Alternative Evaluation as a Means of Inclusion

The present study concerns a field research aiming to investigate the stances of primary and secondary school teachers in Greece about alternative assessment methods (AAM). For this purpose, 181 language teachers answered an e-questionnaire. In addition, the curricula for Greek and foreign language courses taught in compulsory state education were analysed in order to explore the type and the extension of references to AAM in them. Data analysis showed that teachers of secondary education use AAM on a more frequent basis and a larger variety of them than those of primary education. Furthermore, from data analysis resulted a strong preference of the respondents for self-assessment, portfolio, and project methods. The curricula analysis revealed extensive reference to AAM in foreign language curricula, mainly to portfolio and project. As the regression analysis indicated, teaching experience was not related to the AAM usage. However, teachers' training on AAM appeared correlated with their positive stances towards it.

Strategies for Effective Online Teaching and Learning

This chapter provides readers with a comprehensive review of strategies for effective design in online instruction. The authors explore the traditional debate between advocates and critics of online education and discuss effectiveness in retention, engagement, and overall academic performance. The chapter differentiates between “online-first” course design and emergency remote delivery, as experienced in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key factors include identifying engagement and communication strategies such as “ask me anything” sessions and tailored selection of resources. Open educational resources (OER), pre-recorded lectures, podcasts, and “online-first” textbooks are presented as appropriate and cost-conscious content options. Also included are alternative assessment ideas and universal design for learning (UDL) and accessibility guidelines. The chapter provides a continuum model for the transition of in-person courses to online instruction while conscious of both instructor workload/instructional support and expected level of learner workload and engagement.

The Use of Peer Assessment as an Inclusive Learning Strategy in Higher Education Institutions

Peer assessment (PA) is one of the most popular forms of alternative assessment currently used in higher education institutions worldwide. In the current study, PA was used as an inclusive assessment tool to enhance students' writing skills and motivation towards writing and learning in general. Forty-two undergraduate students attended an academic writing module for one academic semester. The overall aim was to develop their writing skills taking into consideration their individual differences and ensuring all students had an opportunity to succeed. Students received training in PA and were then involved in reciprocal anonymous PA. Findings indicated that learners improved their writing skills considerably and became more independent learners. Their motivation also increased as they could better understand the assessment criteria. However, they confessed that they needed more training and support and they believed that PA should also be used in other modules and courses to enhance student collaboration and reflection.

The Influence of Feedback in Different Way of Learning and the Relationship with Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition: Issues in Assessment

This paper has three components. They are feedback, the way of learning, and vocabulary acquisition. This research was based on the learning situation that teachers and students have to conduct online learning because of the pandemic Covid 19. This paper elaborates the three components mentioned before. In the process of assessment, feedback is the important part. When students learning at school, teachers will give feedback directly. The way of giving feedback in language learning will influence students’ vocabulary acquisition. But, in different way of learning, teachers cannot give feedback directly as in the classroom. This situation gives different influence in students’ vocabulary acquisition. Then teachers do the alternative assessment in the process of online learning. Keywords: Feedback, Vocabulary Acquisition, Assessment

Examining Problem-Solving and Problem-Posing Skills of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers: A Qualitative Study

The aim of this study is to examine the problem-solving processes and problem-posing skills of pre-service mathematics teachers, which consists of four stages (understanding the problem, preparing a plan for the solution, applying the plan, evaluating) defined by Polya (1997) with the progressive scoring scale based on the alternative assessment approach. Qualitative research approach has been adopted in the study. Participants of the study consist of 71 pre-service teachers studying at the department of primary education mathematics teaching at the education faculty of a state university in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Since the problem solving and problem posing behaviors of the participants were examined separately in the study, the gradual scoring scale developed by Baki (2008) was used. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the participants showed the highest performance in the category of understanding the problem, and the lowest performance in the category of evaluation and problem posing. It was determined that participants who failed in the problem posing phase either wrote the same problem or could not write a problem. Another result reached in the study is that the participants had difficulties in expressing the operations in mathematical language.

ALTERNATIF MODEL PENILAIAN NILAI PENTING PADA BANGUNAN DIDUGA CAGAR BUDAYA DI KOTA DONGGALA, SULAWESI TENGAH [THE ALTERNATIVE MODEL OF SIGNIFICANT VALUES ASSESSMENT ON SUSPECTED BUILDINGS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN DONGGALA CITY, CENTRAL SULAWESI]

Bangunan tua di Kota Donggala adalah bangunan bersejarah yang berasal dari periode kolonial. Akan tetapi, bangunan-bangunan ini hingga sekarang belum ditetapkan sebagai cagar budaya karena terbatasnya tenaga ahli cagar budaya di instansi kebudayaan Kota Donggala. Selain itu, metode asesmen penilaian bangunan diduga cagar budaya yang ada umumnya rumit dan tidak komperehensif. Tulisan ini bertujuan memberikan alternatif metode penilaian nilai penting yang sederhana untuk bangunan-bangunan yang diduga cagar budaya, dan dapat dipraktikkan pekerja bidang kebudayaan di instansi pemerintah lokal. Terdapat enam nilai penting yang diamati pada bangunan yaitu nilai sejarah, arsitektural, estetika, sosial, ilmu pengetahuan dan pendidikan. Metode penilaian menggunakan pemberian skor pada masing-masing nilai kriteria yang ditentukan. Pemeringkatan bangunan diklasifikasikan menjadi tiga peringkat yaitu utama, madya, dan minor. Bangunan yang diobservasi ialah Kantor Pusat Koperasi Kopra Daerah (PKKD) Donggala dan Gudang PKKD Donggala, dua peninggalan dari masa kolonial yang berhubungan dengan perdagangan kopra. Dari penilaian yang dilakukan diperoleh hasil yakni Kantor PKKD Donggala memiliki total skor 21 dan berperingkat madya. Gudang PKKD Donggala memiliki total skor 29 dan berperingkat utama. Dengan adanya alternatif model penilaian nilai penting yang lebih sederhana, maka diharapkan pemerintah lokal, dalam hal ini Dinas Kebudayaan yang berwenang, dapat lebih mudah melakukan asesmen awal terhadap bangunan-bangunan yang diduga sebagai cagar budaya meskipun tanpa bantuan tenaga ahli. Some old buildings in Donggala City are historical heritages from colonial period. Thus far, these buildings have not been designated as cultural heritage due to the limited number of experts in the field. In addition, assessment methods for indicated cultural heritage buildings are generally complex and not comprehensive. This research aims to provide an alternative assessment method that can be practiced by cultural workers. There are six important values observed in buildings i.e. history, architecture, aesthetic, social, scientific, and educational. This method used a score for each of those specified criteria values. Building ratings were classified into primary, intermediate, and minor. Based from the assessment, the Donggala PKKD office has a total score of 21, middle ranked. While PKKD Donggala Warehouse has a total score of 29, top ranked. This alternative model as a simpler assessment of significant values can be easily carry out by local government without the help of experts.

ASSESSMENT OF REFLECTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN PEDIATRIC SURGERY COURSE AT MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

The article is aimed at studying medical students’ reflective strategies for learning the Pediatric Surgery course at medical university. We used a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning questionnaire (Soemantri et al., 2018), which has four subscales: self-orientation, critical thinking, self-regulation, and feedback seeking. The self-orientation component deals with students’ perceptions on their self-efficacy and internal motivation. The participants were fourty-six 5-th year medical students from the Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine. The survey was held in May 2021 when the students finished their spring semester in the online mode. We observed the prevalence of high and moderate levels in all the variables, but the indicators of Feedback seeking are lower which can be explained by the specificities of online learning. The authors propose methodological recommendations for educators how to create an environment for reflective learning to develop students’ reflective skills and employ alternative assessment strategies in the classroom.

The Effect of Peer Assessment and Collaborative Assessment on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Ability

As an attempt to shed more light on the effectiveness of alternative assessment in second language learning, the current study sought to explore the effects of peer assessment (PA) and collaborative assessment (CA) on the Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing ability. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 36 Iranian EFL learners studying English at Kadous English Language Institute in Rasht, Iran, were homogenized as intermediate learners based on their performance on Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The final pool of qualified candidates was assigned to one control and two experimental groups comprising 12 learners. All the participants sat for a pretest of L2 writing so that their initial level of writing could be appraised and their homogeneity in writing could be determined. The experimental groups received treatment on English writing through utilizing PA and CA strategies. On the other hand, the control group was taught through the conventional method (i.e. teacher assessment, TA). At the end of a twelve-session experiment, a post-test measuring the effectiveness of the treatments and the participants' writing ability was administered. The results of descriptive and inferential analyses revealed a statistically significant difference among CA, PA, and TA strategies. The results also demonstrated that the CA and PA groups outperformed the control group. However, the CA group performed significantly better than the PA group. Based on the findings of this study, language teachers, materials developers, and education authorities can concentrate on employing CA as the main strategy to foster the writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. However, PA may also be utilized to teach writing where possible.

Examining Problem-Solving and Problem-Posing Skills of Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers: A Qualitative Study

The aim of this study is to examine the problem-solving processes and problem-posing skills of pre-service mathematics teachers, which consists of four stages (understanding the problem, preparing a plan for the solution, applying the plan, evaluating) defined by Polya (1997) with the progressive scoring scale based on the alternative assessment approach. Qualitative research approach has been adopted in the study. Participants of the study consist of 71 pre-service teachers studying at the department of primary education mathematics teaching at the education faculty of a state university in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Since the problem solving and problem posing behaviors of the participants were examined separately in the study, the gradual scoring scale developed by Baki (2008) was used. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the participants showed the highest performance in the category of understanding the problem, and the lowest performance in the category of evaluation and problem posing. It was determined that participants who failed in the problem posing phase either wrote the same problem or could not write a problem. Another result reached in the study is that the participants had difficulties in expressing the operations in mathematical language.