Towards fairer assessment

Drawing on the largest Australian collection and analysis of empirical data on multiple facets of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in state schools to date, this article critically analyses the systemic push for standardized testing and improved scores, and argues for a greater balance of assessment types by providing alternative, inclusive, participatory approaches to student assessment. The evidence for this article derives from a major evaluation of the Stronger Smarter Learning Communities. The first large-scale picture of what is occurring in classroom assessment and pedagogy for Indigenous students is reported in this evaluation yet the focus in this article remains on the issue of fairness in student assessment. The argument presented calls for “a good balance between formative and summative assessment” (OECD, Synergies for Better Learning An International Perspective on Evaluation and Assessment, Pointers for Policy Development, 2013) at a time of unrelenting high-stakes, standardized testing in Australia with a dominance of secondary as opposed to primary uses of NAPLAN data by systems, schools and principals. A case for more “intelligent accountability in education” (O’Neill, Oxford Review of Education 39(1):4–16, 2013) together with a framework for analyzing efforts toward social justice in education (Cazden, International Journal of Educational Psychology 1(3):178–198, 2012) and fairer assessment make the case for more alternative assessment practices in recognition of the need for teachers’ pedagogic practice to cater for increased diversity.

Body stories

This research is in the field of arts education. Eisner claims that ‘teachers rarely view themselves as artists’ (Taylor, 1993:21). Situating professional dance artists and teacher-artists (Mc Lean, 2009) in close proximity to classroom dance teachers, spatially, through a shared rehearsal studio and creatively, by engaging them in a co-artistry approach, allows participants to map unique and new creative processes, kinaesthetically and experientially. This pratice encourages teachers to attune and align themselves with artists’ states of mind and enables them to nurture both their teacher-self and their artist-self (Lichtenstein 2009). The research question was: can interactions between professional dance artists, teacher-artists (Mc Lean, 2009) and classroom dance teachers change classroom dance teachers’ self-perceptions? The research found that Artists in Residence projects provide up-skilling in situ for classroom dance teachers, and give credence to the act of art making for classroom dance teachers within their peer context, positively enhancing their self-image and promoting self-identification as ‘teacher-artists’ (Mc Lean, 2009). This project received an Artist in Residence Grant (an Australia Council for the Arts, Education Queensland and Queensland Arts Council partnership). The research findings were chosen for inclusion in the Queensland Performing Arts Complex program, Feet First: an invitation to dance, 2013 and selected for inclusion on the Creative Campus website, http://www.creative-campus.org.uk.

Effects of scaffold architecture on mechanical characteristics and osteoblast response to static and perfusion bioreactor cultures

Tissue engineering focuses on the repair and regeneration of tissues through the use of biodegradable scaffold systems that structurally support regions of injury whilst recruiting and/or stimulating cell populations to rebuild the target tissue. Within bone tissue engineering, the effects of scaffold architecture on cellular response have not been conclusively characterized in a controlled-density environment. We present a theoretical and practical assessment of the effects of polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold architectural modifications on mechanical and flow characteristics as well as MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast cellular response in an in vitro static plate and custom-designed perfusion bioreactor model. Four scaffold architectures were contrasted, which varied in inter-layer lay-down angle and offset between layers, whilst maintaining a structural porosity of 60 ± 5%. We established that as layer angle was decreased (90° vs. 60°) and offset was introduced (0 vs. 0.5 between layers), structural stiffness, yield stress, strength, pore size and permeability decreased, whilst computational fluid dynamics-modeled wall shear stress was increased. Most significant effects were noted with layer offset. Seeding efficiencies in static culture were also dramatically increased due to offset (~45% to ~86%), with static culture exhibiting a much higher seeding efficiency than perfusion culture. Scaffold architecture had minimal effect on cell response in static culture. However, architecture influenced osteogenic differentiation in perfusion culture, likely by modifying the microfluidic environment.

Applying the ecological model of behavior change to a physical activity trial in retirement communities : description of the study protocol

Objectives To describe the intervention protocol for the first multilevel ecological intervention for physical activity in retirement communities that addresses individual, interpersonal and community influences on behavior change. Design A cluster randomized controlled trial design was employed with two study arms: a physical activity intervention and an attention control successful aging condition. Setting Sixteen continuing care retirement communities in San Diego County. Participants Three hundred twenty older adults, aged 65 years and older, are being recruited to participate in the trial. In addition, peer leaders are being recruited to lead some study activities, especially to sustain the intervention after study activities ceased. Intervention Participants in the physical activity trial receive individual, interpersonal and community intervention components. The individual level components include pedometers, goal setting and individual phone counseling. The interpersonal level components include group education sessions and peer-led activities. The community level components include resource audits and enumeration, tailored walking maps, and community improvement projects. The successful aging group receives individual and group attention about successful aging topics. Measurements The main outcome is light to moderate physical activity, measured objectively by accelerometry. Other objective outcomes included physical functioning, blood pressure, physical fitness, and cognitive functioning. Self report measures include depressive symptoms and health related quality of life. Results The intervention is being delivered successfully in the communities and compliance rates are high. Conclusion Ecological Models call for interventions that address multiple levels of the model. Previous studies have not included components at each level and retirement communities provide a model environment to demonstrate how to implement such an intervention.

Designing Assessment for Quality Learning

- Considers broad-scale assessment approaches and how they impact on educational opportunity and outcomes. - Brings together internationally recognised scholars providing new insights into assessment for learning improvement and accountability. - Presents different theoretical and methodological perspectives influential in the field of assessment, learning and social change. - Contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. This book brings together internationally recognised scholars with an interest in how to use the power of assessment to improve student learning and to engage with accountability priorities at both national and global levels. It includes distinguished writers who have worked together for some two decades to shift the assessment paradigm from a dominant focus on assessment as measurement towards assessment as central to efforts to improve learning. These writers have worked with the teaching profession and, in so doing, have researched and generated key insights into different ways of understanding assessment and its relationship to learning. The volume contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. The book’s structure and content reflect already significant and growing international interest in assessment as contextualised practice, as well as theories of learning and teaching that underpin and drive particular assessment approaches. Learning theories and practices, assessment literacies, teachers’ responsibilities in assessment, the role of leadership, and assessment futures are the organisers within the book’s structure and content. The contributors to this book have in common the view that quality assessment, and quality learning and teaching are integrally related. Another shared view is that the alignment of assessment with curriculum, teaching and learning is linchpin to efforts to improve both learning opportunities and outcomes for all. Essentially, the book presents new perspectives on the enabling power of assessment. In so doing, the writers recognise that validity and reliability - the traditional canons of assessment – remain foundational and therefore necessary. However, they are not of themselves sufficient for quality education. The book argues that assessment needs to be radically reconsidered in the context of unprecedented societal change. Increasingly, communities are segregating more by wealth, with clear signs of social, political, economic and environmental instability. These changes raise important issues relating to ethics and equity, taken to be core dimensions in enabling the power of assessment to contribute to quality learning for all. This book offers readers new knowledge about how assessment can be used to re/engage learners across all phases of education.

Bonding and bridging : transition to school and social capital formation among a community of Indigenous Australian children

This study reports on an intervention program designed to facilitate transition to school of a whole community of Indigenous Australian children who had previously not been attending. The children were from families displaced from their traditional lands and experienced on-going social marginalisation and transience. A social capital framework was employed to track change in the children’s social inclusion and family-school engagement for two years, from school entry. Sociometric measurement and interview techniques were applied to assess the children’s social connectedness and peer relationship quality. Using these data, analyses examined whether bonding within the group supported or inhibited formation of new social relationships. Although transience disrupted attendance, there was a group trend towards increased social inclusion with some evidence that group bonds supported bridging to new social relationships. Change in family-school engagement was tracked using multi-informant interviews. Limited engagement between school and families presented an on-going challenge to sustained educational engagement.

Assessment of diabetic neuropathy using novel corneal markers.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a debilitating condition that affects approximately 50 per cent of diabetic patients. The symptoms of neuropathy include numbness and tingling or pain in the arms and legs. If left untreated, patients with numbness might develop foot ulcers, which might ultimately require foot amputation. Currently the only method of directly examining peripheral nerves is to conduct skin punch biopsies, which are uncomfortable and invasive.

OSCE online : making assessment of clinical competencies transparent, accountable & authentic

Creating an authentic assessment which at once assesses competencies, scene management, communication and overall patient care is challenging in the competitive tertiary education market. Increasing student numbers and the cost of evaluating scenario based competencies serve to ensure the need for consistent objectivity and need for timely feedback to students on their performance. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is currently the most flexible approach to competency based formative and summative assessment and widely used within paramedic degree programs. Students are understandably compelled to perform well and can be frustrated by not receiving timely and appropriate feedback. Increasingly a number of products aimed at providing a more efficient and paperless approach have begun to enter the market. These products, it is suggested are aimed at medicine programs and not at allied health professions and limited to one operating system and therefore ignore issues surrounding equity and accessibility. OSCE Online aims to address this gap in the market and is tailored to these disciplines. The application will provide a service that can be both tailored and standardised from a pre-written bank, depending upon requirement to fit around the needs of clinical competency assessment. Delivering authentic assessments to address student milestones in their training to become paramedics is the cornerstone of OSCE Online. By not being restricted to a specific device it will address issues of functionality, adaptability, accessibility, authenticity and importantly: transparency and accountability by producing contemporaneous data allowing issues to be easily identified and rectified.

The professional identity of child care practitioners : self-authorship as a theoretical framework

This research contributes new understandings about the development of the professional identity of child care practitioners and how professional identity changes during the transition from student to practitioner. Self-authorship theory was used as the framework to investigate the development of professional identity through exploration of beliefs about practice, sense of self, and capabilities for collaborative engagement. Students recruited for this research were completing their qualifications to work with young children in child care settings. Data from initial and follow-up interviews were analysed to understand change over time in professional identity. Findings indicated a need for training institutions and workplaces to move beyond competency-based training approaches to include more critically reflective learning opportunities. Such a focus on critical reflection has implications for improving the skills, status, and recognition of child care practitioners as educators.

Gender stereotypes of personality : universal and accurate?

Numerous studies have documented subtle but consistent sex differences in self-reports and observer-ratings of five-factor personality traits, and such effects were found to show well-defined developmental trajectories and remarkable similarity across nations. In contrast, very little is known about perceived gender differences in five-factor traits in spite of their potential implications for gender biases at the interpersonal and societal level. In particular, it is not clear how perceived gender differences in five-factor personality vary across age groups and national contexts and to what extent they accurately reflect assessed sex differences in personality. To address these questions, we analyzed responses from 3,323 individuals across 26 nations (mean age = 22.3 years, 31% male) who were asked to rate the five-factor personality traits of typical men or women in three age groups (adolescent, adult, and older adult) in their respective nations. Raters perceived women as slightly higher in openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness as well as some aspects of extraversion and neuroticism. Perceived gender differences were fairly consistent across nations and target age groups and mapped closely onto assessed sex differences in self- and observer-rated personality. Associations between the average size of perceived gender differences and national variations in sociodemographic characteristics, value systems, or gender equality did not reach statistical significance. Findings contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of gender stereotypes of personality and suggest that perceptions of actual sex differences may play a more important role than culturally based gender roles and socialization processes.

The impact of funding deadlines on personal workloads, stress and family relationships : a qualitative study of Australian researchers

Objective To examine the impact of applying for funding on personal workloads, stress and family relationships. Design Qualitative study of researchers preparing grant proposals. Setting Web-based survey on applying for the annual National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant scheme. Participants Australian researchers (n=215). Results Almost all agreed that preparing their proposals always took top priority over other work (97%) and personal (87%) commitments. Almost all researchers agreed that they became stressed by the workload (93%) and restricted their holidays during the grant writing season (88%). Most researchers agreed that they submitted proposals because chance is involved in being successful (75%), due to performance requirements at their institution (60%) and pressure from their colleagues to submit proposals (53%). Almost all researchers supported changes to the current processes to submit proposals (95%) and peer review (90%). Most researchers (59%) provided extensive comments on the impact of writing proposals on their work life and home life. Six major work life themes were: (1) top priority; (2) career development; (3) stress at work; (4) benefits at work; (5) time spent at work and (6) pressure from colleagues. Six major home life themes were: (1) restricting family holidays; (2) time spent on work at home; (3) impact on children; (4) stress at home; (5) impact on family and friends and (6) impact on partner. Additional impacts on the mental health and well-being of researchers were identified. Conclusions The process of preparing grant proposals for a single annual deadline is stressful, time consuming and conflicts with family responsibilities. The timing of the funding cycle could be shifted to minimise applicant burden, give Australian researchers more time to work on actual research and to be with their families.

Primary schools and the delivery of relationships and sexuality education : the experience of Queensland teachers

Primary school provides an appropriate opportunity for children to commence comprehensive relationships and sexuality education (RSE), yet many primary school teachers avoid teaching this subject area. In the absence of teacher confidence and competence, schools have often relied on health promotion professionals, external agencies and/or one-off issue related presentations rather than cohesive, systematic and meaningful health education. This study examines the implementation of a ten-lesson pilot RSE unit of work and accompanying assessment task in two primary schools in South-East Queensland, Australia. Drawing predominantly from qualitative data, this research explores the experiences of primary school teachers as they engage with RSE curriculum resources and content delivery. The results show that the provision of a high quality RSE curriculum resource grounded in contemporary educational principles and practices enables teachers to feel more confident to deliver RSE and minimises potential barriers such as parental objections and fear of mishandling sensitive content.

Higher Education and Sustainable Development : A Model for Curriculum Renewal

Responding to the global and unprecedented challenge of capacity building for twenty-first century life, this book is a practical guide for tertiary education institutions to quickly and effectively renew the curriculum towards education for sustainable development. The book begins by exploring why curriculum change has been so slow. It then describes a model for rapid curriculum renewal, highlighting the important roles of setting timeframes, formal and informal leadership, and key components and action strategies. The second part of the book provides detailed coverage of six core elements that have been trialled and peer reviewed by institutions around the world: - raising awareness among staff and students - mapping graduate attributes - auditing the curriculum - developing niche degrees, flagship courses and fully integrated programs - engaging and catalysing community and student markets - integrating curriculum with green campus operations. With input from more than seventy academics and grounded in engineering education experiences, this book will provide academic staff with tools and insights to rapidly align program offerings with the needs of present and future generations of students.

Quantitative fit analysis of orthopedic bone plates : methods, criteria and approach

Studies on quantitative fit analysis of precontoured fracture fixation plates emerged within the last few years and therefore, there is a wide research gap in this area. Quantitative fit assessment facilitates the measure of the gap between a fracture fixation plate and the underlying bone, and specifies the required plate fit criteria. For clinically meaningful fit assessment outcome, it is necessary to establish the appropriate criteria and parameter. The present paper studies this subject and recommends using multiple fit criteria and the maximum distance between the plate and underlying bone as fit parameter for clinically relevant outcome. We also propose the development of a software tool for automatic plate positioning and fit assessment for the purpose of implant design validation and optimization in an effort to provide better fitting implant that can assist proper fracture healing. The fundamental specifications of the software are discussed.

From impact assessment to user-friendly risk management decision-making

In earlier cultures and societies, hazards and risks to human health were dealt with by methods derived from myth, metaphor and ritual. In modem society however, notions of hazard and risk have been transformed from the level of a folk discourse to that of an expert centred concept (Plough & Krimsky, 1987). With the professionalization of risk and hazard analysis came a preferred framework for decision making based on a range of 'technical' methodologies (Giere, 1991 ). This is especially true for decision processes relating to risk assessment and management, and impact assessment. Such approaches however, often entail narrow technical-based theoretical assumptions about human behaviour and the natural world, and the· methods used. They therefore carry 'in-built' error factors that contribute considerable uncertainty to the results.