Plant identification is a skill that takes years to hone and develop, yet it is important in understanding diversity in biology while in school. This is highlighted when studying ecological succession in A-level biology where students are often unable to notice the different species, which leads to the production of poor-quality data, potentially…

The authors surveyed public libraries to learn about the opportunities for play they offered and children's freedom to engage in such play without adult supervision. The authors conclude that, in recent years, public libraries in the United States have increasingly created spaces and programs enabling free play for children and teens. These…

The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) has prioritized efforts to support students' social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies, such as perseverance and social awareness. To measure students' SEL competencies and the school experiences that promote SEL competencies (school climate), DCPS began administering annual surveys to…

Much is made of students generally rating assessment lower than other aspects of their educational experience. It is frequently cited in research literature as evidence for a general crisis in assessment, and it strongly influences institutional enhancement efforts and media coverage of student feedback. Focusing on the UK's National Student…

Currently, to prepare students, colleges and universities use strategies like diversity courses, hiring diverse faculty, tracking who gets access to which academic programs by race/ethnicity, and equipping faculty to re-design curricula and practices that reflect today's diverse students. Strategies for measuring higher education's success at…

This study validated the factor structure of 29 items from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that were hypothesized to represent six social capital constructs. There were 837 complete freshmen's responses to the 2009 and 2012 NSSE. One half of the sample was used to conduct an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to provide further…

This article problematizes methodological practices, specifically the use of surveys as tools of measurement in evaluation with migrant youth. Drawing from Foucault's "Genealogy of Ethics," we investigate the knowledge created about particular minoritized groups through the author's current evaluation, the power relations involved, and…

In this study, we examine the effect of providing examples in the responses to a question about multitasking. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: the first group received one set of examples (watching TV or watching kids), the second group received a different set of examples (walking or talking with…

This Data Point summarizes trends in adult literacy and numeracy skills since the 1990s for the United States and for those countries that participated with the United States in all three international adult literacy studies over the past three decades: Canada, Hungary, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Results in this Data Point…

Has the National Student Survey 'customerized' the UK's university students? This article examines the 'customerization' of university students in the UK and the impacts of reciprocity and social exchange behaviour on National Student Survey outcomes. Using a multi-method qualitative approach, the findings suggest that the National Student Survey…

The UK National Student Survey (NSS) has high status on the agenda of UK universities. Its rise in status is linked to its influence on national rankings and associated funding streams referenced to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Consequently, many universities have implemented further assessments of student satisfaction, thereby putting…

This study explores the role of teachers' perceptions of digital personalised learning (DPL) tools in their intention to use and actual usage of these tools in the classroom. Utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we address two gaps in the literature: the limited investigation of DPL in real-world settings and the reliance on…

Ethnoracial identity refers to the racial and ethnic categories that people use to classify themselves and others. How it is measured in surveys has implications for understanding inequalities. Yet how people self-identify may not conform to the categories standardized survey questions use to measure ethnicity and race, leading to potential…

Household expenditure data is at the core of efforts to measure living standards, inequality and financial protection against illness. Currently it is mainly derived from recall-based surveys that are time consuming and prone to measurement errors. Diaries are often used as an alternative approach, however this results in fatigue and low…

The purpose of the Faculty, Academic Careers and Environments (FACE) project is to understand who faculty are, what their academic careers look like, and how the environments in which they work shape their ability to thrive as instructors, researchers and public scholars in the community. The goal of the project is to examine and pilot test how…