseline, trending data, and autocorrelation (or serial dependency). Guidance is provided on how each of these can be assessed and addressed, including the transformation of highly autocorrelated data. Examples are provided throughout to illustrate each concept.

Self-Assessment of English Reading Skills in Grade 6

One of topicalities in the field of education in the 21st century is a necessity to share responsibility. Namely, students should learn to be more responsible for how and what they learn, whereas teachers should learn to share the ownership of the learning process with students, letting them be more involved in it as decision-makers. One way how teachers can encourage students become more conscious of the learning process is to engage them in self-assessment of their learning and learning outcomes. One of self-assessment tools in language education is the European Language Portfolio (the ELP). Apart from different ELPs for adults, there is a portfolio for students in Latvia: My Language Portfolio – The European Language Portfolio for young learners (age 7–12) in the paperback and digital versions. In the present study, the researchers explore how self-assessment can be incorporated in the English language lessons by offering self-assessment activities and the ELP to Grade 6 students to work on their reading skills. Reading skills make the basis for every person’s literacy as reading does not only concern reading itself, it is also about being able to master general knowledge of any other school subject and the world knowledge in general. Thus, the aim of the research is to find out how self-assessment can be used to improve reading skills in English in Grade 6. A case study was carried out for one month in one primary school in Riga, the research sample being two separate groups of Grade 6 students, in total – 26. The researchers analysed and interpreted data collected from assessment and self-assessment of reading activities, questionnaires filled out by students. The main findings of the research show that self-assessment can successfully be incorporated in lessons of English of Grade 6 students as it increases students’ motivation to learn and their reading skills improve. That could be based on the fact that self-assessment allows students to take more ownership of their learning process and learning outcomes, that way making students become more responsible. However, overall progress is not immense and for students who are more competent in English, improvement of their reading skills can barely be traced. It has to be highlighted that students, whose confidence in their English reading skills is lower, benefit from self-assessment more. It could be explained by students’ conscious work on particular problems with reading in English they discover while completing self-assessment activities.

Formation of metasubject educational achievements of primary schoolchildren in the process of assessment activities

The main mission of modern education - improving the quality, cannot be realized without innovative approaches to the assessment system, without the formation of mechanisms, procedures and technologies for monitoring the educational achievements of students. Federal state educational standards of primary general education of the second generation orient teachers towards the qualitative formation of subject, meta-subject and personal results. Modern teachers successfully diagnose the level of subject and personal achievements of junior schoolchildren, evaluating these universal educational actions. Certain difficulties arise with the assessment of metasubject learning outcomes of schoolchildren. The assessment activity of students, according to the authors, acts as an effective means of forming metasubject competences of younger students, since the mechanisms for diagnosing metasubject educational achievements have not yet been worked out. This scientific work discusses not only modern approaches to assessing metasubject achievements, but also proves that a well-constructed assessment activity can become an effective means of forming metasubject competencies. The authors pay great attention to such methods of assessment activities, which, within the framework of the implementation of the state standard, ensure the flexibility of the educational process, create an opportunity not only for teachers, but also for the students themselves to control and evaluate metasubject results.

Assessing Co-creation in Relation to Context for RRI Operationalisation

Pilot projects and experimentations, especially when conducted in restricted contexts, require assessment activities in order to determine not only their success or failure, but also to identify potential for replication, best practices and obstacles to be tackled in the future. In addition to this, monitoring and assessment have been a pressing issue both in the landscapes of co-creation and RRI, the two main fields that SISCODE operates within.

How does Online Formative Feedback Impact Student's Motivation and Self-Directed Learning Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

This research aims to prove the influences of online formative feedback on students' motivation and self-directed learning skills in the time of COVID-19. The questionnaire was sent to 645 students who have completed at least seven blended learning courses. They were asked to choose one class to describe the frequencies of assessment activities and their characteristics. The data was analyzed using SPSS and PLS software, showing that online feedback significantly positively impacts student motivation and self-directed learning skills, except for self-assessment. Therefore applying technology in assessment can be a good solution during the pandemic time. The research also implies that the effectiveness of online feedback depends on the way it performs. Thus, the faculties should develop strategies to confirm the assessment's validity and efficiency. Received: 5 June 2021 / Accepted: 12 July 2021 / Published: 5 September 2021