EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and Metrics

Online Education: Tailoring, Measuring and ‘Bridging’

ckeller — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 09:54:15 -0500

An announcement from Blackboard, a collection of studies and new techniques all attempt to improve, and assess, what students are learning online.

Disciplining Search/Searching Disciplines: Perspectives from Academic Communities on Metasearch Quality Indicators

drupal — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 12:11:34 -0500

"Quality Metrics" is an IMLS–funded research project which aims to address longstanding deficits in the formal conceptual support for and development of scholarly digital libraries. Central to attaining these goals is collecting and analyzing feedback from stakeholders in the scholarly community about the efficacy and value of key aspects of search technologies; including search interfaces, modalities, and results displays. A team at Emory University conducted this foundational research by utilizing the qualitative methodology of focus groups. In addition to an initial set of exploratory focus groups, the team conducted a second round of focus group sessions with a protoype search system specially designed for scholarly digital libraries. This paper describes the concept, objectives, methodology, and findings of the focus groups component of the Quality Metrics Project.

Portfolios, the Pied Piper of Teacher Certification Assessments: Legal and Psychometric Issues

drupal — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 11:00:02 -0500

Since about 90% of schools, colleges, and departments of education are currently using portfolios of one form or another as decision-making tools for standards-based decisions regarding certification or licensure (as well as NCATE accreditation), it is appropriate to explore the legal and psychometric aspects of this assessment device. The authors demonstrate that portfolios being used in a high-stakes context are technically testing devices and therefore need to meet psychometric standards of validity, reliability, fairness, and absence of bias.