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Introduction: This study investigates the log data and response behavior from invigilated in-person electronic timed exams at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Germany. The primary focus is on understanding how various factors influence the time needed per exam item, including item format, item difficulty, item discrimination and character count. The aim was to use these results to derive recommendations for designing timed online distance examinations, an examination format that has become increasingly important in recent years. Methods: Data from 216,625 log entries of five electronic exams, taken by a total of 1,241 veterinary medicine students in 2021 and 2022, were analyzed. Various statistical methods were employed to assess the correlations between the recorded parameters. Results: The analysis revealed that different item formats require varying amounts of time. For instance, image-based question formats and Kprim necessitated more than 60 s per item, whereas one-best-answer multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and individual Key Feature items were effectively completed in less than 60 s. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between character count and response time, suggesting that longer items require more time. A negative correlation could be verified for the parameters "difficulty" and "discrimination index" towards response time, indicating that more challenging items and those that are less able to differentiate between high- and low-performing students take longer to answer. Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for careful consideration of the ratio of item formats when defining time limits for exams. Regarding exam design, the literature mentions that time pressure is a critical factor, since it can negatively impact students' exam performance and some students, such as those with disabilities, are particularly disadvantaged. Therefore, this study emphasizes finding the right time limits to provide sufficient time for answering questions and reducing time pressure. In the context of unsupervised online exams, the findings of this study support previous recommendations that implementation of a stringent time limit might be a useful strategy to reduce cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ondokuz Mayis University Journal of Education is the property of Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article explores student agency underpinning the survey course, HIST 1700: American History, based on the Choose Your Own Grading Adventure concept. Topics discussed include student agency in the college history classroom, assignments in HIST 1700 including quizzes, academic article analyses and primary source reading grids, and the advantages and disadvantages of the Choose Your Own Grading Adventure concept.

Copyright of Verwaltung und Management: Zeitschrift für Moderne Verwaltung (VM) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study is to experimentally capture the semantic, syntactic, and phonological properties of recursive compounds in English. We asked 22 native speakers of English to judge the semantic, syntactic, and phonological properties of 20 recursive compounds that are inherently ambiguous in interpretation (e.g., university entrance exam). We found variations among the participants in each of these three basic aspects. For semantic interpretation, there was a tendency among the participants to prefer left-branching interpretation ('an exam for university entrance') over right-branching interpretation ('an entrance exam in a university'). Using a lexical integrity effect for the syntactic tests, it was found that certain recursive compounds allow for coordination inside. Phonologically, speaker variation was observed in whether and how recursive compounds were pronounced, with 16 participants obeying the Lexical Category Prominence Rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In recent advancements in artificial intelligence, ChatGPT by OpenAI has emerged as a versatile tool capable of performing various tasks; however, its application in medicine is challenged by complexities and limitations in accuracy. This article aims to compare ChatGPT's performance with orthopedic residents at Gazi University in a multiple-choice exam to assess its applicability and reliability in the field of orthopedics. Methods: In this observational study conducted at Gazi University, 31 orthopedic residents were stratified by experience level and assessed using a 50-question multiple-choice test on various orthopedic topics. The study also evaluated ChatGPT 3.5's responses to the same questions, focusing on both the correctness and reasoning behind the answers. Results: Orthopedic residents tested, ranging from 6 months to 5 years in experience, scored between 23 and 40 out of 50 in a multiplechoice exam, with a mean score of 30.81, varying by seniority. ChatGPT provided correct answers for 25 out of 50 questions, showing consistency in different languages and times, but also exhibited limitations by giving incorrect responses or stating that the correct answer was not among the choices for some questions. Conclusion: While ChatGPT can accurately answer some theoretical questions, its effectiveness is limited in interpretive scenarios and in situations with multiple variables, although its accuracy may improve with updates over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine how visually impaired students navigate university examinations, identifying the obstacles they encounter and proposing ways to improve accessibility. The accessibility of examination systems for students with visual impairments is a critical issue in higher education, requiring ongoing efforts to ensure equitable academic opportunities. Participants included 10 visually impaired students from the Department of Special Education at the University of Education, Lahore, enrolled in various higher education programs. Using qualitative methods, specifically focus group discussions, the study examined their experiences and aspirations regarding examination accessibility. Findings reveal significant issues such as delays in obtaining Braille versions, difficulties with complex diagrams, and improperly formatted digital texts. While assistive technologies like screen readers and Braille displays are helpful, they often face technical issues, highlighting the need for regular updates and better technical support. Recommendations include the timely provision of accessible materials, increased availability of support personnel, enhanced communication, and practice sessions with accommodations to boost preparedness and confidence. Addressing these challenges will create a more inclusive and supportive examination environment, ensuring equitable opportunities for visually impaired students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses some challenging perspectives related to offering take-home exams in mathematics at university level. The challenges arose during work on a previous article where four perspectives originating from Bjerrum Nielsen's framework (2003) were used to analyze universities' assessment methods during the Covid lockdown in our country. The perspectives had some ethical considerations that were beyond the scope of the previous work. They include social, ethical but also personal aspect of the students involved. We raise a discussion and conclude that the arguments lead to new questions that need to be followed up. We finalize the article with an argument as to why the discussion is important even in a post Covid situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Document image retrieval (DIR) systems simplify access to digital data within printed documents by capturing images. These systems act as bridges between print and digital realms, with demand in organizations handling both formats. In education, students use DIR to access online materials, clarify topics, and find solutions in printed textbooks by photographing content with their phones. DIR excels in handling complex figures and formulas. We propose using ensembles of DIR systems instead of single-feature models to enhance DIR's efficacy. We introduce "Vote-Based DIR" and "The Strong Decision-Based DIR". These ensembles combine various techniques, like optical code reading, spatial analysis, and image features, improving document retrieval. Our study, using a dataset of university exam preparation materials, shows that ensemble DIR systems outperform individual ones, promising better accuracy and efficiency in digitizing printed content, which is especially beneficial in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education is evident, with conversational models like ChatGPT poised to reshape teaching and assessment methods. The rapid evolution of AI models requires a continuous evaluation. AI-based models can offer personalized learning experiences but raises accuracy concerns. MCQs are widely used for competency assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate ChatGPT performance in medical microbiology MCQs compared to the students’ performance. Methods: The study employed an 80-MCQ dataset from a 2021 medical microbiology exam at the University of Jordan Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) Medical Microbiology 2 course. The exam contained 40 midterm and 40 final MCQs, authored by a single instructor without copyright issues. The MCQs were categorized based on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy into four categories: Remember, Understand, Analyze, or Evaluate. Metrics, including facility index and discriminative efficiency, were derived from 153 midterm and 154 final exam DDS student performances. ChatGPT 3.5 was used to answer questions, and responses were assessed for correctness and clarity by two independent raters. Results: ChatGPT 3.5 correctly answered 64 out of 80 medical microbiology MCQs (80%) but scored below the student average (80.5/100 vs. 86.21/100). Incorrect ChatGPT responses were more common in MCQs with longer choices (p  =  0.025). ChatGPT 3.5 performance varied across cognitive domains: Remember (88.5% correct), Understand (82.4% correct), Analyze (75% correct), Evaluate (72% correct), with no statistically significant differences (p  =  0.492). Correct ChatGPT responses received statistically significant higher average clarity and correctness scores compared to incorrect responses. Conclusion: The study findings emphasized the need for ongoing refinement and evaluation of ChatGPT performance. ChatGPT 3.5 showed the potential to correctly and clearly answer medical microbiology MCQs; nevertheless, its performance was below-bar compared to the students. Variability in ChatGPT performance in different cognitive domains should be considered in future studies. The study insights could contribute to the ongoing evaluation of the AI-based models’ role in educational assessment and to augment the traditional methods in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Campus Virtuales is the property of Campus Virtuales and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Recent research has emphasized that achievement motivation is context-sensitive and varies within individual students. Ubiquitous temporal landmarks such as exams or deadlines are evident contextual factors that could systematically explain variation in motivation. Indeed, research has consistently found that university students increase their study efforts as exams come closer in time, indicating increasing study motivation. However, changes in study motivation for a specific exam as it comes closer have rarely been investigated. Instead, research on developmental changes in expectancy and value beliefs has consistently founds that achievement motivation declines over a semester. Surprisingly, declining motivation thus apparently coincides with increasing study efforts for end-of-semester exams. Methods: The present research investigates this apparent contradiction by assessing how exam-specific motivation and study behavior change under equal methodological conditions as an exam draws closer. Using parallel growth curve models, we examine changes in expectancy-value beliefs, performance approach and avoidance motivation and study behavior as well as motivational want- and should-conflicts among 96 students over eight weekly measurement points. Results and discussion: Results show that students study more for their exam as it comes closer and increase their use of surface learning strategies more rapidly than their use of deep learning strategies. However, even exam-specific expectancy and attainment value beliefs decline while performance-avoidance motivation increases over time, indicating that students increasingly study out of fear to fail as exams come closer. Consistent with these findings, students' experience of should conflicts decreases while their want conflicts increase over time. We discuss several possible mechanisms underlying our findings in addition to potential theoretical consequences and suggest future research opportunities to better understand students' changes in situative motivation and study behavior in the context of temporal landmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the world digitizing and moving at a fast pace, framing questions for examinations or learning is a time-consuming process and requires a lot of critical thinking. Questions we solve in the exams, for instance, school and college level examinations, are similar to the last year papers and contain repeated questions with little or no paraphrasing or modifications. Educators spend a significant amount of time in preparing question papers to come up with creative brainstorming questions. Automation has become a vital aspect of life. New technologies are coming up every day to minimize manual work and make everything automated with just a click. Considering the present pandemic scenario, education is now internet based and exams are being conducted online. Most of the examinations are based on multiple choice questions and these questions are, in most cases, taken from popular quizzing websites. This practice makes it easier for students to find the correct answer without even studying the subject and increases malpractices. We propose an automatic solution to the issue of making questions that will save time and energy and also promote proper learning with our model "A.Q.U.A - Automated Questions Unique Arrangement. It is a machine learning model that uses transformers for natural language processing and generating meaningful and understandable questions from the given context. A.Q.U.A will be of great use in online assessments, school level and university level exams, as well as competitive exams. It'll be also helpful for students and learners to take practise tests for a topic and evaluate their knowledge in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative assessment techniques are needed to align with shifting approaches to learning that center peer interaction. Furthermore, it is critical to understand how collaborative assessments work for students belonging to historically marginalized groups. This study reports the perspectives of four mixed race and Latina/Hispanic women regarding peer interaction and group exams in university mathematics courses. Three primary themes emerged from interviews: (a) benefits of communication during group exams, (b) challenges of working with peers during group exams, and (c) consideration of gender balance when assigning exam groups. These findings have implications for how college instructors implement collaborative exams in intentional ways that benefit students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cumhuriyet International Journal of Education is the property of Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cumhuriyet International Journal of Education is the property of Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nothing is known about the effectiveness of defaults when moving the target outcomes requires substantial effort. We conduct two field experiments to investigate how defaults fare in such situations: we change the university exam sign-up procedure in two study programs to "opt-out" (a) for a single exam, and (b) for many exams. Both interventions increase task uptake (exam sign-up). Concerning the outcomes which require effort, we find no effects for many exams. For a single exam, the opt-out increases task completion (exam participation) in the study program where the default arguably entails stronger endorsement. Within this program, the effects on successful task completion (exam passing) are heterogeneous: treated students who in the past were willing to communicate with the university (responsive individuals) invest more effort into exam preparation and are more likely to pass the exam than their control counterparts.For non-responsive individuals, we find increased sign-ups but no effects on the target outcomes. Defaults can thus be effective and may be an attractive policy option even when the target outcome requires substantial effort provision. It is, however crucial that the interventions target the appropriate individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was twofold : to determine pre -university talented students’ perceptions, strategy use, and challenges of reading comprehension section of the university entrance exam and to investigate the difference between low and high -achieving talented readers in strategy use and attitudes to reading. The participants were 121 EFL students at pre -university centers for talented students in Borujen, Iran. The instruments were three questionnaires on reading strategy, reading attitude, and reading difficulty followed by five open -ended questions. The results revealed that talented students used metacognitive strategies more than affective and cognitive strategies; most talented readers had positive attitude to reading; and their most frequent challenges were insufficient vocabulary knowledge, inability to adapt their speed to allotted time, decentralization, and ineffective study. The results of backward stepwise binary logistic regression also indicated that high and low achieving talented readers were different in retrieval and anxiety -coping strategy use and reading self-efficacy. The findings have implications for teachers of talented students to consider their diversities and orient their teaching toward individual characteristics through providing instructional varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When applying to a university, students and their parents devote considerable time acquiring information about university programs in order to form preferences. We explore ways to reduce wasteful information acquisition, that is, to help students avoid acquiring information about out‐of‐reach schools or universities, using a market design approach. Focusing on markets where students are ranked by universities based on exam scores, we find that, both theoretically and experimentally, a sequential serial dictatorship mechanism leads to higher student welfare than a direct serial dictatorship mechanism. This is because the sequential mechanism informs students about which universities are willing to admit them, thereby directing their search. Our experiments also show that the sequential mechanism has behavioral advantages because subjects deviate from the optimal search strategy less frequently than under the direct mechanism. Furthermore, providing historical cutoff scores under the direct mechanism can increase student welfare, especially when the information costs are high, although the observed effect is weaker than that of a sequential mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first aim of this research is to investigate preservice science teachers' scientific literacy skills in terms of university entrance exam scores, academic achievement average scores, grade levels and academic achievement levels. And the second one is to determine the predictive power of university entrance exam scores and academic achievement average scores on scientific literacy skills. In line with these listed aims of the research, this study was carried out in survey design of the quantitative paradigm. 154 preservice science teachers constituted the participants of this research. The participants' skills scores were obtained with "Scientific Literacy Skills Test" and the research hypotheses were tested statistically. Results revealed that participants' scientific literacy skills differed in favor of upper classes, there was significant but low relationship between their skills and academic achievement average scores. In addition, it was found that participants' university entrance exam scores did not significantly predict their skills, academic achievement average scores significantly predicted their skills but at a low rate (7%) and there was no significant relationship between their university entrance exam scores and skills. In line with these results, suggestions were made regarding the revision of universities' science teaching programs with the object to advance preservice science teachers' scientific literacy skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been recently the main target in research on sports psychology. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relation between self-report measures of emotional intelligence, pre-competitive anxiety, and performance among students during the physical education exam of the high school final year. This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 350 students attending the physical education exam in the year 2021--2022. Analysis of the correlations between the scores of Emotional intelligence and anxiety showed that self-confidence was positively correlated with all dimensions of Emotional intelligence (Beta = 0.524; p = 0.000). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the most related items to performance were self-confidence in a positive direction (r = 0.56; p = 0.000) and negatively with somatic anxiety (r = -0, 39; p = 0.000). Considering the Emotional intelligence subscales, hetero- emotional management was significantly positively associated with performance (p = 0.000) however emotional perception was negatively correlated with performance (p = 0.003). These results demonstrate the importance of social and emotional learning programs for improving self-confidence and better management of emotions during physical education and sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Classroom-based learning such as academic half days (AHDs) are complementary to workplace learning in postgraduate medical education. This study examined three research questions: the purpose of AHDs, elements of an effective AHD, and factors that make AHD sustainable. Methods: We conducted a case study of the AHD in a large Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program at the University of British Columbia. Residents were interviewed in 2013 (n = 11) and 2018 (n = 7) and the program administrator was interviewed in 2018. The themes in each research question were identified by modified inductive analysis. Results: Residents expressed that the purposes of AHD included: providing organization and an overview for their knowledge acquisition; preparation for their Royal College specialty exam; and to provide a venue for peer support and mentorship. Elements of an effective AHD include the repetition of key concepts; formative assessments such as quizzes, a suitable balance of faculty input and resident active participation, and protection from clinical duty during AHD. Regarding the sustainability of AHD, themes included: addressing barriers to faculty participation, providing administrative support for logistical needs, and providing feedback to faculty. Conclusions: This work provides important insights into the purpose, effectiveness, and sustainability of AHDs for those who design and implement classroom learning for residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism & Management Studies is the property of Escola Superior de Gestao, Hotelaria e Turismo, Universidade do Algarve and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Typically, the problem of scheduling exams for universities aims to determine a schedule that satisfies logistics constraints, including the number of available exam rooms and the exam delivery mode (online or paper-based). The objective of this problem varies according to the university’s requirements. For example, some universities may seek to minimize operational costs, while others may work to minimize the schedule's length. Consequently, the objective imposed by the university affects the complexity of the problem. In this study, we present a grouping-based approach designed to address the problem of scheduling the exam timetable. The approach begins by profiling the courses’ exams based on their requirements, grouping exams with similar requirements to be scheduled at the same time. Then, an insertion strategy is used to obtain the exam schedule while satisfying the imposed constraints of the targeted university. We applied this approach to the problem of exam scheduling at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan and achieved a balanced exam schedule that met all the imposed constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate whether the Covid‐19 lockdown affect pain, exam anxiety and general anxiety in students preparing for university exam. A total of 364 students were divided into groups as high school seniors (HS, n = 241) and high school graduates (HG, n = 123). Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for neck and low‐back pain, Beck Anxiety Inventory for general anxiety, Exam Anxiety Scale (EAS) for exam anxiety were used. Both groups showed high level of exam anxiety and generalized anxiety (p <.05). After Covid‐19, neck and low‐back pain rates, and VAS pain scores of both groups increased (p <.05). Neck pain before Covid‐19 and neck and low‐back pain after Covid‐19 were higher in female students than males (p <.05). The Covid‐19 lockdown negatively affected the neck and low‐back pain level, exam anxiety and general anxiety of both HS and high school graduate students. We suggest that community healthcare services should regard physiotherapy and rehabilitation interventions to treat students with neck and low‐back pain via exercise strategies. Psychological and emotional support also could be provided to reduce students' general anxiety and exam anxiety. Future studies should establish the consider menstrual cycle status in female students, and the computer‐using time of students. Practitioner points: Covid‐19 lockdown negatively affected the exam anxiety and general anxiety of high school senior (HS) and high school graduate students preparing YKS exam.The levels of neck and low‐back pain were increased in HS and high school graduate students during the Covid‐19 lockdown.Rehabilitation strategies including online communication, motivation, and physical activity support for students preparing for the exam could help students overcome the negative impact during the challenging Covid‐19 lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Higher educational institutes (HEIs) are experiencing a significant shift towards online education, which has been fast-forwarded with the global pandemic of COVID-19. The forced shift has also exposed many vulnerabilities in online education, especially assessments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential dark side of the digital transformation of examinations through the lens of university students. Design/methodology/approach: This study involves a sample of 127 university students from the fields of business and science, technology, education and management (STEM) and the key factors affecting student perception were assessed quantitatively to explore the interrelationships. Findings: Results revealed that both business and STEM students have a similar impression of the use of online examinations, and the majority still have mixed feelings about them as a replacement for physical examinations. The regrouping of the factors revealed two key dimensions, trustworthiness and apprehensible education, as key areas of student perception in the context of online examinations. Research limitations/implications: This study aims to strengthen the understanding of Kolb's experiential learning mechanism through a discussion on the importance of abstract conceptualization as opposed to concrete experience in the establishment of the online assessment and learning space. Practically speaking, increasing investment in internet infrastructure and forming strategic alliances with important parties, like internet providers, to create uninterrupted network coverage, are an effective place to start if one wants to make sure that the process of moving to online learning is becoming more and more accepted by educators, students, and the general public. Originality/value: The online transition to higher education has seen expedited growth since the pandemic and has not given much room for many HEIs globally to adjust. The procedures and techniques implemented take a Western lens, and less attention is given to the emerging context and its context-specific characteristics in such implementation. This study takes the theoretical lens of Kolb and proposes the key learnings for a successful online transition to assessment in emerging contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study attempted to explore any potential association between test anxiety and mental well-being among high school students preparing for the university admission exam in times of the pandemic. Methods: The sample of this correlational study consisted of 427 senior high school students in Caycuma district of Zonguldak, Turkey. The data were collected online using a demographic information form, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, and the Westside Test Anxiety Scale between April-May 2021. Results: Our findings revealed student gender, paternal education, availability of a personal room and computer, and motivation for online classes to be factors associated with test anxiety. Besides, we discovered parental age, maternal education and employment, the device used for online classes, perceived effectiveness of distance education, and motivation for online classes to be linked with mental well-being among students. Conclusion: In a nutshell, several factors were discovered to contribute to test anxiety, including student gender, paternal education, availability of a personal room and computer, and motivation for online classes. The findings also suggested some noteworthy factors influencing students' mental well-being, such as parental age, maternal education and employment, the device used for online classes, perceived effectiveness of distance education, and motivation for online classes. Finally, we uncovered a significant negative association between the participating students' test anxiety and mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian education sector is booming with increasing number of students enrolling for various educational courses for acquiring higher education. The competition for lucrative jobs adds to the pressure on students to perform in competitive exams for higher education and other skill development courses.Query As a result, students turn to Private Coaching Classes also called Shadow Education and Private Supplementary Tutoring for additional help. Equally competitive environment exists for shadow or coaching institutes. They too face demanding customers which exerts a lot of pressure on them to achieve academic excellence. In this study, quality management perspective was applied to institutional practices along with Interpretive Structural Model methodology and MICMAC technique for developing a framework to enhance students' learning and academic performance in shadow institutes for higher education. Attempt has been made to construct a hierarchical structural model for decision making which takes into account all strategic issues and their interrelationships encountered by shadow institutions. This model or structure if implemented can also help shadow institutes to achieve sustained growth in a highly competitive and dynamic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to design a quality management tool in education. The methodology comprises two stages: first, the construction of the decision tree model, and second, the efficiency evaluation. For the validation and development of this research, the data modelled corresponds to the standardized exams for higher education in Colombia of ninety industrial engineering degrees. Among the results, the citizenship skills (CC_PRO) generate the most significant contribution to the model. On the other hand, the written communication competence (CE_PRO) generates a minor contribution to the model. In addition, the most relevant result of the research is the design and validation of a tool to estimate educational efficiency using the efficiency analysis tree (EAT) and data enveloping analysis (DEA) models. The proposed tool allows the generation of specific targets to increase the level of efficiency of universities through the nodes of the decision tree, which contributes to the spectrum of knowledge on models for educational management. In conclusion, this research presents a tool for the management of educational processes through the analysis of efficiency using EAT, estimating the efficiency of universities and setting the foundations for forecasting future efficiency scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matura is an important high-stakes examination present in the Polish education system since the late 18th century. It is taken on completion of high school and is compulsory for those who want to apply for higher education. As a result of an examination reform, in 2005 the exam took on a new form. Since then it has been a professional, external, standardised assessment used for the analysis of school and student performance, and - most importantly - in lieu of university entrance exams. The article looks at the evolution of the foreign language component of the Matura exam over the last six decades: from an internal test prepared by local authorities and by schools, assessed arbitrarily by the test-takers' teachers, to a professional examination prepared by expert institutions in compliance with quality standards and assessed by trained markers according to elaborate grading criteria. The paper follows the changes occurring in the assessment starting from 1960 up to 2023, when another examination reform brought about new modifications in the foreign language exam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the returns to test scores from the 2009 Vietnamese National Entrance Examination to University (NEEU) of individuals born in 1991. We investigate their labour outcomes in terms of hourly wage and employment measured in 2018 or 2020. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the standardized test score on the NEEU is associated with a 9% increase in wage rate 9–11 years later. The results also suggest that mathematics test scores have a significant correlation with labour outcomes in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professor Peter Valentin Tomazic, a renowned allergist and rhinosurgeon from Graz, Austria, has passed away. He was highly respected for his professional qualities and was known for his kindness, support of junior members, and dedication to his work. Professor Tomazic was an accomplished scholar, academic teacher, and a recipient of numerous awards and grants. He was a valued member of various medical societies and served on the editorial board of the journal Allergy. His loss is deeply felt by the global allergology community, and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to describe the productivity of the learning management system in the context of organizational development by utilizing intelligent education that applies the latest technological innovations. The researcher uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach, which will be the focus of the research, followed by interviews and observations, and qualitative data analysis such as manipulation and interpretation techniques that are related to a wider range. There are four research results, including (a) Learning management system as a lecture material platform; (b) Learning management system as assignment submission platform; (c) Learning management system as a discussion forum platform; and (d) Learning management system as a college exam platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Higher Education Research is the property of Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Higher Education Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study and implementation of music art teaching quality monitoring systems as a major teaching management project in Chinese colleges and universities has been in continuation for a decade. An essential challenge in the management of colleges and universities is that how to assess the teaching abilities of music and art professors fairly and objectively. The system is designed and implemented by separating the front end and back end of browser + server to provide examination services in the way of cloud computing. This system primarily gathers the students' multidimensional data including sound intensity, pitch, and beat. Then a grey neural network is used to analyze the students' sound intensity, pitch, and beat. After evaluation process, the scores of the final examination in colleges and universities are uploaded to the backstage server in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Essay writing is an important skill in both first and foreign language learning. Argumentative writing in particular is an important aspect of final examinations in upper secondary school as well as university entrance exams (e.g., TOEFL®). Despite of their importance, argumentative writing competencies have rarely been investigated empirically in the context of large-scale educational assessments. One reason is that the process of rating the essays, which is needed to obtain valid scores, is both time-consuming and expensive, requiring a large amount of well-trained human raters. To reduce the cost of scoring essays, computerized automated scoring techniques can be applied to approximate the score given by the expert human raters. For that purpose, linguistic text features can be analyzed with computer-based algorithms and then combined using machine learning techniques (i.e., gradient boosting or regression analyses) to predict human scores. The present research illustrates this approach, highlighting the potential of automated scoring methods by applying regression analyses and gradient boosting to an existing data set of students' essays. We analyzed a sample of N = 2179 essays written by students in upper secondary schools in Germany and Switzerland (grade 11). We used the open-source software CTAP to code 173 linguistic features automatically. These linguistic features were used to predict the scores given by expert human raters trained by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Results showed the accuracy of the prediction to be satisfactory (r =.75; percentage of exact agreement: 42%) and comparable to the scores computed by a commercial software by ETS (e-rater®; r =.81; percentage of exact agreement: 42%). Our study shows similar results for linear regression analysis and gradient boosting as two different strategies to predict essays scores. Opportunities and challenges of automated essay scoring in the context of foreign language assessment and its application in the school context are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares and analyzes the questions and problems of Genetics raised between 2010 and 2019) in the university entrance exams of four autonomous communities (Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia). After analyzing the 160 tests collected, it is found that there are differences between the communities both in the structure of the tests, the presence or not of certain contents and their evaluations in the correction. In relation to Genetics problems, differences between communities are also appreciated and certain aspects that can be improved from the didactic point of view are maintained. The need to modify the entrance exams is raised according to the desirable equity of the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the exam booklet distribution plan for the Higher Education Institutions Exam (HEIE) is studied. The accurate distribution plan is important to decrease the transportation cost and use the capacity efficiently. The exam booklets distribution should be considered as capacitated vehicle routing problem (VRP). In this context, the aim of this paper is minimizing the cost/distance of distribution from the depot where exam booklets are kept to the schools with capacitated vehicles. The case of Gaziantep city with 135 nodes (one depot and 134 schools) is considered. To model and solve the problem, a mixed integer programming (MIP) model is developed and applied. Due to large size of the problem, the VRP tool of Esri ArcGIS (wellknown geographic information system (GIS) software) and OR-tool of Google are also applied to get an acceptable solution in a reasonable time. Finally, the proposed three distribution plans are compared each other and the results are discussed. Our numerical results show that the tools of Esri ArcGIS and OR-tool of Google decreases the total route distance by 8.21% and 3.02% compared to the MIP model, respectively. One of the main contributions of the paper is to show the applicability of network analyst tool of Esri ArcGIS and OR-tool of Google on a real-case CVRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Higher Education & Science / Yüksekögretim ve Bilim Dergisi is the property of Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit Universitesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Thus, we have: I For what values of q has the equation i Graph HT ht I equal roots? A quick division yields Graph HT ht which is "the same for all circles." This amounts to requiring that Graph HT ht . [Extracted from the article]

Students who experience mathematics anxiety have long been suggested to engage in avoidance behaviors that negatively impact their mathematics performance. However, little is known about how these avoidance behaviors manifest for highly anxious students within the context of a mathematics course. Since the use of effortful study strategies has been shown to be an important predictor of students' academic outcomes, we investigated whether highly mathematics-anxious college students would be less likely to utilize such strategies during exam preparation compared to their less-anxious peers. To measure this, we asked college students (N = 72) enrolled in introductory Calculus to complete a battery of anxiety-related surveys and to retrospectively report how they studied for the final exam in their Calculus course. Using theories of achievement emotion as well as recent research showing a relation between mathematics anxiety and students' planned exam preparation behavior, we hypothesized that students experiencing mathematics anxiety would retrospectively report less engagement with effortful study strategies during exam preparation compared to their less-anxious peers. In line with our hypothesis, we found that solving practice problems was viewed by students as being one of the most effortful ways to prepare for a mathematics examination, and that mathematics anxiety was negatively associated with the proportion of study time students allocated to solving practice problems during exam preparation. These findings highlight the significant relation between mathematics anxiety and students' self-regulated exam preparation behaviors, marking it as an important topic to consider when investigating ways to improve the mathematics performance of highly mathematics-anxious individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few empirical studies have investigated the relationship between textbooks and high-stakes exams despite the significance of both in language teaching and learning. The mismatch between EFL textbooks and high-stakes exams in linguistic foci may lead to further washback effects and additional mental as well as financial burdens to teachers and learners. This study aims to examine whether the high-school textbooks distributed by the Ministry of Education align with the highstakes university entrance exams for the past decade in Turkey. Corpus-based analyses were conducted to compare the lexical and syntactic complexity of the texts from high-school level EFL textbooks and university entrance English exams. The results suggested that the exam corpus presented significantly higher levels of lexical sophistication and diversity than the textbook corpus; regarding the syntactic complexity, for all 14 traditional measures and the majority of the fine-grained indices of syntactic complexity, the exam corpus presented either higher or equal levels compared to the textbook corpus. The results indicate a significant discrepancy between the textbook and exam corpus. This mismatch may create potential negative washback effects on students’ language learning. Suggestions are given for further textbook and exam designing and revising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested whether a self-support approach to satisfy basic psychological needs to increase students' basic need satisfaction, mindfulness, and subjective vitality, and decrease their need frustration, coronavirus, and test anxiety during the novel coronavirus and university final exams. Three hundred and thirty students (Mage = 21.45, SD = 2.66) participated in this 6-day long experimental study and they were randomly allocated to either experimental (self-support approach, n = 176) or control (no-intervention) condition. Students completed the targeted questionnaires at the beginning (first day of the university final exams, Time 1) middle (3 days after the beginning of the study, Time 2), and the end of study (6 days after the beginning of the study, Time 3). Compared to students in the control condition, students in the experimental condition reported higher need satisfaction, mindfulness, subjective vitality, and lower need frustration, coronavirus, and test anxiety. Through a path analysis, the experimental condition predicted positively students higher need satisfaction, which in turn, predicted their higher subjective vitality, and lower coronavirus and test anxiety at Time 3. Results highlighted the importance of a self-support approach on students' outcomes during difficult situations, that have implications for theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exams are a common part of university studies, and they often generate a significant amount of anxiety, which can increase when they are taken remotely and online. The aim of this multi-centric, cross sectional study was to provide additional knowledge on this subject. The sample consisted of 1,024 Spanish university students with a mean age of 20.34 (SD: 1.78), 66.4% of them women. They were recruited from seven different universities and six areas of study. The instruments applied were the Exams Anxiety Self-Assessment Questionnaire and the Anxiety subscale of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). For the purposes of data analysis, frequency and descriptive statistics were used. The results showed moderate to high rates of anxiety related to online and remote exams in 50.1% of the sample for generalized symptoms, levels not explicable by anxiety related to the person and their context, which was 32.9%. Anxiety is greater among women and among students in the disciplines of economics, business and law, followed by arts and humanities and health sciences. Based on the results, interventions to reduce anxiety related to online and remote examination techniques are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Teaching and learning methodologies have been a topic of concern for everyone for a decade. Dental education involves both academic and clinical understanding of subjects included in the curriculum. The study aims to determine the success of a system that could achieve the desired learning outcomes. METHODOLOGY: In this cross-sectional study 229 BDS students at five different dental colleges affiliated with the University of Health Sciences, Lahore responded to a predesigned structured questionnaire regarding the prosthodontic subject. Feedback on the Perception of students regarding prosthodontics as a subject was asked from BDS final year regular batch, before their university final exam. RESULTS: Most students found prosthodontics an interesting subject (82%). On enquiring about the level of difficulty of prosthodontics compared to other dental clinical subjects, 56.9% of students responded negatively. The majority were satisfied with the content (79.1%), delivery, and pace of the lectures (78.2%).85.4% of students reported lecture material was easy to follow and satisfactory. The highly reported useful method for learning and understanding prosthodontics was PowerPoint slides 69%, followed by group discussion 52.70%.MCQs as the mode of assessment reported positive by 75.70%, whereas 77.4% of students want to have an integrated teaching method. CONCLUSION: The majority of the students found the subject interesting but considered it difficult to understand. Further teaching methodologies must be improved to enhance the student's understanding of the subject. Better comprehension will also help in flourishing prosthodontics as a specialty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of RIE: Revista de Investigacion Educativa is the property of RIE: Revista de Investigacion Educativa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the current article is to investigate collective activity management strategies developed by the team accountable for analyzing the allocation of technical-administrative servants who have recently taken public exam at a Federal University. It emphasizes the challenges this team faces in the fight for a work management process capable of articulating health, productivity and quality in favor of a public, free, autonomous and high-quality university, within a context of dispute with mercantile pole forces influenced by the Neoliberal logic. By taking the ergological perspective and the historical-dialectical materialism as reference, the following methodological tools were here in selected: bibliographic and documental research, Meetings about the Work, and field diary. The research indicates the constant need to develop collective management strategies, through internal and external partnerships, to enable common good values by creating norms to ensure the isonomy of this process, as well as by resetting them, for the sake of workers' health and public services' improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrance exams to Japanese universities have long been criticised for creating negative "washback" on English education in high schools in Japan, as teachers have often focused their teaching efforts on teaching grammar to prepare students for these exams rather than helping students to develop competency in spoken English. Many government initiatives have attempted to reform English language education by encouraging a greater focus on speaking competency. This paper outlines the nature of the Japanese university entrance exam system, considers the phenomenon of washback, and critically reviews the body of empirical research related to washback in the Japanese context. A systematic review was conducted on articles published between 1993 and June, 2022. These articles were subjected to thematic analysis in which four broad categories were identified: learner behaviour; washback to teacher behaviour; affective factors; and washback specifically from the introduction of the listening test. Findings suggest that more empirical studies are required to understand the complex nature of washback from university entrance exams, and that future research is required to examine potential washback from four-skills testing and, in particular, from the inclusion of a speaking test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]