To the question about learning outcomes and methods of their evaluation in higher educational institutions

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To the question about learning outcomes and methods of their evaluation in higher educational institutions

Olga Plakhotnik, Dr of Sci. (Pedagogy), Prof.

Ольга Плахотнік, д-р пед.наук, проф.

Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, Київ, Україна

Алла Кондратюк, канд.пед. наук, доц.

Вінницький національний медичний університет ім. М.І. Пирогова, Вінниця, Україна

Надія Ханіна, канд.пед. наук, доц.

Жетисуський університет ім. І. Жансугурова, Талдикорган, Казахстан

ЩОДО ПИТАННЯ ПРО РЕЗУЛЬТАТИ НАВЧАННЯ ТА МЕТОДИ ЇХНЬОГО ОЦІНЮВАННЯ В ЗАКЛАДАХ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ

Досліджено результати навчання для системи освіти на міжнародному, національному та інституційному рівнях.Проналізовано значення та підходи до оцінювання результатів навчання згідно з новою системою і структурою європейських кваліфікацій. Розглянуто типи оцінювання результатів навчання, їхні критеріі та практичне значення. Наведено матеріал, який дозволив виділити головні переваги і можливі проблеми реалізації системи навчання, що базується на результатах навчання, роль яких у сфері вищої освіти помітно зростає.Однак на європейському рівні цей процес зосереджено в основному на загальних розробках нових систем і структур.Підтвердженням цьому є підхід, який базується на результатах навчання, за яким узгоджено рівень европейскоїполітики і, зокрема, на рівні політики в закладах вищої освіти. Результати навчання можуть бути застосовані на різних рівнях: інституційному, національному і міжнародному, але детермінують їхню дефініцію та значення. На інституційному рівні результати навчання (реалізація навчального плану, навчання і оцінювання) можна використати для виражения результатів навчання на рівні одиниці чи модуля.При цьому вони пояснюють учням, що саме від них вимагається, а також, які навички/компетенції і здібності вони отримають після успішного завершення навчання.Для викладача результати навчання можуть прояснити, що саме дасть модуль і як об'єднається з відповідним виставленням оцінки.Вимога зробити процес викладання і навчання більш прозорим і більш чітким є спільною проблемою для всіх, хто отримує освіту.У найближчій перспективі це пов'язано з підготовкою до невідкладного завдання формулювання модулів і програм щодо результатів навчання.У більш довгостороковій перспективі реалізація підходу на базі результатів навчання уможливить прийняття більш системного підхіду до розробки програм і модулів.

Ключові слова: заклади вищої освіти, європейський освітній простір, оцінка, результати навчання, критерії оцінювання.

Introduction

control education european qualification

The searches carried out in the direction of improving the control system are ongoing. We see the changes in the assessment systems that are being introduced into the practice of modern secondary and higher education: forms and methods of control (from testing to computer technology); changes in control systems are applied and developed by the joint efforts of scientists, educators, practitioners, methodologists and officials of educational management structures.

The developments and innovations in the field of the assessment systems are based on the study of the rich pedagogical heritage, including outstanding teachers of the past, didactics, psychologists and methodologists, the study of experience in organizing control of leading educational institutions, both present and past.

The change in the assessment system in higher education was significantly influenced by the legal documents related to Ukraine's accession to the Bologna Agreement (2005) and the introduction of the credit-module assessment system (ECTS).

The expediency of the evaluation system in the field of education is that the evaluation results allow employees of local education departments, school principals, high school teachers and teachers to improve the essence of educational programs and the quality of the educational process. This also applies to the activities of nongovernmental educational organizations that oversee the implementation of educational projects.

The term "assessment" is quite flexible and can provide many types of evaluations. However, all variants of the use of this term have one thing in common - they all mean the assessment of a certain action or phenomenon.

Learning outcomes are playing an increasingly prominent role in high education. So far, however, at the European level, the Bologna Process has focused mainly on the generally agreed development of new systems and structures. The evidence is as follows: a learning outcomes approach based on consensus at the European policy level and often at the policy level in the EU member states, is now adapting more slowly in the higher education sector.

Coordinated formulations of general and specific competencies or adapted to national and local conditions are gradually being introduced into the reform of courses and modules of higher education. Even if learning outcomes have a rather limited impact on higher education in the present, a huge shift in the reform of teaching and learning in higher education in the long term can be proven. The agreed formulations of higher education learning outcomes still have limited the impact. Though, this may change in the medium / moderate and long term perspective with significant impact on higher education teaching and learning.

Analysis of recent researches and publications.In recent years, the European community has been actively developing the principles and criteria for the implementation of qualifications in the European education area. Numerous seminars and conferences are held, projects are being implemented and as a result of these events several textbooks, guidebooks and reports have been written on the basis of which the working commissions develop strategies for the implementation of principles, strategies as well as criteria in practice. The reports by S. Adam [Adam, 2004, 2006], guidebooks by J. Bingham [Bingham, 1999], P Ramsden [Ramsden, 2003], works by J. Biggs [Biggs, 2003], S. Brown [Brown, 1999], R.M. Harden [Harden, 2002], [ECTS Users' Guide, 2005, 2009] and [Cedefop report, 2008] are the most famous among them. The evidence collected in the listed works shows that learning outcomes currently have a limited impact on the methods of assessment in higher educational institutions and, therefore, there is no universal system, criteria for assessing the knowledge and skills of students regardless of specialization. This problem requires more attention from researchers, politicians and practitioners. Recent reforms in some countries (e.g. Norway, Finland) have fostered interesting case studies based on the way of learning outcomes presentation as an effective method of guiding assessment practice, replacing more traditional concepts such as course completion and subject matter assessment tests.

A review of the literature on learning outcomes presents a number of similar definitions of the term "learning outcomes", including the following: a) learning outcomes - a clear description of what a student should know, understand and be able to do as a result of learning [Bingham, 1999]; b) the learning outcomes is a written statement of what the successful student must be able to do at the end of the module / unit of the course or qualificatio [Adam, 2004]. Various definitions of learning outcomes do not differ significantly from each other. According to these definitions it follows that: learning outcomes emphasize what the student has achieved, not the teacher's intentions; learning outcomes focus on what the student can demonstrate at the end of the learning activity.

Presentation of the main positions

The following definition [ECTS Users' Guide, 2005, p. 47] of learning outcomes can be considered to be a good working definition: learning outcomes are statements that a learner should know, understand and / or be able to demonstrate after completing the learning process. The learning process can be, for example, a lecture, a module or the whole program.

Learning outcomes can be applied at different levels: institutional, national and international which determines their definition and the meaning. At the institutional level, learning outcomes (curriculum implementation, learning and assessment) can be used to express learning at the unit or module level. In doing so, they explain to students what is expected of them and what skills / competencies, understandings and abilities they will acquire upon successful completion of the training. For the teacher, learning outcomes can clarify what a module will provide and combine this with an appropriate delivery and assessment method.

At the national level, learning outcomes (qualifications frameworks and quality assurance) play a more active role in providing insight into the ways in which national qualifications frameworks are described and the tools used to describe them. Quality control is improving as explicit guidance of standards can emerge from level descriptions, qualification descriptors and subject tests.

Internationally, learning outcomes (transparency, recognition and comparability) play a different role, they are much broader and less precise than national descriptors compared to the European Qualifications Framework (as descriptors of the Bologna cycle). However, the provision of common approaches used by different states within their own national systems opens up the possibility of real transparency, mobility and fair recognition on a scale that was not possible in the past [Adam, 2004].

Learning outcomes are expected to have an impact on grading styles. The most popular assessment approach relies heavily on cycle-based assessment, such as using the student's portfolio, presenting projects and assignments that the student prepares in coperation with teachers or trainers, and formative assessment of the learning experience. Even if learning outcomes are less influential in assessment than in some other aspects of education and reform preparation, active learning is defined as a new and increasingly dominant paradigm. It goes without saying the the following question arises: what types of assessment can be applied. The solution can be found in combination with the assessment of the active learning cycle, which implies the need for formative assessment, as well as the creation of a culture of self-assessment as an explicit part of the learning assessment [Cedefop, 2008].

While describing learning outcomes, it is important to present them in such a way that they can be assessed. Importantly, it is necessary to have some samples of methods or ways of assessment in order to determine the extent to which learning outcomes have been achieved. The use of written exams, project papers, portfolios, graded grading systems, abstract, presentation assessment, etc can possibly be the example of direct assessment methods The employer surveys, benchmarking, alumni surveys, curriculum analysis, etc., can be the examples of indirect assessment methods.

The teacher's task is to ensure consistency between teaching methods, assessment methods, assessment criteria and learning outcomes, which helps to make the learning experience more transparent. The assessment of undergraduate courses shows that clear expectations are an important part of effective teaching. Lack of clarity in this area is almost always associated with negative assessments, learning difficulties and poor student performance. Toohey (1999) recommends a clear statement of assessment methods and criteria as the best way to help students understand how they should achieve learning outcomes.

From a teaching and learning perspectives, there is a dynamic balance between learning strategies on the one hand and learning and assessment outcomes on the other. It is important that the graded objectives reflect the learning outcomes, as "from the students' point of view, the assessment always determines the actual curriculum" [Ramsden, 2003]. This situation can be presented as a process [Biggs, 2003] as follows:

Teacher's perspective: Objectives - Desired learning outcomes. - Teaching. - Assessment.

Students perspective: Evaluation - Performance Study - Results.

Assessment is often described in terms of formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment has been described as an assessment for learnin as well as an assessment of the issue "refering to all activities conducted by teachers and students in assessing themselves, which provides information to be used as feedback for changing / modifying the teaching and learning activities in which they are involved "[Black and Williams, 1998]. In other words, formative assessment helps inform the teacher and students about how students are progressing.

Formative assessment is usually carried out at the beginning of the program or during the program. The student's commitment to grading tasks can help the teacher make decisions about the direction of learning and the improvement of the learning process. Research has clearly shown [Black and Williams, 1998] that by providing student feedback, formative assessment can help improve student learning and achievement.

Key characteristics of formative assessment include:

• Identification by teachers and students of learning outcomes and criteria for their achievement.

• Providing clear and complete feedback in an effective and timely manner.

• Active involvement of students in their own learning.

• Positive communication between teacher and students.

• The correspondence of the teacher to the needs of the students.

In summary, formative assessment is more of a learning process than a grading one. A final grade is an assessment that attempts to take stock of a student's learning at a specific point in time - usually at the end of a module or program. The final assessment sums up achievements and has no real value other than describing what has been achieved [Brown and Knight, 1994].

Thus, the use of a final grade allows the creation of a degree that reflects the student's commitment. Unfortunately, the final grade is often limited to the traditional paper exam and does not involve other methods such as a project, portfolio or essay. Due to the nature of the final grade, not all learning outcomes can be assessed at any given time. The evaluating of only a sample of learning outcomes is common.

In theory, continuous assessment is a combination of summative and formative assessments. In practice, continuous assessment often consists of repeated final grades with written grades, but little or no feedback is provided to students. The importance of the assessment methods to try to test whether or not the learning outcome is achieved is obvious. The range of student grades was found to be very limited with approximately 80 % of the grades received in the form of exams, essays and reports (Brown, 1999).

Developing links between learning outcomes, learning strategies, student activities and assessment assignments is a very challenging task for the educator. The following Table 1 can help you develop these links and assessments.

Table 1Teacher and student perspectives on assessment