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The assessment of student learning outcomes in the tertiary school sector has seen an increase in global popularity in recent years. Measurement instruments that target higher order skills are on the rise, whereas assessments that foster the recall of factual knowledge are declining. The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project was designed with the goal of developing a cross-national concept for valid assessment of generic and domain-specific student learning outcomes on an international comparative basis. AHELO and other international comparative assessment systems face numerous methodological challenges that pertain to test design and development, translation, adaptation, student sampling, scoring, reporting, and the validity of score interpretations. The goal of this paper is to generate ideas for the improvement of cross-national research agendas, such as the AHELO project. The main purpose is to focus on the lessons learned from the AHELO feasibility study and other international assessment studies that help inform the research of future multinational educational assessment studies.

In this article, the author argues first, that critical-thinking skills do exist independent of disciplinary thinking skills and are not compromised by interaction effects with the major; and second, that standardized tests (e.g., the Collegiate Learning Assessment, or CLA, which is his example throughout the article) are the best way to measure them. In doing so, the author addresses the criticisms of these two positions as well.

Times of threshold change, such as the transformation from the industrial era to the knowledge economy of today, produce pressures to redesign the institutions people live with to respond to, or better, shape this change. In America's knowledge economy, there is broad agreement that the only way to preserve the nation's economic edge will be through constant innovation, the creation of ideas that produce new economic value, for which a highly educated workforce is necessary. So, since education is the principal venue for human capital development, it is not surprising that the public gaze has turned to schools and colleges. Specifically, the public and its representatives want to know about the nature and quality of educational outcomes that those institutions generate. In this context, one of the most contentious questions currently being debated is whether or not it is possible or desirable to assess and publicly communicate about learning outcomes in a way that permits comparisons between institutions. In this article, the author contends that comparative assessments are essential and practical: although all dimensions of learning cannot be measured, it is perfectly possible to comparatively assess the higher-order thinking skills that are etched in most collegiate mission statements, thought to be particularly important in the knowledge economy, and shared by most educators as key aims of instruction: (1) critical thinking; (2) analytical reasoning; (3) problem solving; and (4) writing. He also argues that such assessments are a critical part of larger efforts to develop better approaches to teaching and learning--goals all educators share. Finally, he makes the case for assessing learning in a way that reveals the "value added" by the institution to students' intellectual development. (Contains 12 resources.)

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a computer administered, open-ended (as opposed to multiple-choice) test of analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. Because the CLA has been endorsed by several national higher education commissions, it has come under intense scrutiny by faculty members, college administrators, testing experts, legislators, and others. This article describes the CLA's measures and what they do and do not assess, how dependably they measure what they claim to measure, and how CLA scores differ from those on other direct and indirect measures of college student learning. For instance, analyses are conducted at the school rather than the student level and results are adjusted for input to assess whether the progress students are making at their school is better or worse than what would be expected given the progress of "similarly situated" students (in terms of incoming ability) at other colleges. (Contains 3 figures, 4 tables and 16 notes.)

Describes the key features of the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) project, which assesses the "value added" of an institution. The project assesses the institutional contribution to student learning through a focus on general education skills and the assessment of student performance relative to other students and through a pretest-posttest model. (SLD)

Research indicates that budget increases currently enjoyed by colleges and universities will bring only temporary relief from an imminent fiscal crisis in higher education. Growing student numbers, stagnant public funding, labor development needs in the next two decades combine to predict substantial problems. Five far-reaching institutional reform recommendations to provide high-quality education at lower cost are offered. (MSE)

In the film Field of Dreams, an Iowa farmer hears a spectral voice that instructs him, 'If you build it, they will come.' Despite formidable challenges and doubt from all [...]

From Cicero's artes liberals to the trivium and quadrivium of the medical schoolmen, to the studia humanitatis of the Renaissance humanists, to Cardinal Newman's definition in his Idea of a [...]

In the fall of 2000, the RAND Corporation's Council for Aid to Education (CAE) embarked on the national Value Added Assessment Initiative (VAAI), a long-term project to assess the quality [...]

This article offers a critical analysis of the works of nineteenth century painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. The author examines Ingres's depictions of the human figure, focusing on 'Bain turc', as well as the reaction to the work.

An art historian agrees with the Walter Benjamin's thesis that experiencing a work of art in the original had irreplaceable value indeed which can never be attained with the reproductions of the original.

IT IS NOT HARD TO PRONOUNCE TJUKURRTJANU. It is a phonetic word derived from the Pintupi tjukurrpa and means 'from the Dreaming'--a fitting badge for the beautiful National Gallery of [...]

A consistently calibrated 40-year-long data set of visible-channel remote-sensing reflectance has been derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor global time series. The data set uses as its source the Pathfinder Atmospheres – Extended (PATMOS-x) v5.3 Climate Data Record for top-of-atmosphere (TOA) visible-channel reflectances. This paper describes the theoretical basis for the atmospheric correction procedure and its subsequent implementation, including the necessary ancillary data files used and quality flags applied, in order to determine remote-sensing reflectance. The resulting data set is produced at daily, and archived at monthly, resolution, on a 0.1∘×0.1∘ grid at 10.1594/PANGAEA.892175. The primary aim of deriving this data set is to highlight regions of the global ocean affected by highly reflective blooms of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi (where lith concentration >2 – 5×104 mL -1) over the past 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the visit of Australian artist Tom Roberts to the Alhambra Palace in Granada and the cultural richness of the places in which he painted.

The assessment of student learning outcomes in the tertiary school sector has seen an increase in global popularity in recent years. Measurement instruments that target higher order skills are on the rise, whereas assessments that foster the recall of factual knowledge are declining. The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) project was designed with the goal of developing a cross-national concept for valid assessment of generic and domain-specific student learning outcomes on an international comparative basis. AHELO and other international comparative assessment systems face numerous methodological challenges that pertain to test design and development, translation, adaptation, student sampling, scoring, reporting, and the validity of score interpretations. The goal of this paper is to generate ideas for the improvement of cross-national research agendas, such as the AHELO project. The main purpose is to focus on the lessons learned from the AHELO feasibility study and other international assessment studies that help inform the research of future multinational educational assessment studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of comparative assessments on the higher-order thinking skills as the key aims of instruction. It explores the essence and impact of such comparison for higher education institutions relative to the development of useful theories of pedagogy. It also explains why higher-order skills should be the principal focus and the institution should be the initial unit of analysis. Moreover, it notes the importance of value-added approach and comparative measure as a tool to assess the student's learning gains. An explanation for why the demand for transparency and accountability for all institutions became imperative is also included.

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a computer administered, open-ended (as opposed to multiple-choice) test of analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. Because the CLA has been endorsed by several national higher education commissions, it has come under intense scrutiny by faculty members, college administrators, testing experts, legislators, and others. This article describes the CLA's measures and what they do and do not assess, how dependably they measure what they claim to measure, and how CLA scores differ from those on other direct and indirect measures of college student learning. For instance, analyses are conducted at the school rather than the student level and results are adjusted for input to assess whether the progress students are making at their school is better or worse than what would be expected given the progress of ‘similarly situated’ students (in terms of incoming ability) at other colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are ominous signs that America's higher education sector is declining. However, why have higher education institutions and their leaders had such difficulty in addressing the problems the sectorfaces? We argue that basic assumptions built into the governance of higher education obstruct an effective response. After presenting the assumptions, we make a case for redesigning the structure of higher education governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reformulates and extends the concept of limited good to explain the behavior, values and attitudes of U.S. urban, largely African American poor, by employing distinctions from the public choice literature. To better understand the politics of poverty in urban, mainly African American, U.S. settings, it is important to use both the theoretical orientations of U.S. urbanists and comparative (cross-national) specialists. In order to do this the author develops a structuring principle (generated from a critique and extension of the concept of limited good) to account for culture of poverty behavior. This concept was developed originally to explain peasant behavior in the face of conditions of scarcity. The structure of the argument developed here is based on the public choice literature, which provides a different approach to the subject from that usually taken. The conclusion is reached that the behavior, values and attitudes of U.S. urban poor grouped under the culture of poverty explanation really are descriptions which make sense only when we place them within relevant comparative findings which provide a model to explain them. The model is based on the linkage between the degree of scarcity of goods and the cognitive orientations produced.

Examines the practice of painting copies of works of art. Cultural terrain of postmodernism; History of the modern copying practice; Patterns of display and sale of copies within the art market.

Focuses on the budgetary problem of colleges and universities in the United States. Causes of the problem; Consequences of the problem; Indepth discussion on the possible solution to the problem.

The study employs a questionnaire instrument on the adversary system to compare respondent attitudes from the Tokyo and Minnesota district courts. Empirical verification of the Japanese and American models of conflict resolution and social control developed in the research is accomplished by comparing the responses of the two groups to modal statements about defense counsel roles arrayed in a continuum from administrative (counsel as coach) to due process (protect the client) roles. When urbanization and respondent's role (prosecuting judge, defense attorney) are controlled for, the Japanese reject the extreme implications of the adversary system, particularly in terms of the due process notion, while the American group supports the due process statements. The study corroborates the view that culturally generated value differences may have important impact on conflict resolution and social control, and by implication, international conflict resolution behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]