|
'What do you think about'?: Formative Assessment Practices at University
|
| Presenter(s):
|
| Serafina Pastore, University of Bari, serafinapastore@vodafone.it
|
| Abstract:
In the light of the changes which have affected the Italian University system so far, a new evaluation practice is widely standing out. It mainly aims to embrace the students' opinions about the formative services provided/received within a University degree course.
Higher education assessment does not attract the scholars' current research interests. As a result, learning assessment seems to be practised more as a bureaucratic tool: this kind of evaluation is useful to collect data about student's characteristics (expectations, motivations, etc.), teacher's quality, but it is not really functional to student's learning.
I will present findings of a multiple case study conducted at the Faculty of Education, University of Bari. The paper will examine a common evaluation belief and its related problems, but also different conceptions and practices of assessment which reflect different values and purposes (both for teachers and for students).
|
|
Assessment of Degree Awarding Powers in Sweden - Methods and Examples
|
| Presenter(s):
|
| Tomas Egeltoft, The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, tomas.egeltoft@hsv.se
|
| Robert Östberg, The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, robert.ostberg@hsv.se
|
| Abstract:
In the Swedish higher education system all Higher Education Institutions must apply to the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education for entitlement to award professional degrees on all three academic levels, e.g. for engineering, medical and different teacher degrees.
In the assessment process the Agency is using an external expert group consisting of university teachers, students and other stakeholders. An application is reviewed towards the Swedish Higher Education Act and Ordinance, with seven given quality aspects.
In April 2010 the Swedish government decided to replace the existing teacher degree with four new degrees. The decision also included that all universities/university colleges who wanted to give one or more of these new study programs must apply for the entitlement to award the corresponding teacher degree.
The presentation contains a description of the general assessment process in Sweden, with examples from the above mentioned assessment project with a large number of applications.
|
|
Teachers' Reflections as a Means to Evaluate Teacher Performance: The Case of a Colombian University
|
| Presenter(s):
|
| Alexis Lopez, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, allopez@uniandes.edu.co
|
| Gabriel Cote, Universidad de Pamplona, Colombia, gabrielcote@yahoo.com
|
| Ruth Torrenegra, Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia, re.torrenegra26@uniandes.edu.co
|
| Abstract:
In this paper we present the results of a qualitative study that examines the use of a new teacher evaluation system to improve teaching practices. This new evaluation system requires all the teachers in the Department to reflect on their teaching practices on an ongoing basis. The evaluation system uses for instruments: 1) a teaching portfolio, 2) self-assessment of a video-taped class, 3) peer evaluation, and 4) students perceptions (course evaluation form). We found that these reflections allowed teachers to set clear performance expectations, to monitor their teaching practices, and to improve their performance in the classroom. The assessment system also allowed the Department to evaluate teacher performance and to use this information to make important decisions to improve their program. The teachers felt that this evaluation system was useful and felt empowered by their active role in the evaluation process.
|
| | |