Self-directed learning is generally considered a key competence in higher education. To enable self-directed learning, assessment practices increasingly embrace assessment for learning rather than the assessment of learning, shifting the focus from grades and scores to provision of rich, narrative, and personalized feedback. Students are expected…

While Open Digital Badges (ODBs) has gained an increasing recognition as micro-credentials, many researchers foresee the role of ODBs as an innovative learning tool to enhance learning experiences beyond that of an alternative credential. However, little research has explored this topic. The purposes of this paper are to 1) argue that one way to…

This paper seeks to categorize and analyze the organizational culture and organizational culture components -- leadership style, decision-making modes, standards of performance, evaluation strategies, perception of students, organizational unit, goal definition, and source of authority -- in a predominantly private higher education sector. By…

Higher education institutions are increasingly looking to implement online and distance learning (ODL) options for students. Professional development for the design of ODL is needed to support these strategies. This study explores how, in what ways, and to what extent, design for ODL approaches from a series of Learning Design & Course…

The aim of this article is to illuminate and discuss evaluation and evaluation systems in relation to the pace of change. It is argued that evaluation promotes and accelerates change. The article will thus contribute to a critical scrutiny of evaluation as a societal phenomenon and as a widespread practice in education. To accomplish this aim, the…

SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) Analysis, even though it enables analyzing the internal and external environment that is effective in the process of organizations and institutions to make strategic decision, is a method that has some deficiencies in terms of measurement and assessment. In order to eliminate the deficiencies of…

Online learning has been growing steadily as an essential instructional mode in most higher education settings. In response to its popularity, many studies have been conducted to provide a better understanding of how learning occurs in this environment. Various frameworks and theories have been adopted to examine learning in this environment.…

Holistic student learning has been a hallmark of U.S. higher education since the early 20th Century when the American Council on Education (ACE) published the "Student Personnel Point of View" (SPPV) in 1937, reaffirming time and again that learning happens both inside and outside of the classroom. To consider students' holistic…

In this article, the authors report on the results of a three-year study they conducted on assessment practices in general education courses at Duke University as part of a three-institution (Duke, the University of Kansas, and the University of Nebraska) research project funded by the Spencer Foundation. At all three institutions, researchers…

Self-efficacy beliefs have proven to be an important influence on an individual's learning success. Badging is increasingly an element of innovative technologies for educational computing such as MOOCs, adaptive learning systems, smart learning environments, game-based learning, and gamification, among others. However, there is not strong evidence…

The central role that assessment plays is recognised in higher education, in particular how formative feedback guides learning. A model for effective feedback practice is used to argue that, in current schemes, formative feedback is often not usable because it is strongly linked to external criteria and standards, rather than to the processes of…

Educational technologies such as Google Earth have the potential to increase student learning and participation in geoscience classrooms. However, little has been written about tying the use of such software with effective assessment. To maximize Google Earth's learning potential for students, educators need to craft appropriate, research-based…

Policy discussions about funding in higher education focus primarily on revenues needed to balance budgets from year to year, rather than on how funds need to be invested to meet strategic priorities. The data in "Trends" show that the incremental approach to fundraising and spending has resulted in a slow disinvestment in core…

Assessing the quality of undergraduate student learning continues to be a priority in U.S. postsecondary education. Although variations in outcome assessment practices have long been suspected, they have not been systematically documented. To follow up the 2009 National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) report on institutional…

The Performance-Based Research Fund introduces research assessment and links this with the state funding of institutions of higher education in New Zealand. There has been considerable support from the university sector for this initiative in the belief that it will divert funding from polytechnics and other tertiary education organisations. This…