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Assessment for learning has been extensively researched in the past two decades. However, its applications as a means of classroom-based assessment, especially for promoting teaching and learning of writing, have been underrepresented in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) portfolio settings. This paper aims to critically review the extent to which assessment as learning (AaL), used as an alternative to high-stakes assessment, can support writing instruction and student learning. Drawing upon the evidence from educational assessment and EFL writing, the paper argues that AaL, when advocated in classroom-based portfolios, can promote teacher competence in teaching writing, student motivation for learning, and text improvement. AaL hereby refers to students’ ongoing development of cognitive and metacognitive capacity in self-evaluating their writing ability within a portfolio-based environment. Implications regarding how AaL can be successfully utilized to facilitate the development of students’ language aw...

The literature available on the relationship between student attendance and attainment is inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is some empirical evidence to suggest that attendance is a determinant of academic performance and progression. Colby published results of a study which examined the relationship within a single year 1 undergraduate module, and his findings showed a strongly significant relationship between attendance and attainment. However, Colby's article, along with countless other attendance studies, suffers inherent data collection limitations that are associated with paper‐based attendance monitoring and manual data entry. UniNanny® is an electronic attendance monitoring system developed at the University of Glamorgan, which boasts high‐quality data and minimises disadvantages associated with paper‐based methods. The purpose of this study was to corroborate, or otherwise, the findings of Colby, though on a much larger scale, evaluating 22 first year modules within four separate award programme...

This study is part of an exploratory research project on first-year university students' metacognition. Using data from structured interviews, the investigation examines the way university students describe, judge and justify their cognitive strategies. This paper explores in particular the relationship between students' metacognition and their academic performance. In a sample of 35 economics students, a relationship was found between performance and some students' metacognitive knowledge characteristics. In particular, it was found that high achieving students seem to be aware of more cognitive rules and to evoke metacognitive knowledge about cognitive processes and cognitive results more frequently (for instance, justification of a cognitive rule by an anticipated cognitive result). Their metacognitive knowledge also seemed more structured and hierarchically organised; for instance, high achieving students describe more frequently their cognitive strategy as a complex sequence including several relationships (temporal, alternative, etc.). A cluster analysis also unfolded five metacognitive profiles: these profiles associate different performance levels with students' metacognitive knowledge characteristics, their learning conception and their attribution modes. This paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the results for ‘learning to learn’ programmes. It is suggested that the main objective of these programmes should be to foster students' reflection on their own learning.

This paper contributes to research on teaching excellence by extending the current body of literature pertaining to mentoring pedagogies in undergraduate research settings across diverse so...

This paper uses a 2016/2017 sample of 1107 freshly minted university graduates from a public and a private university in Malaysia. Against a backdrop of an institutional setting very much different...

This paper examines factors affecting parental expectations of higher education prospects for their children using Australian household survey data. We find that a variety of factors influence pare...

Time control plays a critical role within the online mastery learning (OML) approach. This paper examines the two commonly implemented mastery learning strategies – personalised system of instructions and learning for mastery (LFM) – by focusing on what occurs when there is an instructional time constraint. Using a large data set from a postgraduate finance course offered at an Australian university, we explore students' online quiz-completion patterns, then empirically investigate whether the imposition of an instructional time constraint in the OML approach has an impact on their final-examination performance. Our results suggest that the LFM strategy with an instructional time constraint has a positive impact on students' learning behaviour and contributes to better overall academic performance. Further, our findings suggest that facilitators should be encouraged to implement an instructional time constraint when adopting an OML approach.

This paper describes the socio-economic and ethnic origins of students attending university in New Zealand and examines the effects of these origins on academic performance and progress. A broad conclusion is that social and ethnic origins have a very significant effect on the likelihood of students entering university, but it is only ethnic origin which bears any relation to academic performance once students have made the decision to attend. Based on case-study interviews, the paper suggests that parental influence is the major positive force in students' decisions to enter university. Even in a relatively classless society social origins still exert a powerful influence on educational aspiration.

Summary The paper discusses the procedures adopted in preparing a class-list for degrees in physics: it is based on two surveys recently carried out by the author. Topics discussed are: the use of a ‘total mark˚s as the basis of the class list; the composition of this mark in terms of written examinations, laboratory work, and other course work; the use of marks relating to work done before the final year; and the character of the questions set in a sample of final examination papers. Considerable variations in practice between one department and another are shown to exist, and doubts are raised about the validity of the average degree examination as the basis for the award of a qualification to give professional standing.

Mixed mode study provides the possibility for students to follow a single programme of studies by switching between full-time and part-time in keeping with their current personal situation. It has been available within some schemes in the UK Public Sector HE system for about a decade. Possibly because of the limited numbers involved and its incorporation within large full-time schemes, very little data have been published on its impact. Nevertheless mixed mode study has many potential attractions which deserve to be more widely understood and evaluated. This paper attempts to evaluate the situation since 1982 for one scheme, where the prime usage of mixed mode study has, to date, been to redeem previous underachievement. Comparisons are made with national data on part-time degree provision. The paper concludes with a summary of possible trends in mixed mode provision following recent developments in credit accumulation, assessment of prior learning and learning contracts.

This paper examines individual and institutional characteristics which may influence the outcomes of university students’ careers. Withdrawals, course changes, delays and graduations of students enrolled in first-cycle degree courses in a large public university in Italy are examined. Individual longitudinal data from administrative archives were used, taking into account both the temporal dimension and the organisational and structural characteristics of the degree courses. Results indicate that the profile of a successful student is defined by both socio-demographic factors and pre-university educational experience. At course level, restricted access to courses, study fields and course size were important for students’ university careers.

This paper seeks to discover whether the performance of university students has improved in the wake of the changes in higher education introduced by the Bologna Declaration of 1999 and the construction of the European Higher Education Area. A principal component analysis is used to construct a multi-dimensional performance variable called the LEArning Society-adapted Outcome Index. A quantile regression is then applied to ensure that the analysis does not focus solely on average figures, and the performance of students of various types is analyzed. Significant improvements are found in the acquisition of systemic and interpersonal skills and in student satisfaction but not in cognitive aspects. There are improvements in students of all types, but they are smaller among the best students.

This paper explores the transitions that a group of students, admitted from further education colleges as part of broader widening access initiative at a Scottish research-intensive university, made across the lifetime of their degrees. It investigates how they negotiate their learning careers beyond the first year, and how they (re)define their approaches to independent learning as they progress to the later years of their courses. Evidence is drawn from 20 students who were interviewed during each of their three or four years of study to provide a longitudinal account of their experiences of engagement and participation at the university. We draw attention to three ways in which the students made transitions across the course of their degrees: to increased knowledge of the conventions of academic writing; to enhanced critical skills; and to practical strategies to prioritise learning.

The paper tests longitudinally the hypothesis that educational subcultures in terms of which students interpret their role and their educational setting affect the probability of dropping out of higher education. A logistic regression model was performed to predict drop out at the beginning of the second academic year for the 823 freshmen of a three-year bachelor degree in psychology at an Italian university. The model uses both measures of students' educational subculture and incoming levels of knowledge and skills. The probability of dropping out was used as dependent variable. Results show that the probability of dropping out is significantly associated with students' educational subculture – but not with their incoming level of knowledge and skills. Our results suggest the need to recognize the meaning as a legitimate variable of research and of intervention in the field of educational success.

Higher education in business school environments is increasingly focused on how to best equip students with the skills necessary for leadership in the global workplace. This paper examines the impact of two particularly important cognitive capabilities - task reflexivity and intercultural sensitivity, on academic performance in an MBA programme. It was hypothesised that in an intercultural learning environment, task reflexivity would be associated with higher academic performance, and that this relationship would be mediated via intercultural sensitivity. Questionnaire data from 77 MBA students was analysed alongside academic performance. Results demonstrated that task reflexivity was indirectly related to academic performance through intercultural sensitivity. These findings suggest that engagement in task reflexivity enables students to develop greater levels of intercultural sensitivity, allowing them to reap the positive effects of diversity in their peer group for their own learning and performance. Limitations and practical implications of the research for professional practice are discussed.

The dropout rate is an indicator of complex analysis and there is no consensus on its significance. Universities lack systematized, univocal methods for collecting student dropout data, making measurement problematic. In consequence, the formulas applied to analyze this phenomenon differ between countries and it is therefore an immense challenge to perform comparative studies. The aim of this paper is to provide a general overview of student dropout in Spain and in Catalonia compared to other international university contexts. Compiled data come from several reports produced by national and international organizations as well as by a research project funded by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU). The perspective provided on how this phenomenon is being studied and dealt with in several contexts may help design actions to increase student retention and performance in higher education institutions (HEIs).

It has been widely claimed that UK students from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds but nevertheless having the potential to benefit from a degree programme are being denied higher education places because of their relatively poor paper qualifications. As a consequence, the claim continues, students from independent schools have an advantage in the competition for such places. Universities have responded to such claims, and incentives from the government to do so, by introducing widening participation programmes, but very little research has been done which explores whether students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are admitted to elite universities perform as well as their counterparts with better entry qualifications. Using a large data set from one university, this article explores performance by students at A‐level and their first and final university years. Students from independent schools performed better at A‐level than those from state schools, but not at their university examinations, other ...

This paper reports on some results of a survey about students' learning styles. There were 672 valid responses from a sample of students in the three Brisbane universities. The valid response rate was 31%. The students surveyed were studying one of four selected principal disciplines. Findings indicated that students in the first third of their studies adopted learning styles that were similar to each other irrespective of main discipline. However, the learning styles of students in the final third of their studies tended to be related to the discipline which had formed the primary focus of their studies. These results are explained in terms of behavioural adaptation with reference to Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle. The implications of the results for enhancing students' learning experiences are discussed. Some general applications for teachers, students, course designers and administrators are proposed.

In this paper conditional offers made by universities to candidates resident in England and Wales and taking A levels are analysed. The analysis was conducted at Lancaster University as part of a larger research project funded by the Training Agency during 1988–89, whose main aims were to map the pattern of admissions policies and practices and to examine the rationales, constraints and incentives affecting them. Our aim was to discover for each subject whether or to what extent the level of conditional offers made was related to the gender, age, social class, or school/college of the applicant, to the choice position (1–5) in which the university was placed, or to differences between universities. Four subjects were examined (electrical engineering, English, mathematics and sociology), and substantial differences in conditions were found which could be associated with some or all of the above factors. For all four subjects, variations between universities in the magnitude and direction of these ...

In this paper we provide a theoretical perspective of higher education and employment, of programmes offered in institutions of higher learning and of the relationship between higher education and participation in the labour force. We also discuss the role of vocational training following graduation and then go on to examine the opportunities available for graduates in Botswana with regard to vocational training, in-service courses and higher education. On the basis of empirical evidence we observe that the selection of graduates for postgraduate training is based on academic achievement at undergraduate level, and that the opportunity for further study is dependent upon the number of years spent in employment. We also observe that those graduates who went for further training were in jobs that were nearly commensurate with their fields of specialisation at undergraduate level. In view of the large variety of training needs for the work-place, it is apparent that the University of Botswana is not...

This paper raises issues concerning the relationship between student assessment and the values which academic institutions propagate. It argues that many current assessment practices are incompatible with the goals of independence, thoughtfulness and critical analysis to which most academics would subscribe; that forms of assessment which are commonplace are not consistent with the behaviour of academics in their own contributions to knowledge; and that there is evidence to suggest that the assessment policy of many departments undermines deep approaches to learning on the part of students. Some indications are given of possible strategies to address the problems which have been identified, drawing upon ideas from academic and professional practice in general and self-assessment and peer review in particular.

Streaming refers to the practice of dividing up a group of students on the basis of previous educational experience or achievement, and subjecting the different subgroups to different educational experiences. At the secondary school level, convincing arguments have been brought to bear against the practice. However, the analysis contained in the paper concludes that these arguments are not valid in the context of universities. Two case-studies of streaming in the departments of accountancy and physics are presented. Generally, the streaming arrangements led to greater staff and student satisfaction with the courses, and there is some evidence that students performed better academically under the streamed conditions. It is concluded that streaming in the first year of university may be beneficial, but that pressures for efficiency may act against its implementation.

Summary This paper is concerned with the promotion of higher-order cognitive skills in higher education through small semi-independent student groups (‘syndicates˚s). In a review of the literature, evidence is assembled to show that in certain circumstances syndicate work produces striking results in the development of higher-order skills. Various contributory factors suggested by different authors to account for the effects in ‘successful˚s and ‘unsuccessful˚s classes are reported and a list is drawn up of the kinds of observations that need to be made to define the conditions.

Professional examinations in Accounting have acquired a reputation for notoriously low pass rates. This paper focuses on academic Accountacy courses in higher education and investigates the relative success of Accountancy students. Analysis of data for University and CNAA first degree awards since 1971 shows systematic variation in the distribution of Honours degree classifications across subjects with persistently poor results in Accountancy. Across both sectors of higher education Accounting graduates obtained a lower proportion of ‘good˚s degrees (i.e. first and upper seconds) than any other major subject over the five year period 1976–80. This is particularly significant in the context of the recent Exposure Draft of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales which argued that Accounting graduates who had achieved only a lower second class have “probably demonstrated that accountancy is not their forte˚d. Moreover, “employers will run considerable risks of training students w...