Large Scale Assessment in Education

Subject EDUC90206 (2013)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2013.

Credit Points: 25
Level: 9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2013.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 36 hours for internal mode students. External mode students can expect a total workload of approximately 240 hours.
Total Time Commitment: Not available
Prerequisites: Basic statistics such as those taught in Quantitative Methods.
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Objectives, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Contact

Margaret Wu
Subject Overview: This subject reviews educational measurement and assessment studies that focus on learning outcomes and the factors that influence those outcomes. It investigates the links between research questions with policy issues; ways to formulate these and link them to conceptual frameworks. Topics include sampling designs, sample size and weighting; defining who and what to measure; data quality and treatment of omitted and missing data; longitudinal and cross sectional studies, causality and correlation, measures of growth, value added analyses, implications of hierarchical data structures and analyses, and reviews of research and evaluation reports.
Objectives: By the completion of this subject, students are expected to:
  • Understand the typical steps taken in large-scale assessments in educational contexts, including data collection, data analyses and reporting
  • Understand issues surrounding large-scale assessments, including the impact of the assessments educationally and politically
  • Understand technical aspects of large-scale assessments, including test design, sampling, confidence level of estimates and scaling methodologies
Assessment: Weekly online discussion topics (3,000 words in total) will be supplemented by a 2,000 word paper designing an assessment based study and a 3,000 word review of a report of a large scale study.
Prescribed Texts: None
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: To equip students with skills and understanding necessary to conduct large scale survey research.
Links to further information: www.education.unimelb.edu.au

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