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Purpose: Universities assess and evaluate students concerning competence in essential disciplinary knowledge and skills. Those assessments impact learners' attitudes, beliefs, and emotions. Negative impacts may be overcome if students regulate their responses to assessment and feedback. Design/Approach/Methods: This article systematically locates research studies that cite three key early papers around student conceptions of assessment (SCoA). A narrative synthesis is based on 22 papers. Findings: In addition to the SCoA, 11 different research inventories reveal a variety of regulatory responses that are enhanced when assessments are deliberately formative, fair, and trustworthy. There is broad interest in this phenomenon but little consistency in methods, and even the SCoA has little consistency in factor structure across jurisdictions. Only one study provided an objective behavioral measure to validate self-reports, which are the dominant form of research. Originality/Value: This review gives readers insights into how assessment influences student thinking and how student cognition can regulate success.

This study explores the effects of feedback type, feedback occasion, and year level on student self-assessments in higher education. In total, 126 university students participated in this randomized experiment under three experimental conditions (i.e., rubric feedback, instructor's written feedback, and rubric feedback plus instructor's written feedback). Participants, after random assignment to feedback condition, were video-recorded performing a self-assessment on a writing task both before and after receiving feedback. The quality of self-assessment strategies decreased after feedback of all kinds, but the number of strategies increased for the combined feedback condition. The number of self-assessment criteria increased for rubric and combined conditions, while feedback helped shift criteria use from basic to advanced criteria. Student year level was not systematically related to changes in self-assessment after feedback. In general, the combination of rubric and instructor's feedback produced the best effects.

This case study aimed to change the construction of teachers' written tests so that items were designed to assess competencies in an authentic and challenging way. A small group of five psychology teachers participated in 10 sessions of an authentic assessment faculty-training program, to learn to assess problem-solving competencies for situations typically faced by professionals in the workplace. The authentic assessment training emphasized the incorporation of three main characteristics: (1) inclusion of a realistic context, (2) measurement of higher order thinking skills, and (3) development of evaluative judgment, concerning the quality of their own performance. Post-training the items´ construction was analysed, according to their type and authenticity. Mixed effects logistic regression showed a statistically significant increase in open-response items, and two-way ANOVA indicated that cognitive challenge improved. The results showed written tests had: a) more open-response items of higher cognitive complexity, b) fewer items requiring closed, memorized responses, c) more use of realistic contexts to measure knowledge in a situated way, and d) improvement in curriculum alignment of tests and greater consistency in measuring competencies. These advances validate the authentic-assessment training program for a better written assessment design.

Background: Several attempts have been made to examine students' academic emotions (AEs) in Western contexts, but less is known about how students' self-reported emotions vary over time. Aims: The study aimed to understand Chinese students' emotional responses to academic events and the impact of high-stakes testing on their AEs in the first year with a repeated-measures survey after the Semester 1 and Semester 2 mid-term examinations. Samples" 351 first-year university students completed both surveys in an elite Chinese university, where the top 10% of first-year students were assigned to an honours programme. Methods: Self-reported AEs survey responses were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. Invariance testing between honours and ordinary students and between semesters was used to examine between-group differences across time. Results: A three-factor model of AEs (i.e., admired, shame, and self-loathing) was found in both semesters, with strong invariance between semesters. Mean scores between groups were equivalent and semester. However, self-loathing had the lowest mean (mean = 2.50; between mostly disagree and slightly agree), admired was at moderately agree (mean = 4.00), and shame was strongest at just over moderately agree (mean = 4.20). Conclusions: This study reveals a three-factor structure of AEs and the stability of these emotions among highly successful Chinese learners. Despite being elite students, this sample of Chinese learners felt shame and pride in response to mid-term examinations.

This study explored the effects of three factors (feedback occasion, type of feedback, and year level) on self-efficacy and emotions when university students self-assessed. 126 higher education students from three different year levels self-assessed their performance on a writing task two times (before and after receiving feedback). Self-efficacy and emotions were measured via self-report at three times (a baseline before self-assessment, after self-assessment without feedback, and after self-assessment with feedback). Feedback was provided in one of three conditions (rubric vs. instructor's feedback vs. combined) to which the participants were randomly assigned. In general, rubric feedback showed the strongest effects on self-efficacy and emotions (i.e. increased positive and decreased negative emotions). Year level was significant for self-efficacy, showing that the effect of university schooling experience enhances this variable. This study shows the impact that feedback has on self-efficacy and emotions while self-assessing, with an especially positive effect for rubric feedback.

How learners understand, respond to, and value educational feedback has been researched with self-report inventories, in which respondents provide insights into how they understand and claim to use feedback. The validity of learner self-reports depends on the credibility of the measures for both reliability and validity. A systematic search of Scopus for studies post-1999 found 42 studies using multiple indicators, multiple causes (MIMIC) psychometric methods to measure participants' perceptions of feedback, giving evidence of internal structure and finding relationships with one or more of self-regulation, self-efficacy, or achievement emotions. A detailed analysis was conducted for ten inventories that had high-quality psychometric properties. Agreeing that feedback was useful and/or was used was positively associated with greater academic outcomes. However, only one inventory provided evidence related to independently measured behaviors. Important directions for further research are identified, including the use of strong psychometric methods, independent validation measures, replication samples, and behavioral measures.

Student self-assessment research underscores the significance of honestly recognizing strengths and weaknesses, facilitating self-regulated learning and progress. The Integrated Quality Assessment (IQA) in China combines self-assessment with other data to evaluate achievement, serving dual purposes: promoting students' awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, and providing summative scores and grades that contribute to the allocation of scholarships and other valued outcomes. This association creates tension in Chinese students' self-assessment intentions due to the high-stakes consequences. Using a large-scale, cross-sectional survey of 2,063 Chinese undergraduate students, the factors influencing students' self-assessment intentions were examined. Structural equation modeling revealed that positive perceptions of academic integrity and conceptions of IQA as improvement predicted learning-oriented self-assessment intentions, while increased perceptions of peer misconduct and negative conceptions of IQA significantly predicted impression management intentions.

Background: Undergraduate research journals are a popular mechanism for inducting students into research, communication, and publication facets of academia. A thematic review of 17 review papers found little evidence for journal impact. Methods: A scoping review identified 91 journals. A systematic search identified the journal website, its International Standard Serial Number (if any), its citation rate on Google Scholar, its start year and end year (if applicable). Results: Seventy-five journals had both a Google Scholar h-index and a discoverable start year. Sixty-eight had been cited one or more times. The median h-index was 2, mode was h = 1, and the average h-index = 4.38. Correlation with start year was not statistically significant, neither was content field of journals. Conclusions: Surprisingly, almost all currently published journals have been cited at least once, showing that undergraduate research journals have some impact on the scholarly world. Further analyses are suggested to examine career impact of publication on students and faculty.

Students' test-taking motivation confounds test performance. This study examines students' conceptions of tests and test-taking motivation when different test consequences are at play. In a between-subjects experimental design, a sample of 479 New Zealand senior secondary school students were randomly assigned to one of the three vignette consequence conditions (i.e. none, country or self). Students self-reported conceptions of tests and test-taking motivation which were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and latent mean analyses across test-consequence conditions. Students' general belief about tests was a positive indicator of their perceived effort expenditure ([beta] = 0.25). Both effort and anxiety increased significantly as consequence increased by medium-to-large effect size (ranges between 0.42 and 1.30). Effort and motivation were notably lower when the country was at stake versus the self at stake condition, raising doubts about the validity of New Zealand rankings in international large-scale assessments.

Research students in social science disciplines frequently struggle to master statistical analysis. A contributing factor may be the statistical software that is used, as the design of such software may not address the needs of non-statisticians or non-computer programming students. Hence, decisions about which statistical software tools are most suitable for such end-users need to be made at the introductory level. This paper first identifies key human-computer interaction (HCI) factors that may directly influence students' statistical analysis performance. Factors include technical properties such as user interface design, statistical features available, visualization, data handling, preparation, and manipulation, and usage properties such as speed/number of steps, ease of command/use, and efficiency. Four popular software systems (ie, SPSS, R within RStudio Desktop, R Commander & jamovi) were evaluated. Findings suggest that HCI usage factors from an interaction perspective are likely to be especially important for students gaining an introductory knowledge of statistics.

Higher education learning outcomes include attributes that are conventionally evaluated by self-reported responses to questionnaire items. Important personal traits include intellectual curiosity and openness to diverse ideas, experiences, and peoples. Evaluators need evidence for the validity and stability of research instruments across repeated administrations. This paper reports a repeated measures (early and late the same academic year) factor analytic study using three cohorts of students (first-year undergraduate, final-year undergraduate, and graduates) in one faculty to evaluate the psychometric properties of scales. Confirmatory factor analysis with invariance testing identified revised models which had configural, metric, and scalar invariance across both time points. Post-graduate students were different from undergraduate students on four scales. However, final-year students became "more" like graduate students and "less" like first-year students for curiosity and love of learning. Results are consistent with assumption that having a degree is associated with acquisition of desired personal attributes.

There is an expectation that students graduate from university with a collection of attributes they have acquired and/or developed during their university journey. It is possible that more academically able students have these attributes prior to enrolment. A repeated-measure analysis of 70 foreign, 89% from People's Republic of China, students at Taylors College enrolled in a pre-degree University of Auckland (UoA) Foundation Certificate was conducted. Students self-rated themselves, early and late in the academic year, for six graduate attributes. Confirmatory factor analysis established adequate fit for all six attributes. Mean scores were consistently higher for the highest-performing group, but all students decreased in self-reported attributes by the end of the year. Attribute scores were weakly related to academic achievement; mid-year exam scores were correlated with intellectual factors, while final exam scores were correlated with openness factors.

This study explores factors that predict students' self-assessment intentions and practices using a framework based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A total of 1425 Hong Kong students (Primary 4 to Secondary 3) participated in this study. Students' intentions and practices pertaining to self-assessment and the predictors of their intentions and practices were assessed with 11 self-report scales aligned to the TPB constructs. The psychometric properties of scales were examined with Rasch analysis and the relations among the variables were investigated with path analysis based on Rasch-calibrated person measures. The results showed that attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and perceived controllability were statistically significant predictors on intention to self-assess, while self-efficacy and intention had significant influence on self-assessment practice. Psychological safety was also found to have relatively weak but significant impact on both self-assessment intention and practice. This study lays a foundation for future investigations on how to promote meaningful self-assessment behaviour which is crucial for self-regulated and life-long learning.

Assessment leadership has often been associated with school leaders (SL), comprising principals and vice-principals. This study aimed to examine the under-researched assessment leadership role of Middle Leaders (ML) instead. Data was drawn from a larger, mixed-methods project that involved a self-report questionnaire administered to principals, MLs and teachers across twelve schools as well as observations and one-to-one interviews with one ML each from seven schools. The study found that Assessment for Learning (AfL) has gained some traction among the MLs because of the assessment practices they value, they rate more highly those more associated with AfL, particularly Student Involvement and Engagement; compared with Grading / Reporting which is more directly related to summative assessments. In particular, the study found that MLs used three dominant approaches in their assessment leadership -- Technical, Tactical and Ethical. Technical leadership was seen in their focus on overseeing the technical aspects of assessment, particularly in aligning assessment to curriculum goals and expecting teachers to deliver on grading and reporting, for accountability purposes. In response to various tensions encountered in their work, the MLs also exercised tactical and ethical leadership. These findings highlight how MLs' perceptions and actions are influenced by and mediate policy implementation in schools.

Students' test-taking motivation has been found to be a predictor of performance. This study tests whether Shanghai students' conceptions of tests and test-taking motivation differ when the consequence of tests have different foci (i.e., none, country, or personal). A between-subjects experiment with vignette instructions systematically assigned 1,003 Shanghai senior secondary school students to one of the three vignettes. Students' conceptions of tests and test-taking motivation scales were evaluated using factor analyses. Invariance testing suggested invariant relationships between the two constructs across the three groups. Students' general conception of tests meaningfully predicted their reported effort ([beta] = 0.18). Latent mean analyses suggested that students' reported "effort," "anxiety," and "importance" were not significantly different between "country at stakes" and "personal stakes" groups, but higher than when no consequences were attached. This study suggests that Shanghai students' test-taking attitudes may contribute to high effort and consequently high performance on international large-scale assessments.

Formative assessment policies and self-regulation theories argue that student self-assessment of their own work and processes are useful for raising academic performance and self-regulatory skills. However, research into student self-evaluation raises serious doubts about the quality of self-assessment as an assessment process and identifies conditions which must be met if students' judgments are to be useful, valid, and reliable. This paper recommends that student self-assessment should no longer be treated as an assessment, but instead as an essential competence for self-regulation. As such, we describe a potential curriculum approach that could guide teachers to appropriate use of self-assessment tools.

Although there have been extensive theoretical discussions on the various reading skills needed in academic situations, empirical investigations on this topic are scarce. There is even much less research on the latent structure underlying those skill needs. This study attempts to fill this gap by investigating the perceived factorial structure of academic reading skills and the relative importance of each factor based on questionnaire responses by 221 undergraduates from an English-medium university in New Zealand. A series of factor analyses and hierarchical model testing revealed that the respondents' perceived needs in academic reading consisted of five distinguishable subdomains, which could be further divided into non-expeditious reading and expeditious reading. It was also found that the subdomain of textbase comprehension (e.g., understanding explicit details and main ideas) was needed significantly more than other subdomains, although all subdomains were reported to be needed more than half of the time. These findings not only support previous major theoretical discussions about reading types from a novel perspective (i.e., students' perceived needs) but also help specify the skill areas that academic reading curricula and assessments may need to cover and prioritise.

This paper identifies important technological, financial, and equity challenges to the development and implementation of online or onscreen educational testing. The insights are based on the author's experiences in New Zealand of being the senior project manager for the Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle) computer-based standardised testing system. The system was funded by the government for formative educational purposes and is delivered to schools for free. The issues faced in the project that need to be considered in any new online testing system include: clarity about the purpose of the testing system, the importance of knowing the current technology conditions, the challenges of working within the dynamic and changing world of technology, the need to assure quality and equity for all test-takers, the economics of paying for a public, rather than commercial, service, and challenges in the management processes of developing and introducing a new system. This survey of technology issues makes it clear that moving to online or onscreen testing has many fishhooks in it that need substantial thought prior to engaging in the development process.

This study investigates the impact of secondary school students' perceptions of mathematics teachers' formative assessment practices and feedback delivery on their feedback use, and mathematics performance. The sample consisted of 2767 Form 3 (Grade 11) students from 48 secondary schools in Tanzania. Surveys and focus group discussions were used to measure students' perceptions of formative assessment, feedback delivery, and feedback use. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) of survey data showed that students' perceptions of the quality of teacher feedback delivery and perceived scaffolding positively predicted students' feedback use whereas perceived monitoring negatively predicted feedback use. In turn, students' feedback use positively predicted their mathematics performance to a small extent. Content analysis of focus group discussions illustrated that most students valued their mathematics teacher's assessment practices. The findings imply that in Sub-Saharan African educational systems the quality of teacher feedback delivery and promotion of student feedback use can improve students' mathematics performance.

Executive function plays an important role in promoting learning and social-emotional development in children. Neonatal hypoglycemia associates with executive function difficulties at 4.5 years, but little is known about the development of executive function over time in children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia. We aimed to describe the stability of executive function from early to mid-childhood in children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia and its association with neonatal hypoglycemia. Participants in a prospective cohort study of infants born at risk for neonatal hypoglycemia were assessed at ages 2, 4.5, and 9–10 years. We assessed executive function with batteries of performance-based and questionnaire-based measures, and classified children into one of four stability groups (persistent typical, intermittent typical, intermittent difficulty, and persistent difficulty) based on dichotomized scores (typical versus low at each age). Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the associations between neonatal hypoglycemia and executive function stability groups. Three hundred and nine children, of whom 197 (64%) experienced neonatal hypoglycemia were assessed. The majority of children had stable and typical performance-based (63%) and questionnaire-based (68%) executive function across all three ages. Around one-third (30–36%) of children had transient difficulties, and only a few (0.3–1.9%) showed persistent difficulties in executive function at all ages. There was no consistent evidence of an association between neonatal hypoglycemia and the stability of executive function. Neonatal hypoglycemia does not appear to predict a specific pattern of development of executive function in children born at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]