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The paper presents a narrative on the state of the question about the teaching and assessment of generic soft skills through Virtual Environments (VEs) in universities, based on consultation of scientific journals in electronic and printed format published between 2000 and 2014, as well as research projects focused on the development of generic skills through VEs. The paper summarises the theoretical and empirical contributions as a way of providing a greater insight into a line of research that began barely a decade ago. Soft skills related to student training, when combined with specific skills, enable better performance in personal, academic, social and organisational settings. This premise implies the need to consider the development of new methodologies for teaching, learning and assessment of soft skills. Results include the value of soft skills in training university students, as well as the development of innovative projects focused on the provision of teaching and assessment procedures that are feasible and effective for the achievement of soft skills assessment in VEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that serves as a guide to develop a curriculum and instructional strategy that is systems oriented and student-centric. Design/methodology/approach -- The framework is based on the theories in the field of education by prominent researchers. The framework is divided into four sub-systems, input, process, output, and feedback. While the input, process, and output sections discuss basic elements critical in students' learning, the feedback section suggests how the learning environment can be controlled and corrected based on student learning outcomes. Findings -- The paper presents a framework for the student to graduate transformation process in institutions of higher education based on fundamental premise that this process is an ecosystem consisting of several interlinked and interacting sub-systems. A key driver of the transformation process should be a feasible set of expected competencies that the global market place for talent expects of college graduates. These market-valued competencies can be used to define the success of the curriculum, course design, and instructional techniques and determine the sufficiency of the resource allocation by the institution of higher education to specific academic and supporting programs. Originality/value -- The framework that is based on integration of well-grounded theories in the field of education. Thus it adds value to the development of curriculum that is needed by the education institutions to excel and compete in the global and dynamic academic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is a novel course in the curriculum for students in the Information Technology (IT) degree program at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. In comparison to other IT-related courses, the Entrepreneurship course seeks to develop business management knowledge and skills; its learning design is thus different to that of other courses in the IT program. The concept of constructive alignment for curriculum renewal suggests that there are several components of good course design. In this paper, we use the principles of constructive alignment to analyze and redesign several components of the Entrepreneurship course. The focus is on reviewing and aligning the assessment tasks to ensure an effective evaluation and the achievement of student learning outcomes. Since assessment drives student learning, we describe the innovative assessment tasks that were implemented to enhance student learning, provide the rationale for the design of these tasks as supported by the current literature, and reflect on possible future improvements. The course redesign process and the constructive alignment and innovative assessment can be applied to other courses in the field, and more broadly to curriculum, teaching, and learning in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how assessment practices in higher education can improve or hinder learning. An example is given to illustrate some common educational practices that may be contributing to underpreparation and underperformance of students. Elements of effective learning environments that may better address underlying metacognitive issues are discussed. The principles of the Berkeley Evaluation & Assessment Research Assessment (BEAR) System are introduced, and their use to improve learning is described in the context of the UC Berkeley ChemQuery project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Martell and Calderon (2005), assessment is an ongoing process that involves planning, discussion, consensus building, reflection, measuring, analyzing, and improving based on the data and artifacts gathered about a learning objective. Assessment encompasses a range of activities including testing, performances, project ratings, and observations (Orlich, Harder, Callahan & Gibson, 2004). Impacting education from early childhood through graduate studies, the assessment movement is based on standards and outcomes, measuring results, and holding educational institutions accountable for student learning. Oversight bodies and accrediting agencies are beginning to require the establishment of learner-centered outcomes that reflect the well-rounded knowledge, competencies, and abilities preferred in today's students; the alignment of curriculum to reflect the desired progression and cognitive development of learners; the collection of data that demonstrates the satisfaction of learning objectives; and the use of assessment information to inform decision making (Buzzetto-More, 2006). The use of information technologies and e-learning strategies can provide an efficient and effective means of assessing teaching and learning effectiveness by supporting traditional, authentic, and alternative assessment protocols (Bennett, 2002). According to Vendlinski and Stevens (2002) technology offers new measures for assessing learning that will yield rich sources of data and expand the ways in which educators understand both learning mastery, and teaching effectiveness. The use of information technologies and e-learning to augment the assessment process may include: pre and post testing, diagnostic analysis, student tracking, rubric use, the support and delivery of authentic assessment through project based learning, artifact collection, and data aggregation and analysis. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the origins, evolution, and key concepts of assessment as well as illustrate some of the ways in which technology and e-Learning serve as the most promising mechanisms for satisfying assessment goals and objectives. This work is based on an exhaustive review of literature, the analysis of a number of critically acclaimed assessment programs, as well as the authors' own work in the development and use of e-Learning in the design, and implementation of an assessment program at a mid-sized institution of higher education located in the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland in the United States. The program being profiled includes computerized longitudinal testing, online diagnostic testing, competitive networked simulations, rubrics, student discussion transcripts, taped presentations, and electronic portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]