Audience Matters

There is growing attention to student assessments designed to reach beyond the classroom, including assessments with an immediate or future audience. The impact of audience, however, has not been examined in multimodal assessments across continents, institutions, disciplines, and teaching contexts. Using qualitative data, this article examines the impact on student learning of incorporating audience and awareness of audience in diverse settings through multimodal projects. These include a core assignment in an interdisciplinary, semester-long graduate class in the United States, a year-long capstone project for geography undergraduates in Northern Ireland, and a supplemental assignment for graduate and undergraduate biology students in Norway. This article investigates the impact of audience through multimodal assessments across these three settings and concludes that it can positively influence student learning, motivation, and skill development.

Effectiveness of Google Classroom and Edmodo in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic among pharmacy students of Health Polytechnic of Health Ministry Kupang, Indonesia

Objective: This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using Google Classroom and Edmodo in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: This research is quantitative research. The sample was pharmacy students of the Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health in Kupang of 2019 and 2020 cohort, with a total of 145 people. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Results: One hundred and twelve (72%) students stated that the use of Google Classroom in online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic had been effective, thirty-two (22%) students stated that the learning was very effective, and eleven (6%) students stated that the learning was not effective because they were confused by the available features. They also need a stable internet network, especially when downloading learning video materials. Student assessments using the Edmodo learning media showed one hundred and one (69%) students said it was effective, twenty-six (18%) students said it was very effective, and eight (13%) stated that it was not effective because of difficulty of reading features in English and there was no direct online syntax available on Edmodo. Conclusion: The results showed that Google Classroom and Edmodo could be effectively applied in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Step-by-Step Model with Latent Parameters for Student Assessments

The article discusses the disadvantages of traditional approaches to statistical processing of assessments of intermediate attestations of students. We proposed a model in which the obtaining of the k grade on an ordinal scale is associated with the successful completion of k certification steps. By analogy with Item Response Theory used for processing test results the probability of a successful step is determined by latent parameters — the student's ability and the difficulty of the step. Methods for determining latent parameters from the estimates obtained and statistical procedures for checking the adequacy of the model are proposed. The data of processing the array of estimates are presented. The processing results confirmed the possibility of using the proposed mo­del for a more accurate assessment of students' ability and the difficulty of attestations.

Learning Video Based on Contextual Approach Science Content of Grade V Elementary School

The lack of use of video media in the learning process causes students to have difficulties in learning. This research aims to develop audiovisual learning media tailored to the needs of today's learning. The test subjects in this study consisted of several experts and students. The experts consist of learning content experts, learning design experts and learning media experts and involve grade V students to conduct individual trials and small group trials. This development research uses ADDIE development model (analyze, design, development, implementation, evaluation) as systematic steps in the product development process. The data collection method in this study consists of observations, questionnaires and interviews. The data analysis techniques used are quantitative and qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques. Based on the results of product trials, the instructional video was declared feasible by the test subjects, namely learning content experts, learning design experts, learning media experts and students. The results of the evaluation of the learning content expert obtained a percentage (95.83%) with very good qualification, the results of the learning design expert's assessment obtained a percentage (94.23%) with very good qualification, the results of the learning media expert's assessment obtained a percentage (85.00%) with good qualifications and the results of student assessments through individual tests obtained a percentage (94.00%) with very good qualification, and the results of student assessments through small group tests obtained a percentage (95.83%). Based on the results of the product trial, it is concluded that the developed learning videos in very good qualifications and suitable for use in the learning process.

Examining Goal Congruence on Engineering Design and Innovation Student Teams

Goal congruence, defined as agreement by all members of a team on a common set of objectives, has been positively associated with team cohesion, team performance and team outcomes, including grades earned. Yet there is little in-depth study at scale and across types of engineering design and innovation classes in higher education that examines the goals students set for their work together. This research explores goal congruence in 857 teams involving 1470 students across 18 classes over four years. To examine goal congruence, we use student assessments of their level of agreement on their goals as well as evaluations of their written goal statements. Machine learning techniques are used to automatically identify goal types and congruence between goals. We find that goal congruence on student teams is relatively low, even when they assess it as high, partly due to variety in the types of goals they identify. We categorize the goals students articulate for their teams into grade-, completion-, teaming-, learning-, problem-, output- and outcome-oriented goals and report variance in the types of goals identified in different pedagogical settings. Our findings have implications for how faculty design their classes, link learning outcomes to team projects and facilitate goal setting on student teams.

Teaching Quality in Higher Education: Agreement Between Teacher Self-reports and Student Evaluations

Teaching quality is a crucial factor within higher education. Research on this topic often requires assessing teaching quality as a global construct through self-reports. However, such instruments are criticized due to the lack of alignment between teacher and student reports of instructional practices. We argue that while teachers might over- or under-estimate specific dimensions of teaching quality, their aggregation in the form of overall teaching quality reflects differences in teaching quality between teachers well. Accordingly, we test a ten-item measure that allows faculty to self-report their overall teaching quality based on the aspects distinguished in the SEEQ (Marsh, 1982, 2007). Using 17,508 student assessments of teaching quality in 889 sessions taught by 97 faculty members, we conducted Doubly Latent Multi Level Modelling while considering bias and unfairness variables to model overall teaching quality assessed by students, and simultaneously corrected for measurement error and potential distortions through the assessment situation. This global factor of teaching quality was strongly associated with teacher self-reported teaching quality (ρ = .74), which we interpret as evidence that global teacher reports of teaching quality can serve as sensible indicators of overall teaching quality for nomothetic research in higher education.