Students’ and Faculty Members’ Perceptions and Experiences of Classroom Assessment: A Case Study of a Public University in Afghanistan

Objective: The primary goal of the study was to examine students’ perceptions of classroom assessment at a public university in Afghanistan. Exploring current assessment practices focused on student and faculty members lived experiences was a secondary goal. The study also sought to collect evidence on whether or not the new assessment policy was effective in student achievement. Method: Authors used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to conduct the study. Initially, we applied the Students Perceptions of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), translated into Dari/Farsi and validated, to collect data from a random sample of 400 students from three colleges: Agriculture, Education, and Humanities. Response rate was 88.25% (<em>N</em> = 353). Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from a purposeful sample of 18 students and 7 faculty members. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and <em>t</em>-tests were used to analyze quantitative data, and NVivo 12 was used to conduct thematic analysis on qualitative data. Results: The quantitative results suggest that students have positive perceptions of the current assessment practices. However, both students and faculty members were dissatisfied with the grading policy, reinforcing summative over formative assessment. Results support that the policy change regarding assessment has resulted in more students passing the courses compared to in the past. The findings also suggest improvements in faculty professional skills such as assessment and teaching and ways that they engage students in assessment processes. Implication for Policy and Practice: Recommendations include revisiting the grading policy at the national level to allow faculty members to balance the formative and summative assessment and utilizing assessment benchmarks and rubrics to guide formative and summative assessment implementation in practice.

Design and implementation of a novel doctor of pharmacy curriculum

Introduction: The University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy has a rich tradition of transforming curricula to graduate pharmacists who are equipped to serve the current and future healthcare needs of the public. Description of programme: This paper describes the process of the design, build, and implementation of a three-year, year-round, competency-based, integrated, Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum with a pass/no pass grading policy. Evaluation: A variety of data streams are in place to collect data on courses, teaching, and student performance as part of continuous quality improvement activities. Future Plans: In addition to traditional evaluation metrics of the curriculum the school will implement a career outcomes project to track students’ career and employment placements. The results of the evaluation and assessment activities will be shared in future manuscripts.

Making the Grade during Pandemic: Early-stage and Late-stage Provisional Institutions

This is an article that draws on the institutional work literature about provisional institutions. To date, nearly every U.S. sector has been impacted by COVID-19. To sustain their core missions, highly institutionalized organizations such as universities have had to rethink foundational structures and policies. Using a historical ethnographic approach to investigate records from faculty senate deliberations at “Rural State University” (RSU), the authors examine the implementation of a temporary grading policy to supplement traditional, qualitative grades spring 2020 during the outbreak. The authors find that RSU implemented a temporary, supplemental grading policy as a provisional institution to momentarily supersede traditional grading as a means to—as soon as possible—return to it. This finding contrasts with the common understanding that provisional institutions operate primarily as a temporary solution to a social problem that leads to more stable and enduring, ostensibly nonprovisional institutions. The temporary grading policy, the authors argue, constitutes a “late-stage” provisional institution and, with this new lens, subsequently characterize the more commonplace understanding of provisional institutions as “early-stage.” This contribution has theoretical implications for studies of institutions and empirical implications for research on shared governance and disruption in higher education.

Adapting Pandemic Practices for the Future: Blended Learning Model for Online Advocacy Training in Pakistan

The challenge of teaching a skill-based course online, during pandemic unfolded lasting/ground-breaking opportunities for teachers and students of law alike. For the advocacy skills' training course, a suit for dissolution of marriage was selected and training was divided into 12 steps. The pre-planned semester calendar of the University was followed, but in the virtual learning environment (VLE), sessions were held mostly synchronously by using an indigenized blended learning (BL) model. Station rotation (SR) and the flipped classroom (FC) were also indigenized for effective use. Indigenization of BL was done. SR was done by creating stations comprising research areas involved in the trial for dissolution of a marriage. The FC was used to make students learn lectures beforehand, and all simulations, role-plays and activities were done in class. On-spot grading was done on assessment rubrics by using standard observation forms, generated based on extracted principles. All rubrics and standard forms were shared and discussed with students to build trust in the VLE. The asynchronous mode was also used, but only for the sake of supplemented learning. The grading policy was revised, and the curves of summative and formative assessments were flattened. A total of 45 students were trained, out of whom 26 scored A, four A–, two B, five B+, one B–, one C, one C+, one C– and four got F (for not participating at all). The outcome was encouraging. After completion of the semester, the need assessment survey culminated in a hands-on training session for the Faculty of Law (FoL). Participants designed courses using the BL model and found the methodology effective for future use in regular classes.

By the Letter of Law? The Effects of Administrative Adjudication for Resolving Disputes in NYC’s Restaurant Grading Initiative

Administrative adjudication can serve as a quasi-judicial forum for resolving disputes resulting from government regulations. New York City recently required restaurants to post letter grades reflecting their compliance with food safety regulations and incorporated an easily accessible administrative adjudication system into its policy design. This study examines the implementation of this feature of the policy by using a regression discontinuity framework to explore the effects of the grading policy on adjudication processes and regulatory outcomes. Quantitative data included 222,527 food safety inspection records (2007–2014); qualitative data included interviews, observations, and document review. Restaurants were more likely to have violations reduced and grades improved at adjudication when grades were at stake. Moreover, adjudication outcomes were highly sensitive to score differences near grade cut-points. Professional representatives helped restaurants to negotiate the interpretation of rules in the quasi-judicial proceedings, softening rigidity of regulations. Representatives’ expertise was consistent with being “repeat players,” which may distort the use of such forums to ensure justice and fairness. This study illuminates the ramifications of including alternative dispute resolution systems in the implementation of regulatory policies.

Career Confidential: Principal thinks he’s discriminated against for being a white male

Phyllis Fagell gives advice to educators about their professional dilemmas. In this month’s column, a principal believes he’s being passed over for promotions because he’s a white male. A teacher is frustrated about grading policy changes that seem to lower standards. And a teacher wonders if it’s possible to sue a parent who is criticizing her on social media.

Smart Supervision on Food Safety of Food Service Establishments in China: Challenges and Solution

Foodborne diseases (FBDs) are burdening countries worldwide. Several countries have successfully implemented policies that establish innovative systems for the inspection and grading of food service establishments (FSEs), which greatly contributes to a reduction in FBDs. China’s government has also responded by developing policies to protect consumers’ food safety, including the routine inspection policy and the risk-based grading policy. However, the extent of implementation of both policies has been poor to date. The aim of this paper was to identify regulatory challenges and design a smart supervision solution. The results of a national survey showed that the major barriers to policy implementation were a strong individual work intensity, strong business dynamics of FSEs, a lack of a monitoring and evaluation system, a lack of social support, a low development level of FSEs, and a lack of financing. A smart supervision solution to these challenges was designed based on mobile Internet and two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology. A pilot application in Jilin province assisted local supervisors in carrying out regulatory work on FSEs, which proved the feasibility of the smart supervision. This study can be used as an example for food safety supervision in other regions, and can assist other governments that wish to implement similar policies to ensure food safety in their countries.

ASSESSING AND TRACKING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENT WELLBEING IN FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness surrounding student wellbeing. The first year of university can be difficult due to the change in expectations and responsibilities associated with this transition. As many of the resources offered to support students are accessible on a voluntary basis, their effectiveness largely depends on their level of usage. Within the first year of the UBC Engineering program, we implemented four interventions looking at identifying potential challenges faced by students, and the resources they see as available. We based our work on a model that represents wellbeing as the balance between challenges and resources. We found that academics are a significant point of focus for students, with grades, second-year placement, and workload making 40% of the stressors throughout the academic year. In addition, discrepancies in academic background and the importance of having a routine were additional themes mentioned by students. COVID-19 was found to have a small impact on student wellbeing, most likely driven by the rapid transition away from student residences and uncertainty caused by the changes in the university’s grading policy. Students had difficulty finding specific resources that could support them throughout the year. Having more opportunities for studying with peers, and having access to what of upper-year students were requested by first-year students.