Assessment of Student Achievement in Undergraduate Education (ASA)

该项目正在为中小企业和技术培训课程使用网上评估开发更好的做法和工具。内布拉斯加大学林肯分校（UNL）非常适合这样的项目。五年多来，教师和学生越来越多地使用基于网络的评估系统，企业文凭（EDU），基于UNL创建的软件。在UNL基于Web的评估活动的水平，在教学内容开发，软件开发和机构的承诺，使这个校园在这一领域的突破性进展肥沃的网站。在2000 - 2001学年，EDU软件在30多门课程中使用，有8 500多名学生使用。此外，这一基于网络的评估系统的早期版本已在全国公布，并被各种中等后教育机构采用。该项目致力于评估、扩大和加强这一评估系统的使用。因此，它有助于提高学生对基础数学、统计学、物理学、天文学和地质学的学习和满意度，并使教师能够通过增加对学生技能和能力的了解来改进教学实践和课程设计。本项目的目标是：1）评估系统地使用不同的基于网络的评估对学生学习和动机的影响; 2）开发和测试新的问题套件和问题类型，以允许更复杂的评估，并对问题和学生评估的档案进行详细的项目分析; 3）制定一个实施方案，包括个人辅导和培训讲习班，以准备教师使用EDU。该项目的最终产品将是Web-这些材料将通过提议小组与传统教科书和软件出版商建立的联系，和/或通过开放源码、“作者共享”式的网络手段在全国范围内传播。该项目还将进行教育研究，提出改进基于网络的评估做法的建议，有可能改善全国本科院校的SMET教学和学习。基于网络的评估允许学生在以学生为中心的环境中练习，失败，成功和发展熟练程度，并使教师能够评估和响应学生的需求，并相应地调整教学。然而，尽管这一想法很有吸引力，而且教育大学在内布拉斯加大学林肯分校（以及其他学校的类似产品）很受欢迎，但大多数关于其有效性或可能缺乏有效性的证据都是轶事。本项目的重点是评估EDU在大型基础课程、一年级和二年级100名以上学生的班级中的有效性和使用情况。这些课程通常是本科生第一次接触SMET学科。大学生在大学的经历可以深刻地塑造他们对科学、数学和工程的态度和期望。

This project is developing improved practices and tools for the use of Web-based assessment in SMET courses. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is singularly well suited for such a project. For more than five years faculty and students have been making increasing use of a Web-based assessment system, Enterprise Diploma (EDU), based on software created at UNL. The level of activity with Web-based assessment at UNL, in pedagogical content development, software development, and institutional commitment, makes this campus a fertile site for groundbreaking advances in this area. During the 2000 - 2001 academic year, the EDU software was in use in more than 30 courses, and was used by more than 8,500 students. In addition, earlier versions of this web-based assessment system have been published nationally and adopted by a diverse range of postsecondary institutions. This project is engaged in assessing, expanding, and enhancing the use of this assessment system. Thus it is contributing to the improvement of student learning and satisfaction with basic math, statistics, physics, astronomy, and geology, and enabling instructors to improve instructional practices and course design as a result of increased knowledge of their students' skills and abilities. The objectives of this project are to: 1) Assess the effects of systematically varied use of Web-based assessment on student learning and motivation; 2) Develop and test new question suites and types of questions that allow more complex assessments, and conduct detailed item analysis on the archives of questions and student assessments; 3) Develop an implementation program that includes individual coaching and training workshops to prepare instructors to use EDU.The ultimate products of this project will be Web-based pedagogical assessment materials for introductorySMET courses that will be disseminated nationally through the proposing team's established links with traditional text-book and software publishers, and/or through open-source, "authorshare"- style Web-based means. The project also will produce educational research leading to recommendations for improved practice of Web-based assessment, with the potential to improve SMET teaching and learning in undergraduate institutions nationwide. Web-based assessment allows students to practice, fail, succeed and develop proficiency in a student-centered environment and enables instructors to assess and respond to student needs and tailor instruction accordingly. Yet, despite the attractiveness of the idea and the popularity ofEDU at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln (and of similar products at other schools), most of the evidence of its effectiveness, or possible lack of effectiveness, is anecdotal. It is vital to experimentally measure and test its effectiveness as an assessment tool in SMET courses.This project will focus on assessing the validity and use of EDU in large foundational courses, first- and second-year classes with enrollments of 100 or more students. These classes are often the first encounter undergraduates have with SMET disciplines. The experience of undergraduates in them can shape their attitudes and expectations about science, math and engineering in profound ways.