148 results
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2. A Comparative Study of Test Takers' Performance on Computer-Based Test and Paper-Based Test across Different CEFR Levels
- Author
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Yao, Don
- Abstract
Computer-based test (CBT) and paper-based test (PBT) are two test modes to the test takers that have been widely adopted in the field of language testing or assessment over the last few decades. Due to the rapid development of science and technology, it is a trend for universities and educational institutions striving rather hard to deliver the test on a computer. Therefore, research on the comparison between these two test modes has attracted much attention to investigate whether the PBT could be completely replaced. At the same time, task difficulty is always a key element to reflect test takers' performances. Numerous studies have laid a solid foundation and guidance about the comparative study of test takers' performance on CBT and PBT, but there still remains a scarcity from the perspective of task difficulties with different Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) task levels in particular. This study, therefore, compared the test takers' performance on both CBT and PBT across tasks with different CEFR levels. A total of 289 principal recommended high school test takers from Macau took the pilot Test of Academic English (TAE) at a local university. The results indicated that there was a difference between test takers' performance on different test modes across different CEFR levels, but only CEFR A2 level showed a statistically difference between CBT and PBT. And since science and technology are continuously developing, it is essential for the university to consider switching the test mode from PBT to CBT.
- Published
- 2020
3. Titles of Scientific Letters and Research Papers in Astrophysics: A Comparative Study of Some Linguistic Aspects and Their Relationship with Collaboration Issues
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Méndez, David I. and Alcaraz, M. Ángeles
- Abstract
In this study we compare the titles of scientific letters and those of research papers published in the field of astrophysics in order to identify the possible differences and/or similarities between both genres in terms of several linguistic and extra-linguistic variables (length, lexical density, number of prepositions, number of compound groups, number of authors and number of countries mentioned in the paper bylines). We also carry out a cross-genre and cross-journal analysis of the referred six variables. Our main findings may be summarized as follows: (1) When compared to research paper titles, scientific letter titles are usually shorter, they have a lower lexical density, they include a higher number of prepositions per number of words and a lower number of compound groups per number of words, although they have more up to 4-word compound groups, i.e. the simplest ones. As a consequence, scientific letter titles include less information, which is also less condensed, than research paper titles. (2) The predominance of compound adjectives over compound nouns in the titles of both genres highlights the scientificity of astrophysical discourse. (3) In general terms, our data show a positive correlation between title length and the number of countries mentioned in the bylines for both genres. The positive correlation between title length and number of authors is only met in the case of research papers. In light of these findings, it may be concluded that scientific letters are a clear example of a timeliness and more "immediate" science, whereas research papers are connected to a more timeless and "elaborate" science. It may also be concluded that two different collaboration scenarios are intertwining on the basis of three separate geographic and linguistic publication contexts (Mainland Europe, The United Kingdom and The United States of North America).
- Published
- 2017
4. A Third Wave of International Student Mobility: Global Competitiveness and American Higher Education. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.8.18
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University of California, Berkeley. Center for Studies in Higher Education and Choudaha, Rahul
- Abstract
International students are critical to the competitiveness of American higher education in terms of financial, intercultural, and educational contributions. However, recent data indicates that the U.S institutions enrolled 31,520 fewer international students in Fall 2017 as compared to Fall 2016. At average tuition and fees of US$ 25,000, higher education institutions are likely to lose potential revenue of US$ 788 million for the first year of studies alone. This paper examines the shifting landscape of international enrollment from the lens of three overlapping Waves spread over seven years and takes a deeper dive into implications for American universities. Wave I was shaped by the terrorist attacks in September 2001 and resulted in slower overall growth in international student enrollment of 11% between 1999 and 2006. Wave II has its origins in the global financial crisis which prompted universities to search for self-funded students and experienced overall robust growth of 44 percent in international student enrollment between 2006 and 2013. Finally, Wave III is shaped by the new political order and intensified competition from English-taught programs in Europe and Asia which will slow down the pace of projected growth in international enrollment to 18 percent between 2013 and 2020. In this current Wave of intensified global competition, overall international student enrollment is likely to flatten or decline for most universities. While the reputation and quality of American higher education is admired and emulated around the world, resting on its past laurels will not be sufficient for attracting international students in the Third Wave. This means that universities must get proactive and strategic in reaching, engaging and supporting international students throughout their educational lifecycle. Demand for studying abroad among international students remains robust, however, increasing competition and expectations for value for money will requires proactive and concerted efforts to maintain the global competitiveness of American higher education.
- Published
- 2018
5. Assessing Adults' Skills on a Global Scale: A Joint Analysis of Results from PIAAC and STEP. OECD Education Working Papers. No. 230
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Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (France), Keslair, François, and Paccagnella, Marco
- Abstract
This paper illustrates similarities and differences between two international surveys that assess adults' skills: the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Skills Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) survey. In particular, the paper highlights the issues that can arise for researchers interested to jointly analyse the data from the two surveys and to compare their results. The paper finds that, in spite of the many similarities, important differences exist between PIAAC and STEP, both in the way the data are collected, and in the way the proficiency of respondents is estimated. These issues can indeed affect the cross-country comparability of results from the two surveys. There is instead little evidence that the literacy assessment used in the two surveys is not adequate to form a basis for a valid assessment of adults' proficiency on a global scale.
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- 2020
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6. Why Do Countries Participate in International Large-Scale Assessments? The Case of PISA. Policy Research Working Paper 7447
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World Bank and Lockheed, Marlaine E.
- Abstract
The number of countries that regularly participate in international large-scale assessments has increased sharply over the past 15 years, with the share of countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment growing from one-fifth of countries in 2000 to over one-third of countries in 2015. What accounts for this increase? This paper explores the evidence for three broad explanations: globalization of assessments, increasing technical capacity for conducting assessments, and increased demand for the microeconomic and macroeconomic data from these assessments. Data were compiled from more than 200 countries for this analysis, for six time periods between 2000 and 2015, yielding more than 1,200 observations. The data cover each country's participation in each of six cycles of PISA as it relates to the country's level of economic development, region, prior experience with assessment, and OECD membership. The results indicate that the odds of participation in PISA are markedly higher for OECD member countries, countries in the Europe and Central Asia region, high- and upper-middle-income countries, and countries with previous national and international assessment experience; the paper also finds that regional assessment experience is unrelated to PISA participation.
- Published
- 2015
7. An Unplugged Didactical Situation on Cryptography between Informatics and Mathematics
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Evmorfia-Iro Bartzia, Michael Lodi, Marco Sbaraglia, Simon Modeste, Viviane Durand-Guerrier, and Simone Martini
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In this paper, we present an activity to introduce the idea of public-key cryptography and to make pre-service STEM teachers explore fundamental informatics and mathematical concepts and methods. We follow the Theory of Didactical Situations within the Didactical Engineering methodology (both widely used in mathematics education research) to design and analyse a didactical situation about asymmetric cryptography using graphs. Following the phases of Didactical Engineering, after the preliminary analysis of the content, the constraints and conditions of the teaching context, we conceived and analysed the situation a priori, with a particular focus on the milieu (the set of elements students can interact with) and on the choices for the didactical variables. We discuss their impact on the problem-solving strategies the participants need to elaborate to decrypt an encrypted message. We implemented our situation and collected qualitative data. We then analysed a posteriori the different strategies that participants used. The comparison of the a posteriori analysis with the a priori analysis showed the learning potential of the activity. To elaborate on different problem-solving strategies, the participants need to explore and understand several concepts and methods from mathematics, informatics, and the frontier of the two disciplines, also moving between different semiotic registers.
- Published
- 2024
8. The Responses and Attitudes of the University of Nottingham Students toward Learning Styles
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Talib, Pawan Asghar
- Abstract
This research was carried out to add to the current literature on learning styles by explaining various understandings of the topic and the previous research on it. Studies and information on learning styles and strategies are abundant, and the need for more research stems from the recent move towards student-centered classes. This paper is an attempt to do more specific research on the subject and answer the question of what the correlations are between learning styles and different factors such as gender and learner's cultural background. This study was conducted at the University of Nottingham. Seventy students have participated in the survey, 34 males and 36 females. The participants' nationalities were mixed, which was essential for the study; Kurdish (20%), British (40%), European States (10%) and Asian (17.1%). The questionnaire results were analysed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software. Frequency tests, Correlation analysis, T-Tests, and One-way ANOVA test of the available data were studied. The findings show that Kurdish learners are auditory learners compared to other nationalities. Also, the study showed that language learners are more visually inclined learners than learners from the other majors. Finally, future researchers may expand on the findings of this paper by getting a larger sample.
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- 2022
9. Data-Driven Goal Setting: Searching Optimal Badges in the Decision Forest
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Langenhagen, Julian
- Abstract
Although badges are among the most-used game elements in gamified education, studies about their optimal features to motivate learning are scarce. How should a badge be designed to represent an incentive for a specific goal like optimal exam preparation? This study examines usage data of a higher education learning app to determine whether the used badges have the intended motivational effect. The preliminary results suggest that the badges that were initially implemented in the app have the intended effect in most cases, but the stages of the multi-level badges could be optimized. The methodological framework used in this study can be transferred to usage data of other similar learning tools. With the help of easy-to-interpret outputs of decision trees, researchers and practitioners alike can work towards an optimal badge design. [For the full proceedings, see ED623995.]
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- 2022
10. Teachers' Digital Competences before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic for the Improvement of Security and Defence Higher Education
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Marina Marchisio, Fabio Roman, Matteo Sacchet, Enrico Spinello, Linko Nikolov, Malgorzata Grzelak, Magdalena Rykala, and Cristian-Emil Moldoveanu
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COVID-19 hastened a trend that was already ongoing before the pandemic outbreak: the progressively increasing use of distance and online teaching and learning, alongside with lectures and classes. The potentialities of online teaching allowed a didactic continuity that would have been impossible otherwise, and this approach is likely to be maintained even after COVID-19 related restrictions end. From these remarks, it immediately follows that it is of great importance that teachers, students and other personnel, such as technicians and program managers, possess digital skills devoted to education. In the context of security and defence, areas with a strong international vocation, these skills are even more valuable. This research investigates the impact of COVID-19 on education in these contexts: the changes caused by the pandemic, the teachers' perception about some aspects of their job, such as the way they relate with students, and their ability to perform the same commitments in a different scenario. The research has been conducted based on the analysis of an online anonymous questionnaire with more than 500 responses. Results suggested the importance of the development of a training devoted to improving teachers' digital skills, since they live frontline in education, and they have been directly impacted by disruptive changes. This study is part of the European project Digital Competences for Improving Security and Defence Education - DIGICODE. Pursuing to the Digital Education Action Plan, the project aims at improving education quality in security and defence, by means of digital tools in didactics, and the development of teachers' professional competences. [For the full proceedings, see ED639633.]
- Published
- 2022
11. Family Formation and Ethnicity: A Report Using Australian Family Formation Project Data. Institute of Family Studies Working Paper No. 9.
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Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne (Australia). and Khoo, Siew-Ean
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Exploratory in nature because of its small foreign-born sample, this working paper represents a first step in efforts by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (IFS) to examine the role of the family among the major immigrant groups in Australia. Comparisons are made between foreign-born and Australian-born families based on data collected in the 1981-1982 IFS survey concerning household structure, family background, marriage and fertility patterns, attitudes and decisions. Findings are complex. In some areas of family formation a number of foreign-born groups differed from the Australian-born; in other areas one foreign-born group contrasted not only with the Australian-born but also with the other foreign-born groups; in yet other areas there were strong similarities among all groups. After a discussion of methodology in chapter 1, chapters 2 and 3 describe the Australian Family Formation Project (AFF) survey data, the scope of the analysis, the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, and their household composition and family history. Chapters 4 to 9 present findings on family formation patterns, attitudes, and intentions. The report concludes with an assessment of the main findings of the analysis, the effectiveness of the AFF Project survey questionnaire, and recommendations for the structuring of future surveys. (RH)
- Published
- 1985
12. A Spectre Haunting: New Dimensions of Youth Protest in Western Europe. Occasional Paper 8208.
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Missouri Univ., St. Louis. Center for International Studies. and Mushaben, Joyce Marie
- Abstract
European protest movements of the eighties are analyzed and compared to the dissident movements of the sixties and seventies. The focus is on the peace, anti-nuclear, and ecology movements, the drive for autonomous youth centers in Switzerland, racial disturbances in Britain, and unrest among the urban squatters in the German Federal Republic. Six dimensions of each of these social rebellions are analyzed: the substantive dimensions of depoliticization, postmaterialism, and nationalism and the strategic dimensions of radicalization, decentralization, and institutionalization of protest. Data were collected through participant observation at demonstrations, walking tours through affected neighborhoods, informal interviews with people inside and outside the scene, media analyses, and literature searches. Findings show that protests of the eighties were more violent than those of earlier decades. Willingness to engage in the process of system transformation is declining among protestors aged 15-24 and growing among those old enough to have witnessed or participated in the movements of the sixties. Both the young and the old, however, pose a significant challenge to the established political parties in West European systems. (RM)
- Published
- 1982
13. Challenging, Supporting, and Empowering Students in IWLP Beginners' Classes: A Teaching and Learning Response to Internationalisation
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Nader, Alison
- Abstract
Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP) modules are a popular option for international students at the University of Reading. Student feedback and module results show that some of these students face particular challenges in relation to their peers. In this paper, we describe how a team teaching Beginners French -- Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level A1 -- addressed this issue. More specifically, we focus on the development of a new module with integrated support and differentiated assessment as well as student feedback and suggestions for curriculum enhancement. We demonstrate how minor module and assessment modifications enabled the team to support students who might have dropped out or become discouraged and at the same time raise the level of challenge for all students whatever their background. [For the complete volume, "Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at University: A Look at New Trends," see ED594807.]
- Published
- 2019
14. CEFR: A Global Framework for Global Englishes?
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Savski, Kristof and Prabjandee, Denchai
- Abstract
Since it was first published by the Council of Europe in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become one of the most widely referenced documents in language education, particularly in English language teaching and assessment (Savski, in press). The recently released CEFR Companion Volume (2020), with its new descriptions of plurilingual and pluricultural competence and mediation, has done much to extend the potential of the framework, as it provides a more concrete foundation for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies. In this way, CEFR has acquired a greater level of potential relevance to innovative pedagogies in English language education, such as Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT), which seeks to equip learners with communicative skills and dispositions needed for success in a world where the target interlocutors are linguistically and culturally diverse (Rose & Galloway, 2019). In this paper, we examine the prospects for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies like GELT, highlighting points of convergence between descriptions of competence in CEFR and current scholarship in Global Englishes, as well as points of divergence between the two. We underline the need to embed CEFR in decentralizing educational reforms, in which the framework is used to facilitate teacher agency, rather than to impose objectives and methods upon them.
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- 2022
15. Comparing the Development of Transversal Skills between Virtual and Physical Exchanges
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Van der Velden, Bart, Millner, Sophie, and Van der Heijden, Casper
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This paper aims to compare the impact on the development of transversal skills, such as self-esteem, of virtual and physical exchanges. This is done by comparing the Europe on the Edge programme to the results of the Erasmus Impact Study. In doing so it fills the need that has been expressed in the telecollaboration field to study the impact of online education programmes "outside of students' and educators' beliefs" (Helm, 2015, p. 212). We shall argue that it is indeed possible to compare physical and virtual exchanges by measuring the impact on so-called transversal skills. [For the complete volume, see ED571330.]
- Published
- 2016
16. Developing Global-Ready Graduates: The CANEU-COOP Experience
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McRae, Norah, Ramji, Karima, Lu, Linghong, and Lesperance, Mary
- Abstract
Post-secondary institutions spend considerable resources on programs, such as study abroad and international work-integrated learning, which involve students' participation in international experiences. One significant impetus for these programs is the hope that through exposing students to international settings these students will be better prepared to be successful in global workplaces upon graduation, in essence be more "global-ready". However, simply having an international experience does not necessarily lead to the development of capabilities that result in global workplace success. In addition to the knowledge, skills and abilities required for any workplace, being successful in these global workplaces also requires intercultural effectiveness. This paper presents the findings of a study that examined the development of cultural intelligence (CQ), the ability to be effective in intercultural encounters, in students participating in a Canadian-European exchange program (CANEU-COOP) where the European students had a study term in Canada and the Canadian students had a co-op work term in Europe. The study found that while both groups of students developed CQ, there were differences between the groups. These findings reaffirm the importance of intentionally structuring international experiences to include curriculum about and assessment of intercultural effectiveness. [Paper presented at the World Association for Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, International Research Symposium on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, (2nd, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2016).]
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- 2016
17. Is the Global Reporting Initiative Suitable to Account for University Social Responsibility? Evidence from European Institutions
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Amiano Bonatxea, Iratxe, Gutiérrez-Goiria, Jorge, Vazquez-De Francisco, Maria Jose, and Sianes, Antonio
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Purpose: Recognising the importance of universities in the achievement of social and global objectives, this paper aims to study the relevance of the global reporting initiative (GRI) methodology for reporting University Social Responsibility (USR) activities, taking into account the specificity of higher education institutions (HEI). Design/methodology/approach: After a review of the literature and background, the European HEI reports prepared according to the latest version of GRI standards are selected and a comparative study is carried out. The analysis focusses on comparing to what extent the standards are responding to the information needs generated in the field of higher education. Findings: General issues, common to all types of organisations, are adequately reported by HEIs, but difficulties are encountered in integrating a vision that incorporates the role of their missions in standards related to economic, social and environmental aspects. Research limitations/implications: There are few GRI reports with this format and further research is encouraged as the number of reports increase. So far, major limitations have been found by HEIs to account for their societal missions when using the GRI. Practical implications: The debates on USR are promoting an increase in the number of reports on sustainability. This paper provides some examples of the use of disclosures that can be adapted in this context, to move towards the systematisation of these practices. Originality/value: This is, to the authors' knowledge, the first comparative study on the application of GRI to sustainability reports at a European level, focussing on the adequacy between disclosures and missions.
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- 2022
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18. The Role of Expert Judgement in Language Test Validation
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Coniam, David, Lee, Tony, Milanovic, Michael, Pike, Nigel, and Zhao, Wen
- Abstract
The calibration of test materials generally involves the interaction between empirical analysis and expert judgement. This paper explores the extent to which scale familiarity might affect expert judgement as a component of test validation in the calibration process. It forms part of a larger study that investigates the alignment of the LanguageCert suite of tests, Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the China Standards of English (CSE) and China's College English Test (CET). In the larger study, Year 1 students at a prestigious university in China were administered two tests--one with items based on China's College English Test (CET), and the other a CEFR-aligned test developed by LanguageCert--the LanguageCert Test of English (LTE). Comparable sections of the CET and the LTE involved sets of discrete items targeting lexico-grammatical competence. In order to ascertain whether expert judges were equally comfortable placing test items on either scale (CET or CEFR), a group of professors from the university in China who set the CET-based test, were asked to expert judge the CET items against the nine CSE levels with which they were very familiar. They were then asked to judge the LTE items against the six CEFR levels, with which they were less familiar. Both sets of expert ratings and the test taker responses on both tests were then calibrated within a single frame of reference and located on the LanguageCert scale. In the analysis of the expert ratings, the CSE-familiar raters exhibited higher levels of agreement with the empirically-derived score levels for the CET items than they did with the equivalent LTE items. This supports the proposition that expert judgement may be used in the calibration process where the experts in question have a strong knowledge of both the test material and the standards against which the test material is to be judged.
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- 2022
19. Still Deluded by Artifices? The Role of The Common European Framework of Reference in Facilitating Test Score Interpretation
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Papageorgiou, Spiros
- Abstract
The introduction of the CEFR was welcomed by researchers and practitioners in language education, given its potential for increasing transparency of test results and the meaningfulness of test scores. In this paper, I reflect on Glenn Fulcher's (2004, 2016) critical take on the use of the CEFR in the context of mapping (linking or aligning) test scores to the CEFR proficiency levels and the implications for score interpretation and use. I argue that although mapping test scores to the CEFR levels can enhance score interpretation, the field of language assessment needs to address misinterpretations of score mapping as sufficient evidence of quality of test design or comparability of scores of different tests.
- Published
- 2022
20. MOOCs--Theoretical and Practical Aspects: Comparison of Selected Research Results: Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Australia
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Smyrnova-Trybulska, Eugenia, Ogrodzka-Mazur, Ewa, Szafranska-Gajdzica, Anna, Morze, Nataliia, Makhachashvili, Rusudan, Noskova, Tatiana, Pavlova, Tatiana, Yakovleva, Olga, Issa, Tomayess, and Issa, Theodora
- Abstract
Many higher education students are interested in MOOCs. At the same time, numerous questions are still without answers: formal aspects of participation in MOOCs, the type of motivation on the part of students for participation in MOOCs, quality of MOOCs, students' opinions about type, structure, contents, communication in MOOCs and other aspects. The authors of this article have tried conducting analyses of some aspects of MOOCs in Europe and in Australia as well as presenting and analysing the research results of a survey conducted among students of several countries within the framework of the European Union project IRNet (www.irnet.us.edu.pl). [For full proceedings, see ED571459.]
- Published
- 2016
21. Factors Influencing Student Mobility: A Comparative European Study
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Perez-Encinas, Adriana, Rodriguez-Pomeda, Jesus, and de Wit, Hans
- Abstract
A range of different factors drive student decision-making with respect to studying abroad, they are called push and pull factors. They influence in the (non)-mobility experience of students. This paper focuses on the international student experience, predominantly focusing on: credit-degree mobility and bachelor -- master students. The aim of this paper is to identify enablers and obstacles within the process of going abroad according to service provision along the international student lifecycle. By applying an innovative method -- Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) -- to employ new techniques when looking for hidden structures in large numbers of texts (73,715 reviews from international students), we conclude that they exist significant differences between degree and credit mobility students, and not when comparing bachelor and master students. As a result, both groups of students place importance on three main aspects during their international experience: offerings of the city, social life and academics.
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- 2021
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22. An Anatomy of Authority: The Bologna and ASEM Education Secretariats as Policy Actors and Region Builders
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Dang, Que Anh
- Abstract
This paper examines the sources of authority behind the Bologna and ASEM secretariats' technocratic appearance and administrative routines, and argues that they are transnational policy actors in their own right. By drawing on principal-agent theory and the concept of "authority," it offers an alternative framework for understanding the various forms of authority. The case studies generate three important insights. First, it shows how the secretariats derive their authority from the "tasks delegated by states," the "moral values" and social purpose they uphold, and the "expertise" they possess. Second, it compares how the different governance structures of the Bologna and ASEM education processes impact on the secretariats' authority. Third, it highlights how the secretariats exercise their respective authorities and exert their discernible influence at different stages of higher education policy-making and region-building processes. [The paper was presented at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) conference in Prague.]
- Published
- 2018
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23. Digital Device Use and Scientific Literacy: An Examination Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 Data
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Dong, Fang and Kula, Maria Cornachione
- Abstract
This paper uses data from the OECD's 2015 PISA and an endogenous treatment effects model to investigate the impact of different intensities of digital device use for academic purposes on science learning outcomes. When we do not differentiate the location of device use, we find that greater use can help students improve their science scores in most of the countries. When we consider school and outside-of-school use separately, we find the above positive results are driven by outside-of-school digital device use and that there are more negative results of increased device use at school.
- Published
- 2023
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24. Commission for International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE). Proceedings of the 2016 International Pre-Conference (65th, Albuquerque, New Mexico, November 6-8, 2016)
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American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), Commission for International Adult Education (CIAE), Boucouvalas, Marcie, and Avoseh, Mejai
- Abstract
The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the Commission: (1) To develop linkages with adult education associations in other countries; (2) To encourage exchanges between AAACE and associations from other countries; (3) To invite conference participation and presentations by interested adult educators around the world; (4) To discuss how adult educators from AAACE and other nations may cooperate on projects of mutual interest and benefit to those we serve. The Commission holds its annual meeting in conjunction with the AAACE conference. The following papers were presented at the 65th conference: (1) Self-Directed Learning Readiness among Undergraduate Students at Saudi Electronic University in Saudi Arabia (Mousa S. Alfaifi); (2) Career Transitions and Professional Development of Bulgarian Immigrants in the United States (Iva Angelova); (3) Preserving the Social Cohesiveness and Lifelong Learning Mission of Scotland's Public Libraries: Evaluating the Scottish National Library Strategy through the Capabilities Approach (Kiran Badwal); (4) Factors Associated with International Graduate Students' Academic Performance: A Comparative Analysis between the First Semester and the Subsequent Semester in the U.S. (Muhittin Cavusoglu, Williemae White, Waynne B. James, and Cihan Cobanoglu); (5) A Framework for International Student Participation in Postsecondary U.S. English Language Programs (Valeriana Colón); (6) How a Visual Language of Abstract Shapes Facilitates Cultural and International Border Crossings (Arthur Thomas Conroy, III); (7) Adult Education and Training Programs for Older Adults in the U.S.: Country Comparisons Using PIAAC Data (Phyllis A. Cummins and Suzanne R. Kunkel); (8) The Power of Relationship Building in International Short-Term Field Study Experiences at the Graduate Level (Brittany Davis and Joellen E. Coryell); (9) A History of Oral and Written Storytelling in Nigeria (Simeon Edosomwan and Claudette M. Peterson); (10) Reflections after Working at the Center for Refugees of Conetta, Italy: Practice and Competencies Needed (Mario Giampaolo and Antonella Pascali); (11) Sustainability Adult Education: Learning to Re-Create the World (Wendy Griswold); (12) New Perspectives from a Quasi-English Translation of Dusan Savicevic's 2000 Work on Roots in the Development of Andragogy: The 2016 Update of History and Philosophy of Andragogy (John A. Henschke); (13) Against All Odds: Socio-Cultural Influence on Nontraditional International Learners Pursuing Higher Education in the United States (Yvonne Hunter-Johnson); (14) Exploring the Transformational Learning Experiences of Bahamian Students Studying in the United States (Yvonne Hunter-Johnson and Norissa Newton); (15) Designing Professional Learning Communities through Understanding the Beliefs of Learning (Jie Ke, Rui Kang, and Di Liu); (16) Olympic Sports Coaching Education: An International Coach's Perspective (Cameron Kiosoglous); (17) Global Leadership Competencies in Selected Adult Education Graduate Programs in the United States and Western Europe (Arthur Ray McCrory and Waynne B. James); (18) Adult Development: A Global Imperative (Linda E. Morris); (19) Henry Carmichael [1796 to 1862]: Australia's Pioneer Adult Educator (Roger K. Morris); (20) Do College Instructors Have Implicit Bias toward Latino-Accented English Speakers? (Eunkyung Na); (21) Experimenting with Theory of Change for Interculturality and Mutual Learning in Adult Education (Annalisa L. Raymer); (22) The Key-Role of Teachers within the Italian School-Work Alternation Programs (Concetta Tino and Monica Fedeli); (23) An Analysis of Europe within Adult Education Literature (Susan M. Yelich Biniecki); and (24) Participatory Community Education to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Botswana (Jill Zarestky and Leslie E. Ruyle). (Individual papers contain references.)
- Published
- 2016
25. The Ideal of a Catholic Education in a Secularized Society
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Cuypers, Stefaan E.
- Abstract
This paper argues that the progressive, revisionist reaction within Catholic education and schooling, as well as within Catholicism at large, to the challenge of modernity is a mistake. In view of modernity's malaises, it advocates instead the affirmation or reaffirmation of the ideal of traditional Catholicism as the only authentic response for Catholics to modern progress. In order to justify the distinctiveness of a traditional Catholic identity and educational project, the paper offers an outline of a distinctively Thomistic educational philosophy. Its defense of the (re)affirmation of the ideal of traditional Catholic education and schooling in secularized society is neither ultra-conservative nor romantic.
- Published
- 2004
26. Comparison of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Practices Used Globally
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Carter, Shani D.
- Abstract
Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.
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- 2019
27. Does Capacity-Building Professional Development Engender Practitioners' Use of Capacity-Building Family-Centered Practices?
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Dunst, Carl J., Espe-Sherwindt, Marilyn, and Hamby, Deborah W.
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The analyses described in this paper permitted an evaluation of whether capacity-building professional development practices were related to early childhood intervention practitioners' reported use of capacity-building family-centered practices. This was ascertained by structural equation modeling for two different types of family-centered practices (participatory and relational) where the two models were compared to determine the better fitting model and the sizes of effects for the relationships among the variables in the models. Results provided converging evidence that capacity-building professional development engenders practitioners' use of capacity-building family-centered practices. Implications for practice are described.
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- 2019
28. The 2017 Council of Europe Report on the State of Citizenship and Human Rights Education: 'Connecting the Dots' between Responses from Governments and Civil Society Organisations
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Tracchi, Matteo
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Purpose: The article gives a brief introduction to the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) and illustrates the review process of its implementation. Focusing on the second review cycle of 2016, it stresses that the Council of Europe fell short of a thorough analysis of the discrepancy in perceptions between governments and NGOs with respect to the effective implementation of EDC/HRE. Design/methodology/approach: Looking at the 2017 Report resulting from the second review cycle, the paper analyses analogies and discrepancies between responses received from governments and civil society organisations to the surveys organised by the Council of Europe. Findings: Through the selection of answers analysed, it is shown that there are areas in which responses from governments and civil society organisations are similar and aligned, for example on the issues for EDC/HRE to address and on the little priority given to make financial support available. However, there are other areas in which considerable discrepancy can be highlighted. The article draws a reflection on the way in which the Report has been put together and argues that, in order to build a more accurate analysis, the Council of Europe should have connected the responses received from governments and civil society organisations and make them dialogue, rather than providing two unrelated summaries on the state of citizenship and human rights education without merging analogies and questioning discrepancies between responses received from different stakeholders.
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- 2019
29. Developing Competences of Public Management and Administration Specialists: Implementation of Foreign Experience in Ukraine
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Melnychenko, Anatolii and Akimova, Olena
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The paper focuses on the comparative analysis of professional competences development in public management and administration university programmes and the possibilities of implementation of international experience in Ukraine. Using the methods of comparative and system-functional analysis, synthesis and generalisation, the authors concentrate on the features of curriculums in public administration field taking into account the current realities of social development. The most common methods of training in the field of public administration and their practical focus are analysed. Particular attention is paid to the methods of problem-based learning in public administration, including case studies, case scenarios, and simulation games as part of the education gamification. The authors carried out an essential comparison of competences adopted in the European public administration training and those defined in the Ukrainian Standard of Higher Education in this area and revealed that the Ukrainian Standard lacks a pool of competencies related to the development and analysis of public policy.
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- 2019
30. Mathematics Education as a Multicultural Field of Research and Practice: Outcomes and Challenges
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Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia and Artigue, Michèle
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Mathematics education seen both as a field of research and as a field of practice is a multicultural field. For a while, this essential characteristic of the field has been underestimated but this is no longer the case. Both theoretical frameworks and empirical research help us today better approach this phenomenon, understand its impact on the field, reflect on research outcomes and the value of knowledge progressively built as well as on the challenges that we globally face as a community. In this lecture I would like to share with the audience my vision of this evolution and of the potential it offers for the field of mathematics education, relying on my personal experience as a researcher raised in a specific culture but also involved in many international collaborations, and on my engagement in ICMI, the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction, an institution which, for more than one century, has tried to contribute to the development of mathematics education through international exchanges and collaboration.
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- 2012
31. The Curricular Reform of Art Education in Primary School in Slovenia in Terms of Certain Components of the European Competence of Cultural Awareness and Expression
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Bracun Sova, Rajka and Kemperl, Metoda
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One of the important positions of the last curricular reform in Slovenia, which included systemic issues of education (White Paper on Education, 2011) and curricula for compulsory subjects in primary school, is the fact that Slovenia has been integrated into Europe, and thus education should also include the development of core European competences. One such competence is cultural awareness and expression, which until now has been an issue more in the context of cultural policies than school policies in Slovenia. The purpose of the present article is to critically analyse the curricular reform of art education (i.e., visual art education), through which, in terms of certain components of the competence of cultural awareness and expression, it is foreseen that the student will gain a knowledge of art, develop an ability to experience works of art and develop a creative attitude towards art and heritage. Because the starting point and goal of curricular change is the curriculum, our analysis is derived from curriculum theories, and not from the art theories and pedagogical theories that have predominantly framed previous attempts at curriculum analysis. Critical consideration of the curricular reform of art education in primary school in terms of certain components of the competence of cultural awareness and expression was undertaken by comparing curricula in the field of aesthetic education. We compared art education with music education and literature within the Slovenian language curriculum. Qualitative analysis showed that, despite the reform, the curriculum for arts education does not realise selected components of the competence of cultural awareness and expression, largely due to the curriculum's conceptual structure. Art education is centred principally on art-making activities, with an obvious neglect of appreciation. The integration of arts subjects at school, as proposed by the White Paper, is therefore not possible, due to the existing model of art education. From a practical point of view, the analysis also raised the question of the knowledge and competences of teachers.
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- 2012
32. Regional Educational Performance Patterns in Europe
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Radó, Péter
- Abstract
The paper aims to contribute to the assessment of the contextual relevance of various educational policies through an analysis of three aspects of the performance profiles of European countries: participation, the quality of learning outcomes and the equity of learning outcomes. Comparative analysis of international student achievement assessment surveys and statistical data reveals three European performance patterns: the compensative education systems of North and Northwest Europe, the selective education systems of Central Europe and the attritional education systems of Southeast Europe. On the basis of the identified performance patterns, the paper provides a brief outline of major trends within the Central and Southeast European regions, shares reflections on the alignment of policies that fit the distinct context of the two regions and offers a conceptual framework for further comparative research.
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- 2011
33. Schooling for Transnational Solidarity? A Comparison of Differently Europeanising School Curricula in Germany
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Szakács-Behling, Simona
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To what extent are differently 'Europeanising' school forms programmatically geared towards building transnational solidarities, as their ethoses might suggest? This study draws on an analysis of discursive constructions of solidarity in the curricula for social studies and humanities at secondary level of two forms of schooling promoting a European ethos: the supranationally organised "Schola Europaea" and state-organised schools with a European profile in Germany (Europaschulen). I argue that solidarity is anchored in universalising ideals of humanitarianism, intercultural harmony, and political participation centred around the individual and her skills rather than a sense of a 'thick' pan-European community. The 'transnational' scale of solidarity manifests as interpersonal relationships beyond national affiliations, based on affective, religious, and ethical commitments to vulnerable others or on rational political action to ensure human and civil rights. Meanings and scales of solidarity are decoupled from the Europeanising ethos of the schools and from the different organisational logics in which they are embedded; instead, they reflect the disciplinary logics of the school subjects and curricular contexts where they are most often mobilised: religion, ethics, and politics. The paper ends with a discussion of these findings within broader debates on transnational solidarities and Europeanisation in education.
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- 2022
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34. Mobile-Based Micro-Learning and Assessment: Impact on Learning Performance and Motivation of High School Students
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Nikou, S. A. and Economides, A. A.
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Mobile-based micro-learning has gained a lot of attention lately, especially for work-based and corporate training. It combines features of mobile learning and micro-learning to deliver small learning units and short-term learning activities. The current study uses the lens of the Self-Determination Theory of motivation and proposes a series of Mobile-Based micro-Learning and Assessment (MBmLA) homework activities to improve high school students' motivation and learning performance in science. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. One hundred and eight students of a senior-level high school in Europe were randomly assigned into either a control condition (conventional paper-based homework approach) or an experimental (MBmLA approach) condition. The study carried out for a period of 5 weeks. From the experimental results, it was found that, in comparison to the conventional paper-based approach, the proposed MBmLA approach enhanced students' basic psychological needs of self-perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness and improved students' exam performance in terms of factual knowledge. Moreover, students self-reported greater learning satisfaction with the mobile-based microassessment and micro-learning homework tasks. Implications on educational practices as well as future research are discussed.
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- 2018
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35. Modern 'Challenges' in the System of Personnel Training: Standardization and Innovations
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Zaitseva, Natalia, Dzhandzhugazova, Elena, Bondarchuk, Natalya, and Zhukova, Marina
- Abstract
Purpose: The study of the problems hindering improvement of the system of training through standardization of qualification requirements is relevant because, in a globalized system of teaching staff and high rates of migration, not only national but also international requirements for employees should be considered. This increases the competitiveness of university and college graduates in different countries. The purpose of this paper is to develop recommendations for the creation of a system of lifelong learning through the application of professional standards. Design/methodology/approach: The leading method in the study of this problem is the comparative analysis of the experiences of different countries to improve the training system based on the use of qualification frameworks. Findings: The paper offers science-based measures of integration and the international experience of lifelong learning, through the application of standards of World Skills International, as well as the requirements of professional standards. Originality/value: The authors formulate the conceptual directions for the application of professional standards in not only the continuous training and qualification of personnel, which allows identifying "gaps" in the competences, but also building individual educational trajectory. Article submissions are of practical value to the organization, personnel training as well as scientists engaged in the study of international best practice using standardization requirements for the qualification of personnel in education.
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- 2017
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36. An Investigation of Read Speech of Arabic Students Learning Turkish as a Second Language in Terms of Stress and Pause
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Derman, Serdar, Bardakçi, Mehmet, and Öztürk, Mustafa Serkan
- Abstract
Suprasegmental features are essential in conveying meaning; however, they are one of the neglected topics in teaching Turkish as a foreign/second language. This paper aims to examine read speech by Arabic students learning Turkish as a second language and describe their read speech in terms of stress and pause. Within this framework, 34 Syrian students enrolled in Gaziantep University Turkish Teaching Application and Research Center (TÖMER) at B2 level were asked to read a text chosen from one of the books prepared in accordance with the European language portfolio B2 level. Voice recordings were analyzed using Praat and Cool Edit software programs. Students' stress and pause durations were compared and contrasted according to the criteria set by experts. The results showed that students' stress and pause patterns showed statistically significant deviations from those criteria.
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- 2017
37. The Analysis of A1 Level Speaking Exam in Terms of Syntax: The Effect of General Competence on Syntax in A1 Level Speaking
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Misir, Hülya
- Abstract
This study aims at discovering the relevance of general competence of Turkish and Arab learners who have an A1 level of English proficiency in preparatory school of University of Turkish Aeronautical Association (UTAA) to their speaking skill in terms of syntax by analyzing the recordings of speaking exams in the first semester. One can ask why learners could ever perform a great variety in syntactic structure in spoken performance while the university ensures that all learners get a standardized language education based on the same syllabus and course books to succeed their future academic studies. The answer may seem easy; however, it is difficult to get out thoroughly. Therefore, the paper will try to explain this connection between better performances in terms of syntactic structures in spoken performance comparing to Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) A1 level expectations and these learners' attitudes, motivation, background of education, and world knowledge. During the process, the information falling within the scope of general competence (declarative knowledge and existential competence) is held by one-to-one interviews with 22 randomly chosen learners. The results mainly showed that the learners who invested in developing general competence have their own independent "wordrobe" and a higher level and variety of syntactic structures in their speaking whereas the rest and also the majority of the learners who are not as competent regarding declarative knowledge and existential competence (attitude and motivation) show a standard level of syntax (commonly used structures as defined in ALTE) in speaking.
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- 2017
38. Evaluation of Cross-Cultural Training Programs for International Students from East Europe
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Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL), Kovacova, Michaela, and Eckert, Stefan
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This paper presents a comparative evaluation of didactic and experiential training in Germany carried out on a sample of international university students from Eastern Europe. The long-term evaluation was conducted by using a quasi-experimental design with a control group according to Kirkpatrick's model including three steps: reaction, learning and behavior. Empirical results on the reaction level indicate that the students prefer the learner centered didactic training. Learning effects, measured by a previously unpresented case study showed that the experiential group differed significantly from the control group in the posttest on culture specific knowledge and empathy. They also performed significantly better on culture specific knowledge than in the pretest. On the other hand the didactically trained subjects achieved significant learning progress in their ability to identify sources of problems in cross-cultural encounters, culture specific knowledge, empathy and problem solving ability. A significant contrast to the control group in the posttest was found only in empathy. However behavioral results evaluating the transfer of achieved knowledge and competencies into "daily work" and encounters with foreigners were rather modest. In addition, no special differences between trained and non-trained individuals on the degree of work performance, adjustment and satisfaction during internships abroad were reported in interviews with superiors and the self reports of the students. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 5 footnotes.) [This paper was published in: Proceedings of Intercultural Competence Conference August, 2010, Vol. 1, pp. 195-219.]
- Published
- 2010
39. Assessing L2 English Speaking Using Automated Scoring Technology: Examining Automarker Reliability
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Xu, Jing, Jones, Edmund, Laxton, Victoria, and Galaczi, Evelina
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Recent advances in machine learning have made automated scoring of learner speech widespread, and yet validation research that provides support for applying automated scoring technology to assessment is still in its infancy. Both the educational measurement and language assessment communities have called for greater transparency in describing scoring algorithms and research evidence about the reliability of automated scoring. This paper reports on a study that investigated the reliability of an automarker using candidate responses produced in an online oral English test. Based on 'limits of agreement' and multi-faceted Rasch analyses on automarker scores and individual examiner scores, the study found that the automarker, while exhibiting excellent internal consistency, was slightly more lenient than examiner fair average scores, particularly for low-proficiency speakers. Additionally, it was found that an automarker uncertainty measure termed Language Quality, which indicates the confidence of speech recognition, was useful for predicting automarker reliability and flagging abnormal speech.
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- 2021
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40. The Safety Net and the Diversion Effects of Vocational Upper-Secondary Education in European Countries
- Author
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Saar, Ellu and Martma, Liisa
- Abstract
This paper presents a comparative analysis of the effect of different educational orientations at the upper-secondary level on labour market outcomes across European countries. The study separates safety net effect and the diversion effect of Vocational Education and Training (VET). Using PIAAC data, we show cross-national differences in the early career advantages of vocational qualifications. The results indicate that vocational effects vary according to outcome. In general, negative effects on occupational status are consistent with earlier research. The safety net function of VET is only observable in a few countries. We also studied the impact of different institutional level characteristics. The analysis of the impact of macro-level characteristics reveals VET's safety net effect is observable only in countries with the highest occupational specificity of VET. At the same time, work-based VET is increasing its diversion effect. Crucial issues are the differences in general competencies between graduates of VET and general upper-secondary school graduates. The major differences are the simultaneous weakening of VET's safety net effect and the strengthening of the diversion effect.
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- 2021
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41. Initiatives, Experiences and Best Practices for Teaching Social and Ecological Responsibility in Ethics Education for Science and Engineering Students
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Børsen, Tom, Serreau, Yann, Reifschneider, Kiera, Baier, André, Pinkelman, Rebecca, Smetanina, Tatiana, and Zandvoort, Henk
- Abstract
For the past 14 years the Social Ecological Responsibility in Science and Engineering Education (SERSEE) Network has discussed the challenging but necessary task of teaching social and ecological responsibility to science and engineering students. Identifying, sharing and developing best practices, pedagogical materials and tools as well as a strategy for promoting it at universities can aid and promote this endeavour. This paper presents the central concepts and pedagogical methods that have emerged during the informal network's meetings, and compares these concepts and methods to trends in the research literature.
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- 2021
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42. Andalusian University Students' Perception of Their European Identity: International Orientation and Experiences
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Méndez García, María del Carmen, Cores-Bilbao, Esther, and Moreno Gámez, Laura
- Abstract
Multicultural European societies increasingly demand internationally oriented citizens, who are willing to actively participate in civic life and able to successfully access the labour market. The European dimension in education supposedly endows youngsters with civic values, multiculturalist attitudes and plurilingual competences which ultimately lead to raising awareness of their Europeanness. Formative years at university, pivotal to students' individual life course and projects, are a decisive stage in the development of supranational, collective identity-formation. Similarly, pan-European study programmes are aimed at inspiring a sense of European citizenship and identity, the most renowned of which within the Higher Education context is Erasmus+. By conducting focus group interviews, this paper probes Andalusian university students' understanding of their European identity and verifies the causal dynamics between European identity-taking and foreign country sojourns, comparing the perceptions expressed by returnees to those by students who have not had the opportunity to participate in international study programmes (ISP) at higher education yet. Results evidence students' apparent supranational orientation, general awareness of commonalities across Europe and utilitarian outlooks on the EU, although not a clear discernment of its institutions or a marked European identity.
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- 2021
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43. Development of the International Ocean Literacy Survey: Measuring Knowledge across the World
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Fauville, Géraldine, Strang, Craig, Cannady, Matthew A., and Chen, Ying-Fang
- Abstract
The Ocean Literacy movement began in the U.S. in the early 2000s, and has recently become an international effort. The focus on marine environmental issues and marine education is increasing, and yet it has been difficult to show progress of the ocean literacy movement, in part, because no widely adopted measurement tool exists. The International Ocean Literacy Survey (IOLS) aims to serve as a community-based measurement tool that allows the comparison of levels of ocean knowledge across time and location. The IOLS has already been subjected to two rounds of field testing. The results from the second testing, presented in this paper, provide evidence that the IOLS is psychometrically valid and reliable, and has a single factor structure across 17 languages and 24 countries. The analyses have also guided the construction of a third improved version that will be further tested in 2018.
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- 2019
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44. School Segregation in St. Petersburg -- The Role of Socioeconomic Status
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Ivaniushina, Valeria, Makles, Anna M., Schneider, Kerstin, and Alexandrov, Daniil
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This paper uses representative student data from St. Petersburg, Russia to analyze school segregation by parental socioeconomic status and student academic performance. The proposed systematic segregation indices account for ordinal variables and take expected segregation into account. We decompose segregation by school type, school, and classes and compare the results to results obtained from PISA for urban areas in Russia and six European countries. Segregation by socioeconomic status is moderate in St. Petersburg and Russia, as compared to other European countries. Segregation between schools and school types reflects parental choice, whereas within-school segregation along the lines of student performance reflects school policies.
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- 2019
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45. Sisyphus Revisited: Efficiency Developments in European Universities 2011-2016 According to Ranking and Budget Data
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Klumpp, Matthias
- Abstract
Universities have to cope with scarce resources and nevertheless are expected to achieve excellent results in research, teaching, and third mission. Therefore, efficient resource use is of great importance. This paper explains emerging concepts and requirements of efficiency analysis, connecting it to university rankings. In order to achieve efficiency improvements, dynamic timeseries analyses are important and helpful in order to understand developments and effects in university processes and structures. The longitudinal efficiency analysis technique DEA Malmquist index is presented as application example with THE and Leiden ranking data for 68 European universities 2011-2016. Results demonstrate an improvement potential of up to one-third and a very diverse distribution of dynamic efficiency changes among institutions.
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- 2019
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46. Evaluating CEFR Rater Performance through the Analysis of Spoken Learner Corpora
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Huang, Lan-fen, Kubelec, Simon, Keng, Nicole, and Hsu, Lung-hsun
- Abstract
Background: Although teachers of English are required to assess students' speaking proficiency in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), their ability to rate is seldom evaluated. The application of descriptors in the assessment of English speaking on CEFR in the context of English as a foreign language has not often been investigated, either. Methods: The present study first introduced a form of rater standardization training. Two trained raters then assessed the speaking proficiency of 100 learners by means of actual corpus data. The study then compared their rating results to evaluate inter-rater reliability. Next, ten samples of exact/adjacent agreement between Raters 1 and 2 were rated by six teachers of English in tertiary education. Two of them had attended rater standardization training with Raters 1 and 2, while the other four had not received any relevant training. Results: The two raters agreed exactly in 44% of cases. The rating results between the two trained raters were closely correlated ([rho] = 0.893). Cross-tabulation showed that in one third of the samples, Rater 2 scored higher than Rater 1 and they agreed more often at the higher levels. The better rating performance of Teachers 1 and 2 suggested that rater standardization training may have helped enhance their performance. The unsatisfactory proportion of correctly assigned levels in teachers' ratings overall was probably due to the high input of subjective judgment based on vague CEFR descriptors. Conclusions: Regarding assessment, it is shown that the attendance of rater standardization training is of help in assessing learners' speaking proficiency in CEFR. This study provides a model for assessing data from spoken learner corpora, which adds an important attribute to future studies of learner corpora. The paper also raises doubts about teachers' ability to evaluate students' speaking proficiency in CEFR. As CEFR has been widely adopted in the relevant fields of English language teaching and assessment, it is suggested that the rating training framework established in this study, which uses learner corpus data, be offered to (prospective) teachers of English in tertiary education.
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- 2018
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47. How Suitable Is the CEFR for Setting University Entrance Standards?
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Harsch, Claudia
- Abstract
The discussion takes up the common theme across the seven contributions of this special issue, namely the CEFR's suitability as a basis for setting university entrance standards. The special issue allows insights into this theme from a multitude of contexts, languages and perspectives, including data from stakeholders, students, tests and their documentations, as well as student performances and teacher judgements. The contributions of the seven papers are first discussed with a view to examining current practices of setting entrance requirements and the suitability of the CEFR as a means of comparison between different tests and contexts. The discussion then moves on to acknowledge that the CEFR alone cannot guarantee that different institutions and stakeholders will use it in a comparable way and come to comparable interpretations when employing and interpreting its proficiency scales. In order to overcome these challenges, possible ways of dealing with discrepancies when comparing different tests and contexts that are suggested by the seven contributions in this special issue are discussed, with a particular view on how these contributions answer earlier calls for further research. Finally, the discussion outlines ways forward to improve practices and stimulate future research in the realm of setting university entrance requirements.
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- 2018
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48. The Convergence of Compulsory Schooling in Western Europe: 1950-2000. CEE DP 95
- Author
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London School of Economics & Political Science, Centre for the Economics of Education, Murtin, Fabrice, and Viarengo, Martina
- Abstract
The expansion of compulsory schooling after the Second World War represented an important reform common to the majority of European countries. Specifically, over the period 1950-2000, the fifteen Western European countries considered in this study have extended the school-leaving age by one year or longer. Interestingly, this change in legislation was undertaken by Nordic, Anglo-Saxon and Continental countries, which had different traditions and experiences in educational policy. Many theories have been proposed in the sociology and political science literature to explain the expansion of education during this "period of extensive development of the educational and training system" (Diebolt (1999), p.30). But these country-level studies are too specific to allow any inference on the common factors that may have influenced education policies in a similar way. What is missing in the literature is a comparative analysis of the educational reforms undertaken at the European level. Comparative works by Diebolt and Fontevielle (2001) and Ringer (1979) represent an attractive start but are not sufficient to exhibit the factors driving the expansion of compulsory schooling in general. Nor do they explain the timing and the magnitude of changes in compulsory years of schooling that occurred in most European countries after the war. In contrast, this paper adopts a comparative approach using an original data set for fifteen European countries over the period 1950-2000, and undertakes a quantitative analysis of the determinants of changes in compulsory schooling laws. The major phenomenom the authors observe in the data is convergence: the lower mandatory schooling in 1950, the sooner and the larger the change in the legal age of compulsory schooling. The authors argue that economic forces promote convergence of educational systems for two simple reasons: first, the profitability of education is decreasing at the margin, second, extending compulsory schooling has an increasing marginal cost because years of Secondary are more expensive than years of Primary. In other words, compulsory schooling has decreasing net aggregate returns that trigger convergence. Next, the authors test whether convergence still holds when one controls for other determinants described in the literature. Some theories have emphasized respectively the effects of trade and technological progress, institutional aspects, and constraints set on a benevolent State. They do find conditional convergence as well as evidence supporting some aspects of these theories taken individually. However, the most robust secondary effect is openness: the more open a country, the higher compulsory years of schooling. Rising globalization and public investments into education therefore appear to be complementary phenomenoms in the postwar Western Europe. Appended are: (1) Variables; (2) Tables; and (3) Figures. (Contains 5 tables, 3 figures and 22 footnotes.)
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- 2008
49. A Comparative Study of the Liberal Arts Tradition and Confucian Tradition in Education
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Cheng, Baoyan
- Abstract
In contrast to the continued decline and bleak future of liberal arts education and liberal arts colleges in Europe and America, there has been a revival of the liberal arts model in Asian countries in recent years. This paper compares the liberal arts tradition of education in the West and Confucian tradition of education in the East, in the aspects of educational goal, curriculum, and pedagogy, as well as the way both traditions are institutionalized. It makes connections between these humanistic approaches to demonstrate the common ground for the education of mankind: human beings need to develop meaning for life and to be able to relate to others in order to have a fulfilling life, and highlights the importance of such humanistic approaches as liberal arts education and the Confucian tradition in an increasingly utilitarian and vocation-oriented world.
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- 2017
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50. Measuring Teaching Quality in Higher Education: Assessing Selection Bias in Course Evaluations
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Goos, Maarten and Salomons, Anna
- Abstract
Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are widely used to measure teaching quality in higher education and compare it across different courses, teachers, departments and institutions. Indeed, SETs are of increasing importance for teacher promotion decisions, student course selection, as well as for auditing practices demonstrating institutional performance. However, survey response is typically low, rendering these uses unwarranted if students who respond to the evaluation are not randomly selected along observed and unobserved dimensions. This paper is the first to fully quantify this problem by analyzing the direction and size of selection bias resulting from both observed and unobserved characteristics for over 3000 courses taught in a large European university. We find that course evaluations are upward biased, and that correcting for selection bias has non-negligible effects on the average evaluation score and on the evaluation-based ranking of courses. Moreover, this bias mostly derives from selection on unobserved characteristics, implying that correcting evaluation scores for observed factors such as student grades does not solve the problem. However, we find that adjusting for selection only has small impacts on the measured effects of observables on SETs, validating a large related literature which considers the observable determinants of evaluation scores without correcting for selection bias.
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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