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The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruption in students’ education and imposed numerous and unprecedented challenges on the educational systems all over the world turning the traditional learning processes into online distance education. The new context has raised the question of how to evaluate students’ learning and competences in distance education environments as effectively as possible. To maintain high quality standards of higher education, it is undoubtedly necessary to investigate through which tools the lecturers evaluate both the processes and the products of learning gained in online education. This study has been carried out at the University of Florence, with a sample of 60 lecturers, during the first period of pandemic. It has a twofold aim: (1) investigating lecturers’ beliefs on assessment and evaluation in distance higher education and (2) comparing online assessment techniques and tools with those used in face-toface classroom practices. The case study uses mixed methods and proposes data collected through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews analyzed with a quanti-qualitative approach. It pointed out the main problems the study group faced in evaluating students’ learning and performance in remote university education and suggested, at the same time, possible solutions to tackle learning and performance evaluation processes through alternative assessment methods.

What do students expect from their teachers' feedback? The article aims to focus on the expectations of a sample of university students regarding the feedback provided by their professors. The topic is addressed taking as a reference Hattie and Timperley's model (2007) consisting of three dimensions: Feed up, Feed back, Feed forward. The questionnaire submitted to a sample of 140 students is intended as an initial test to be validated and administered to a larger sample at a later stage of the research. In this first phase, the results suggest that all the dimensions of the feedback are important, above all, the centrality of the professor's active involvement in the learning process that facilitates the student's self-regulatory and internal learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines how children in a Milan (Italy) district involved themselves in urban planning when a new freeway was planned near their school. It describes the children's work with architects experienced in environmental education to research the issues, create maps and models of local streets, and present their findings to the community and the mayor. (GR)

The Emergency Remote Teaching experience during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in schools reviewing teaching methods and strategies. The Italian Society for Educational Research (SIRD) conducted a survey in which more than 16,000 Italian teachers took part. The aim of this study is to be a first step in analysing the data from the Tuscany and Umbria regions by comparing them with national data in relation to the teaching and assessment methods and strategies used, and with the previous teacher training in distance learning. Secondly, the paper aims to deepen the link between the use of certain teaching and assessment methods, the previous training, and the quality of the distance learning experience perceived by teachers. For this purpose, some items and scales from the questionnaire used in the SIRD survey and some categories from the qualitative analysis of the responses to the open-ended questions were selected. The study, first and foremost, revealed some peculiarities of the two regions, including Tuscany's lower evaluation of the effectiveness of the experience. On the national level, a positive relationship was found between teachers using interactive teaching strategies and "alternative" assessment activities and the higher perception of both effectiveness for student learning and adequate performance assessment. Finally, the role of previous training is underlined as useful only if it is not generally technology-centred, but rather related to teaching and assessment methods in virtual learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an excerpt of the book 'Growing Up in an Urbanising World,' edited by Louise Chawla.

The article presents an analysis of the design and urban characteristics of the Lafayette Park in Oakland, California. The reconstruction of the park has provided its residents and users with various facilities that they can utilize such as game areas, public restrooms, lawn and picnic area, performance area, and playground. The author notes that the design of the park has attracted a diverse group of people and has helped integrate users with their activities. An overview of the implication of the park's landscape is offered.

The article profiles the Gantry Plaza State Park in Queens, New York, as it sets a standard for New York's waterfront revival, and redefined its neighborhood's image and sense of place. According to the author, the Gantry Plaza was praised for its design qualities and for its success in becoming a community and civic open space. Part of the attraction of the park includes a pair of gantries, that are preserved in a state of arrested decay as dramatic icons. The author described the park as a diverse setting of lawn and plaza, garden and cove, shoreline and piers that enchants visitors in a range of activities. The park boasts of four reconstructed piers which are outfitted for special activities such as ferry terminals, cafe, stargazing, and sunbathing.