Continuous assessment activities - correlation with final exam grades and effect on final grades. A business studies experience

In this paper we analyze the partial grades – of continuous assessment activities including the final exam – and the final grades – computed as a weighted average of partial grades – for nine subjects taught in the third year of Business Administration Degree. On one hand, results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the grades of continuous assessment activities (excluded the final exam) and final exam in seven subjects. On the other hand, overall we find that students’ grades in continuous assessment activities (excluded the final exam) help in the improvement of their final grades (i.e., students’ final grades exceed the grades that they would obtain by only taking into account their final exam grades). The results are consistent when the analysis is carried out over each subject area as well as over the grades of the students who registered for the nine subjects.

Workshop 3 p4 Continuous assessment

Graphic

Continuous Assessment through Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in Veterinary Clinical Propaedeutics

Resumen basado en el de la publicaci??n

Supply chain security: the need for continuous assessment

Ease of Internet accessibility has offered business the opportunity to incorporate this electronic infrastructure technology into establishing electronic-based supply chains. With the improved efficiency that this brings to the management and functionality of the supply chain, there are also security considerations that should be taken into account for protecting the integrity of the electronic supply chain, not only within each business node, but also across the entire supply chain. Such security vulnerabilities can be negated with the implementation of security measures and policies, however these need to be consistent throughout the supply chain and regularly assessed against security benchmarks in order to ensure they meet dequate security standards.

Willingness Towards Continuous Assessment

Among the factors that affect the convergence towards the European Higher Education Area, university teaching staff's motivation is fundamental, and consequently, it is crucial to empirically know what this motivation depends on. In this context, one of the most relevant changes in the teacher-student relationship is assessment. In fact, the transition from a static assessment -focused on only one temporal point (final exam)- to a dynamic assessment, will require changes in thought and action, both on the part of teachers and students. In this line, the objective of this paper is to analyze the determinants of teaching staff's predisposition to the continuous assessment method. Specifically, we consider the following explanatory dimensions: teaching method used (which measures their degree of involvement with the ongoing adaptation process), type of subject (core, compulsory and optional), and teacher's personal characteristics (professional status and gender). The empirical application carried out at the University of Alicante uses Logit Models with Random Coefficients to capture heterogeneity, and shows that "cooperative learning" is a clear-cut determinant of "continuous assessment" as well as "continuous assessment plus final examination". Also, a conspicuous result, which in turn becomes a thought-provoking finding, is that professional status is highly relevant as a teacher's engagement is closely related to prospects of stability. Consequently, the most relevant implications from the results revolve around the way academic institutions can propose and implement inducement for their teaching staff.

Fostering Teaching Staff's Engagement in Continuous Assessment

Among the factors that affect the convergence towards the European Higher Education Area, university teaching staff's motivation is fundamental, and consequently, it is crucial to empirically know what this motivation depends on. In this context, one of the most relevant changes in the teacher-student relationship is assessment. In fact, the transition from a static assessment -focused on only one temporal point (final exam)- to a dynamic assessment, will require changes in thought and action, both on the part of teachers and students. In this line, the objective of this paper is to analyze the determinants of teaching staff's predisposition to the continuous assessment method. Specifically, we consider the following explanatory dimensions: teaching method used (which measures their degree of involvement with the ongoing adaptation process), type of subject (core, compulsory and optional), and teacher's personal characteristics (professional status and gender). The empirical application carried out at the University of Alicante uses Logit Models with Random Coefficients to capture heterogeneity, and shows that "cooperative learning" is a clear-cut determinant of "continuous assessment" as well as "continuous assessment plus final examination". Also, a conspicuous result, which in turn becomes a thought-provoking finding, is that professional status is highly relevant as a teacher's engagement is closely related to prospects of stability. Consequently, the most relevant implications from the results revolve around the way academic institutions can propose and implement inducement for their teaching staff.

Motorcycle Safety Research Project Interim Report 2 : Review of the Consistent Assessment Process (CAP)

Motorcycle trauma is a serious road safety issue in Queensland and throughout Australia. In 2009, Queensland Transport (later Transport and Main Roads or TMR) appointed CARRS-Q to provide a three-year program of Road Safety Research Services for Motorcycle Rider Safety. Funding for this research originated from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission. This program of research was undertaken to produce knowledge to assist TMR to improve motorcycle safety by further strengthening the licensing and training system to make learner riders safer by developing a pre-learner package (Deliverable 1), and by evaluating the Q-Ride CAP program to ensure that it is maximally effective and contributes to the best possible training for new riders (Deliverable 2), which is the focus of this report. Deliverable 3 of the program identified potential new licensing components that will reduce the incidence of risky riding and improve higher-order cognitive skills in new riders. This report provides a summary of Deliverables 2.1 through to 2.4.

The impact of teaching models, group structures and assessment modes on cooperative learning in the student design studio

As a result of ever diminishing teaching resources, an increasing number of architectural educators are setting group design projects, rather then spreading their time thinly over a large number of individual projects. This allows them to co-ordinate longer and more in-depth review sessions on a smaller number of assignment submissions. However, while the group
model may offer an authentic learning model by reflecting design in practice, the approach is not without its obvious shortcomings as a teaching archetype for the assessment of the knowledge and skill competencies of individual students. Hence, what is clear is the need for a readily adoptable andragogy for the teaching and assessment of group design projects.
The following paper describes the background, methodology and findings of a Strategic Teaching and Learning Grant funded research project carried out in the year 2005 at the School of Architecture and Building at Deakin University. The project aimed to inform a change of classroom/studio practice governing the assemblage, teaching and assessment of student design teams. The development through these changes of cooperative and student centred learning principles focused on effective design collaboration and fair assessment should, it will be argued, lead to an enhanced group-learning experience in studio, which will subsequently and ultimately enhance professional practice.

Delivery and assessment strategies to improve on- and off-campus student performance in structural mechanics

This paper considers the delivery and assessment strategies used in two structural mechanics units at Deakin University, a leader in distance education in Australia. The two units have had unacceptably high rates of student failure. Student perceptions of the delivery method were analysed and an investigation was carried out of the performance of 329 (173 on- and 156 off-campus) students enrolled in the two units. An analysis of the assignment, laboratory and examination marks is presented. Consideration is also given to the total marks. The results show that on-campus students performed better in structural mechanics than their off-campus counterparts. Plots of the distributions of student performance for the three assessment methods are provided (for each unit) and high failure rates are linked to low examination marks. Students tended to perform best in assignments and worst in examinations. Parametric statistical tests show a correlation between the marks obtained in continuous assessment and in examinations, and it is therefore proposed that, in order to improve performance, the students must be encouraged to participate fully in all aspects of the course. Many students were unenthusiastic about laboratory practical sessions and did not think they aided their understanding of the theoretical material. Motivation to participate is often dependent on the perceived relevance of a given task and its contribution to the total mark and, thus, to help motivate students to participate fully in the continuous assessment tasks, the authors propose several changes to the delivery methods, as well as to assessment criteria and marking schemes.

Factors that determine the level of commitment of our teaching staff when the implementation of continuous evaluation system takes place

Comunicación presentada en CIDUI 2010, Congreso Internacional Docencia Universitaria e Innovación, Barcelona, 30 junio-2 julio 2010.

Assessment of Competences in the Physical Chemistry Area: Use of the Department Teaching Portfolio

Competences have become a standard learning outcome in present university education within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In this regard, updated tools for their assessment have turned out essential in this new teaching-learning paradigm. Among them, one of the most promising tools is the “learner´s portfolio”, which is based on the gathering and evaluation of a range of evidences from the student, which provides a wider and more realistic view of his/her competence acquisition. Its appropriate use as a formative (continuous) assessment instrument allows a deeper appraisal of student´s learning, provided it does not end up as another summative (final) evaluation tool. In this contribution we propose the use of the portfolio as a unifying assessment tool within a university department (Physical Chemistry), exemplifying how the portfolio could yield both personalized student reports and averaged area reports on competence acquisition. A proposed stepwise protocol is given to organize the individual competence reports and estimate the global competence level following a bottom-up approach (i.e. ranging from the class group, subject, grade, and academic course).