The Effect of Peer Assessment and Collaborative Assessment on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Ability

As an attempt to shed more light on the effectiveness of alternative assessment in second language learning, the current study sought to explore the effects of peer assessment (PA) and collaborative assessment (CA) on the Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing ability. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 36 Iranian EFL learners studying English at Kadous English Language Institute in Rasht, Iran, were homogenized as intermediate learners based on their performance on Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The final pool of qualified candidates was assigned to one control and two experimental groups comprising 12 learners. All the participants sat for a pretest of L2 writing so that their initial level of writing could be appraised and their homogeneity in writing could be determined. The experimental groups received treatment on English writing through utilizing PA and CA strategies. On the other hand, the control group was taught through the conventional method (i.e. teacher assessment, TA). At the end of a twelve-session experiment, a post-test measuring the effectiveness of the treatments and the participants' writing ability was administered. The results of descriptive and inferential analyses revealed a statistically significant difference among CA, PA, and TA strategies. The results also demonstrated that the CA and PA groups outperformed the control group. However, the CA group performed significantly better than the PA group. Based on the findings of this study, language teachers, materials developers, and education authorities can concentrate on employing CA as the main strategy to foster the writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. However, PA may also be utilized to teach writing where possible.

Students’ Perception of Secondary School Teachers’ Assessment with Specific Reference to the Subject of English

Using research investigating the effect of teacher assessment practices in secondary schooling in Croatia on student perceptions of fairness, this paper1 points out participating students’ perception of fairness of assessment, focusing on teacher assessment in three secondary school subjects, but particularly in the subject of English. The research overall included enquiry into the fairness of teacher assessment practices in three secondary school subjects. The implemented research was both of a quantitative and qualitative nature. The research design was intended to be both empirical, measuring students’ perception, and quasi-ethnographic, seeking to interpret these perceptions through understanding the context. Student questionnaires, involving a total of 330 students, teacher interviews, involving a total of 12 teachers, and analysis of teachers’ assessment documents were used to collect data that were then analysed within case studies. Each case study, totalling six in number, represented a teacher with two classes of students studying one of the chosen three subjects. Classes of secondary school students from two high schools studying the subjects of Biology, Croatian or English as a foreign language formed the sample groups. These students were asked to complete a questionnaire based on Likert response type items founded on the Student Perception of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and open-ended questions based on a questionnaire developed at the Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies (CSaLT). The SPAQ items were measured by five scales. The teachers of these students were interviewed and also provided documents that illustrate how they assessed students in these three subjects. The investigation uncovered variations in responses to teachers and subjects and differences in student response between classes of the same teacher which are possibly indicative, among other elements, of the role of teacher personality factors. This investigation revealed that from the three secondary school subjects researched, students’ perception of the secondary school subject of English achieved the most positive rating among the sample of students involved in the research.

Critical Thinking in Argumentative Essays

The absence of critical thinking competency among college students has been one of the most widely studied subjects in China. This paper discusses the importance of critical thinking and suggests a three-step approach to cultivating critical thinking in developing argumentative essays, which includes before writing- choosing online resources as learning materials, during writing-choosing open, inspiring and controversial tasks, and post writing-teacher assessment.

Integration of Pedagogical and Production Factors in the Process of the Formation of Industry 4.0

The rapid development of Industry 4.0 as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings back the relationship of pedagogy and production to mutual integration that has been their characteristic since ancient times. The study revealed high digital readiness of students (4.24 according to the student assessment and 2.82 according to the teacher assessment on a 5- point scale) and very low readiness of production to accept integrated learning (1.68 and 2.67, respectively), as well as the poor digitalization of the educational process according to the students and teachers, who are more closely familiar with the reality of production (2.03 and 2.45, respectively).

The Development of Local Disasters-based Mitigation Module Integrated to Physics Learning

This study aimed to develop a local disaster potential-based mitigation module that is integrated into physics learning. The compilation of these teaching materials can be utilized as one of the learning media for students to learn about disaster mitigation materials independently. This study was research and development using 4D model that consisted of 4 phases namely, Define, Design, Development, and Disseminate. The participants in this study were 12 students from SMPN 1 Palu. The feasibility test phase of the product was conducted to determine the feasibility of the instructional materials. The trial phase was conducted on trials of material experts, media experts, teachers, and students. Based on the results of trials and questionnaire analysis, the average score of the material experts assessment was 3.24 categorized as “Good”, the average score of media expert assessment was 3.00 categorized as “Good”, the average score of teacher assessment was 4 0.0 categorized as “Very Good”, and the average score of the assessment based on student responses was 3.52 categorized as “Very Good”. The result of the study shows that the teaching materials generated, particularly those on disaster mitigation, are very suited for use in the learning process.

Research Focusing on Assessment Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review

Assessment literacy relates to teacher's ability to know and clearly understand the purpose, measurement, evaluation and use of assessment to report the overall level of student achievement in a particular subject or time period, reflect and take continuous follow-up action to improve instructional, student’s capability and achievement in learning. The purpose of this paper is to use co-citation analysis to detect the evolution of prior research linked to assessment literacy by identify the major sources and the classes they create (i.e. clusters) and reviews the significance of the aspects commonly mentioned by the authors in studies. The Scopus search engine was used to find the papers that were reviewed. All collected data were examined using the VOSviewer software to provide bibliometric results. The review's primary focus is on assessment literacy research that is associated to discussion in educational activities. Finally, the data show that co-occurrence of keywords in documents and co-authorship by author indicate seven and six clusters, respectively. Six primary categories of co-authorship, as follows: (1) Changes to the education assessment system, as well as prospective teacher's trust in its implementation, (2) The requirement for assessment concepts, (3) Literacy and data interpretation from teachers, (4) Assessing literacy and global needs, (5) Factors affecting teacher assessment, and (6) Methods for enhancing teachers' assessment literacy in learning. This paper analysis aims to provide a more thorough knowledge of the evolution of research topics, scientific practice and trends in new and interesting fields of study.

The Design of Local Wisdom-Based Science Learning on Pressure Materials in Junior High School

The lesson plan is an important aspect that determines the success of learning in the classroom. Teachers must design learning that can relate the material being studied to the daily lives of students, for example, is through integrated local wisdom into science learning. The study aimed to develop a science learning set of local wisdom based on pressure materials in Junior High Schools. The research was research and development and used a 4D development model (Define, Design, Development, and Disseminate). The subjects were material experts, media experts, and science teachers of junior high school. The instrument was a validation sheet of the learning set. Qualitative data were analyzed descriptively, and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. This research produces a science learning set of local wisdom-based on pressure materials in junior high schools, consisting of syllabus, lesson plans, assessments, student worksheets, teaching materials, remedial and enrichment programs. The results of expert validation obtained a score of 89.60 with an excellent category. The results of the science teacher assessment were 92.38 with excellent category. In sum, the science learning set of local wisdom based on pressure material in junior high schools was valid and feasible to improve the understanding of science concepts.

Kompetensi yang Optimal Terhadap Penilaian Kinerja Guru dengan Metode Simple Additive Weighting

Professional teachers should be able to improve their quality to achieve the vision and mission of the school where the teacher is carrying out their duty. The main task of an educator is to provide students with the process of learning, educating, training and giving directions to create a better learning process. Besides carrying out the task of teaching, an educator also needs to be able to develop themselves sustainably in order to increase self-competencies. There are four competencies should be owned by an educator they are pedagogic, personality, social and professional. To measure those competencies, school head master have to conduct teacher assessment by pointed assessors. Teacher performance assessment functions to analyses teachers ' professionalism in learning processes at a school, teachers participation on self-empowerment activities as well as capacity building. This study aims to calculate the value of teacher performance assessment optimally based on competence through a decision support system. Simple Additive Weighting method is used in this decision support system. By using Simple additive weighting, the sum of weight ratings performance on each alternative in all the attributes can be collected. This decision support system used to make it easier to take a decision and a supporter of decision in performance evaluations. Dataset treat in this research was collected in SMP Negeri 25 Padang. The data consisting of four different criteria in accordance with teacher competence. The result of the study reaches the level of accuracy of 93%. This study is expected to bring benefits for school leaders as the reference in order to optimize the teacher performance evaluation objectively.