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Personalising learning is critical for universities to achieving excellence in education. It entails maintaining an education system that is responsive to the learning needs, aptitudes and interests of individual students. Rather than imposing a 'one-size fits all' model, personalising learning is anticipated to ensure that every learner achieves his/her highest potential. Pedagogical literature suggests that learning-oriented assessments that are engaging, authentic and relevant are an effective mode for personalisation. DigiExplanation is a novel approach that requires students to create short digital media to communicate their ideas to ordinary audiences. It offers an opportunity for research-based authentic learning by harnessing digital media that exist outside of their institution and their digital competencies to create personally relevant and interesting resources. The aim of the research was to investigate the effectiveness of digiExplanation driven assessments for improving personalised learning in construction education. A case study approach was adopted in the research. A first-year subject from the construction management degree was chosen as the case, which had a class of 159 students. A new assignment scheme was introduced for which students were required to develop digiExplanations in groups of five. The assessment criteria comprised: rationale for the study; depth and breadth of the discussions for the topic; appropriateness of media used in the discussions; creativity in the use of media (storyboarding); design of digiExplanation; quality of conclusion; and proper acknowledgement of materials used. After the submission deadline, an online survey was conducted with the students to assess how the new assessment approach facilitated personalised learning. Several findings emerged from the study. The digiExplanation based assignment provided similar learning experiences for students with different characteristics concerning their first language, domestic/international student status, work situation and digital competencies. Moreover, the study found that some considerations are more significant than others in designing assessments that can drive personalised learning, which are: personally relevant/interesting, engagement, harnessing internet resources and progressive feedback. The survey findings further suggest that while the new pedagogical approach achieved its intended aim, few students perceived it a cumbersome method as it required more efforts than traditional assignments.

Over a decade ago, Barr and Tagg (Change Mag 27(6): 12-25, 1995) declared that a shift had occurred in higher education from an instruction paradigm to a learning paradigm. A central element in this new paradigm is learner-centered assessment. While a growing body of literature suggests that this approach to assessment is a best practice in higher education pedagogy, it is still unclear whether faculty members have embraced it fully. Using data from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, this study examines the extent to which faculty members employed learner-centered assessments in postsecondary classrooms at two points in time, 1993 and 2004. Findings show similar to higher rates of use for some assessment techniques in 2004 compared to reports from 1993, as well as differences by faculty gender, age, discipline, and institution type. Implications for faculty members, student learning, and institutional policy are discussed.

This qualitative content analysis explored the ways in which faculty articulated their self-efficacy and controllability in assessing student learning through a review of one institution's program-level Assurance of Student Learning Assessment Activities and Results Reports. Content analysis techniques were used to examine 33 reports using perceived behavioral control as the conceptual framework of the study. Findings indicate: (1) experience matters in the self-efficacy of assessing student learning and (2) limited resources hinder controllability in assessing student learning. This study provides an \"insider\" perspective and guidance to higher education institutions seeking to bolster faculty perceived behavioral control in assessing student learning.

Assessment of student learning at community colleges has become a crucial factor in earning accreditation. However, faculty support and participation in student learning initiatives can be difficult for leaders to obtain and can be a rhetorical pain point. This practice brief presents literature regarding the overall landscape of assessment of student learning at community colleges, and solutions are provided regarding creating more receptive assessment cultures and faculty support. By taking a specific approach, leadership at community colleges can move away from compliance-based approaches and toward strategies that might make a greater long-term impact as well as faculty ownership of assessment. Furthermore, alternative solutions rooted in theories widely used in psychology, communication studies, marketing, and other disciplines are presented to help bridge the gap between assessment reporting needs and faculty support and active participation at community colleges.

(1) Background: based on the constantly increasing requirements for modern university graduates, we have developed an educational model that allows us to introduce content and language integrated learning into classes with a multilingual approach, which will allow students to use several foreign languages in the process of professional communication. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the efficiency of a newly introduced integrated learning model from the perspective of students, to identify the impact of such a model on students’ professional discipline learning outcomes and to determine if the learning model contributes to an improvement in foreign language proficiency. (2) Methods: for our research we used qualitative and quantitative data from students’ records of professional discipline and Spanish testing, as well as surveys and interviews on proposed learning model efficiency. Two groups of students took part in the experiment (N = 23 and N = 24). (3) Results: results on students’ Spanish proficiency showed that the proposed learning model had a positive influence. Students from the experimental group got higher results on Listening, Reading and Speaking. According to results on professional discipline, both groups achieved approximately equal scores. Moreover, students described such a proposed learning model as efficient and progressive, giving a lot of advantages. (4) Conclusions: the experiment conducted confirmed the efficiency of the proposed learning model. In conclusion, it can be recommended for the realization of a multilingual approach, as well as the learning of a professional discipline.

A consistent challenge for undergraduate instructors is how to properly and objectively assess students who cannot attend regularly scheduled exams. Though many alternatives exist, perhaps the most common strategy is to allow students to take a makeup exam at a different time. Many instructors avoid this option for fear of the students gaining an unfair advantage in their exam preparations. I assessed student performance on makeup exams in relation to their typical performance on other exams throughout the course, to determine if there was any signal of score improvement or decline on makeup exams. I analyzed the data in regard to when students took the makeup exam, what their excuse for missing the regularly scheduled exam was, and the type of course in which they took the makeup. Students' makeup-exam scores were not significantly different from their regular-exam scores, though students who took a makeup due to a school-sponsored activity scored worse than students taking a makeup due to family emergencies or illness. While this research cannot definitively state that makeup exams do not provide some sort of advantage to student scores, it suggests that if students are trying to “game the system,” at the very least, they aren't winning.

The outcomes of a trial implementation of an invigilated, online examination at a regional university in Australia and their implications for online education providers are discussed. Students in a first year online psychology course were offered the opportunity to complete their final examination task online with invigilation conducted via webcam. About a quarter of the students (125) initially elected to complete the online examination; however, after they had undertaken a practice online examination, only 29 (6.3 %) students elected to continue in the trial and proceed to take the final exam online. The study concluded that many students have substantial challenges with the idea of major stakes examinations being online. While lower associated costs and time requirements were motivations, many were challenged by the process due to technical difficulties and insufficient support. ICT infrastructure and reliable connectivity remain significant barriers to successful completion of online examinations under secure, proctored conditions.

In this study, researchers evaluate a homework exercise assigned before a standalone information literacy session. Students in a Master of Education program completed a worksheet using the ERIC database thesaurus. The researchers conducted pre- and posttests within a single library session to assess student learning, using a control group for comparison. The treatment group did not demonstrate better thesaurus skills than students who had regular library instruction alone, but results pointed the way to targeted improvements of pre-session learning materials. This approach could inform other information literacy homework applications such as flipping the classroom.

Librarians teach all types of users, from students to faculty and fellow librarians. They teach in different venues such as reference desks, including classrooms, online, or face-to-face. A quintessential teaching scenario for librarians is the one-shot library instruction session. This article discusses a range of strategies for developing pedagogically sound one-shot library instruction sessions and offers tips on how librarians can enhance their impact on the educational experiences of their students. These strategies are grouped into three categories: planning, delivery, and integration. Adapted from the source document.

Spanish universities are engaged in the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This process implies the use of the most effective instructional designs and methodologies in order to achieve deep learning, increase student involvement in their own development, and professional and personal-greater autonomy in the construction of knowledge. Peer-feedback is an effective strategy to reach such requirements. The study aimed to analyze the type of feedback students provide in peer-assessment in group work projects and to investigate students’ perception towards peer-assessment for the improvement of the learning process. The methods were mixed. A semantic analysis of the type of feedback was conducted. A total of 637 feedback units were analysed according to the guidelines developed in the project. In addition, questionnaires to students and teachers involved in the experience were administrated. The results demonstrate that the great majority of feedback offered by students was related to task development, followed by feedback regarding the motivational aspects of the process and finally the structural and formal aspects of the writing. At the end of the process, both teachers and students declared that the feedback received helped them to better develop the task and support them in future learning.