This study aimed to explore university undergraduates’ experiences of student involvement in assessment (SIA). Based on Biggs’ 3P model of student learning, this study focused on students’ experiences prior to SIA, during SIA and after SIA in three Business and Management modules. Applying this framework, different practices of involving students in assessment (peer assessment, self assessment or self designed assessment) were studied from the perspectives of the students concerned. Unlike other studies that normally test to what extent the designed outcomes of SIA have been met, the goal of this research was to reveal the inside picture of how students were coping with those SIA tasks and their learning. This picture was outlined from students’ perceptions of SIA, the main factors that might influence students’ engagement with SIA, and students’ reflections on SIA practice in the particular module. This study adopted mixed research methods with sequential explorative design. It employed the ETLA (Environment of Teaching, Learning and Assessment) questionnaire and follow up semi-structured interviews. There were in total 251 valid questionnaire responses from students and 18 valid student interviews. The data were collected from three undergraduate Business and Management degree modules in which different strategies were used to involve students in assessment. The three innovative modules were all from Scottish universities in which assessment practices were being re-engineered by involving students in assessment. Two of the modules had participated in the REAP (Re-engineering Assessment Practice) project. However, they were different from each other in terms of the way in which they involved students in assessment and the level or extent of student involvement in assessment that was entailed. The report and analysis of the findings has taken three main forms. First, the module context including the teaching, learning and assessment environment and student learning approaches and satisfactions in the particular module were compared and analysed using the questionnaire data. The results showed a strong association between the elements in the teaching and learning environment and student learning approaches. They also indicated that the quality of teaching, feedback and learning support played significant roles in the quality of student learning. Secondly, an analysis of the interview data was undertaken to examine why and how students would learn differently in different module contexts with different SIA practices, and how students were coping with their learning in the SIA tasks concerned. In addressing these questions, students’ previous experiences in SIA, and knowledge about SIA, peers’ influence, teachers’ support and training for SIA, interaction between and among students and teachers, the clarity of the module objectives and requirements and learning resources were found to be the major factors that might influence students’ engagement in the SIA. Additionally, the salient learning benefits and challenges of SIA as perceived by students were explored. Thirdly, based on the preceding findings, the analysis of each module aimed to further consider in what way the three modules differed from each other with respect to SIA practices, and how students responded in the three different module contexts in terms of their engagement with SIA. These three forms of analysis made it possible to gain a rich understanding of students’ experiences of SIA that could also feed into a consideration of what kind of support the students might need in order to better engage them into the SIA and better prepare them for life-long learning.

There is a large demand for the use of e-learning tools to support student learning, in the form of distance or blended learning. The need for e-learning environment that encourages learners to learn independently or in groups in virtual settings is crucial. Some e-learning environments provide repositories of 'resources'. They neither facilitate a strategy for learning or teaching, nor they guide students through the resources, and tutors in constructing their courses. E-learning environments need to incorporate pedagogical practices which support and allow students to learn by removing any barriers that might inhibit their learning. Therefore, one of the most important aspects in developing e-learning environments is defining appropriate models where technology and pedagogy are integrated. This thesis provides such a framework for developing e-learning applications; it aims to make it easier for tutors to implement their lesson content and engage learners to achieve the course objectives. The proposed model incorporates constructive alignment, assessment and feedback and unlike other e-learning environments guides the tutor to construct lessons and help learners to use effective learning environment. Furthermore, the thesis investigates on how supported learning can help students adapt to the different approaches to learning. The empirical work undertaken investigates the role of constructing a well designed self-assessment and feedback unit within a learning environment.

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

Objective: To examine whether self-assessment of videotaped surgeries helps improve periodontal residents’ ergonomics. Methods: Residents (n=8) provided self-assessments of their own ergonomics while performing periodontal surgery using a questionnaire with open and closed items. Results were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative means. Results: Comparison of responses resulted in a change between Pre-video Surgery 1 and PSV1 (p<0.05) and between the three occasions for flat foot and horizontal shoulder positions (p<0.05). Resident goals were most numerous for improving positions of shoulder, back and neck and most notable responses for failure to achieve goals were the need for surgical access and being too focused the procedure. Conclusions: Videotape review is a valid means of self-assessment. Intervention solely in the form of a questionnaire and videotape review was insufficient in its ability to change the residents’ ergonomics. Barriers to implementation of proper ergonomics were identified.

Provider-based stigma is defined as the negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of mental health providers toward clients they serve. Often unintentional and unknowingly conveyed, this phenomenon has been indicated in previous research (e.g. Lauber, Nordt, Braunschweig, & Rössler, 2006; Nordt, Rössler, & Lauber, 2006; Hugo, 2001; Schulze, 2007). Other instruments crafted to measure provider stigma have utilized theory in their development, without incorporating the voice of the client (e.g. Wilkins & Abell, 2010; Kennedy, Abell, & Mennicke 2014). To better address the social injustice posed by provider stigma, the profession requires a valid and reliable measure, guided by theory, which also reflects the client and family experience. This study attempts to do so, referencing the five themes of the experience-based model (Charles, 2013) to guide item development. These themes include: blame & shame; disinterest, annoyance, and/or irritation; degradation & dehumanization; poor prognosis/fostering dependence; coercion/lack of ‘real’ choice. The measure’s item pool was generated following Nunnally and Bernstein’s (1994) domain sampling method, in reflection of the experience-based model, and reviewed by a series of focus groups. The electronically hosted survey was distributed to a purposive sample of mental health service providers employed at Virginia’s public mental health agencies. Using a final sample of N = 220, factor analysis indicated a four factor solution, accounting for 32.454% of the items’ variance. Refinement resulted in a scale of 20-items demonstrating adequate internal consistency, measured by Cronbach’s alpha = 0.817. The four factors of the Mental Health Provider Self-Assessment of Stigma Scale (MHPSASS) were labeled: Irritation & Impatience (eight items); Choice & Capacity (five items); Adherence & Dependence (four items); Devalue & Depersonalize (three items). Hypothesized relationships were found between provider self-rating of burnout and MHPSASS score (Pearson’s r = 0.235, p = 0.001) as well as social desirability level and MHPSASS score (r = -0.169, p = 0.015), supporting the MHPSASS’ construct validity. As a measure of provider-based stigma, the MHPSASS displays adequate reliability and validity. Future studies are indicated, including replication. Limitations include agency response rate, unknowable individual level-response rate, social desirability, and the potentially burdensome length of the survey package.

This study examined periodontists' ability to self-assess their knowledge of periodontics. Self-assessment was measured as the difference between actual knowledge and perceived knowledge of two topics of clinical practice of periodontics: periodontal disease therapy and dental implant therapy. Other variables included were learning needs, motivation to learn, and background characteristics (number of years since graduation from a periodontics training program, classification as Diplomate or non- Diplomate, number of years since achieving Diplomate status, classification as private practitioner, academician, or private practitioner with a part-time academic position, and number of credit hours spent in continuing education per year). A questionnaire was e-mailed to 1,800 periodontists practicing in the USA. Two hundred and nineteen subjects participated in the periodontal disease therapy questionnaire and 200 in the dental implant therapy questionnaire. The results showed a significant difference between actual and perceived knowledge for both topics. Correlation coefficients showed no correlation between participants' actual knowledge and perceived knowledge of periodontal disease therapy and a low to moderate correlation between actual and perceived knowledge of dental implant therapy. Also, the results showed that need and motivation are not related to self-assessment ability, but actual knowledge may be related to moderate-high need and motivation; and, that among the background characteristics, Diplomate status is related to a better ability to self-assess, and fewer years since achieving Diplomate status is related to higher actual knowledge and perceived knowledge. In conclusion, periodontists' ability to selfassess their knowledge of periodontics is at best moderate. The concern that practitioners believe that they have higher knowledge in areas in which objectively measured knowledge is significantly lower continues to be valid.

Accurate self-assessment of memory is important for everyday function. Self-rating accuracy may be affected by several factors in aging, and especially in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but these putative influences have rarely been examined in the same study to determine their relative importance and the potential interactions among them. We examined self-ratings of memory in healthy older adults and people with PD. We used two metamemory scales: the relatively comprehensive Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ) and the more brief Structured Telephone Interview for Dementia Assessment (STIDA). We took into account three key influencing variables: depression, personality variables (especially neuroticism and conscientiousness), and executive functions. The MMQ ability scale and the STIDA were moderately correlated for controls whereas this relationship failed to reach significance for patients after a Holm–Bonferroni correction. The difference between these correlations in the two groups was statistically significant. In both groups, objective memory performance and self-assessment of memory (assessed by MMQ ability, MMQ Satisfaction, and STIDA) were not significantly correlated. Conscientiousness and the interactions of group with conscientiousness and executive function were the strongest predictors of memory self-assessment as measured by MMQ ability. Our results suggest that memory self-assessment is not accurate, and is better predicted by conscientiousness and executive functions than by memory itself. Clinicians should know about the potential lack of accuracy of memory self-assessment when screening for memory impairment. Memory concerns reported by patients may not translate in objective memory impairment. At the opposite, confidence in memory may not reflect normal memory functioning.

Esta dissertação se desenvolveu com o propósito de investigar as relações sujeito-escrita e sujeito-instituição escolar estabelecidas por alunos do Ensino Fundamental 2 (F2) quando postos sistematicamente em situação de autoavaliação, escrevendo sobre a própria escrita. A partir da análise de portfólios de produção textual compostos por alunos ano a ano durante o F2, objetivou-se investigar de que maneiras as respostas dos sujeitos ao chamado institucional escolar de tomar a palavra sobre a própria escrita e sobre a própria aprendizagem impactam a constituição do sujeito enquanto escritor. Buscou-se mostrar tipos de respostas geradas pela tensão posta na situação de autoavaliação; deslocamentos dos sujeitos em relação à forma como respondem à instituição; e impactos na escrita dos alunos pelo processo de extradição do sujeito promovido pela escola. O corpus da pesquisa foi composto por cartas elaboradas pelos alunos para seus professores, em que comentam a própria escrita e os próprios textos. A análise se fundamentou nos conceitos de diálogo, enunciação, excedente de visão e polifonia, propostos por Bakhtin, além de valer-se de conceitos vindos da Análise do Discurso: heterogeneidade e metaenunciação (Authier-Revuz, 1990, 1998; Possenti, 2002, 2009). A partir dos resultados obtidos, foi possível concluir que o embate entre sujeito e instituição, na situação de (auto)avaliação, gera diferentes tensões que, mais ou menos intensas, promovem diferentes respostas dos sujeitos: (1) a repetição do discurso institucional; (2) o domínio da metalinguagem escolar e o posicionamento no lugar do avaliador; (3) a possibilidade de o sujeito constituir a sua escrita a partir de uma posição singular, por meio da metaenunciação e da polifonia. Neste último caso, perguntamo-nos que fatores levariam à possibilidade de deslocamento dos sujeitos de uma posição enunciativa para uma posição metaenunciativa. Além do posicionamento sistemático no lugar da avaliação, outorgado pela instituição, concluímos que para o sujeito escritor constituir-se mais autoralmente e escrever com autonomia dentro da escola, é preciso encontrar um lugar de complexidade com a instituição escolar, em que a institucionalização e a subjetivação se dão de forma não dicotômica. Vimos pelas análises que esse lugar de complexidade fica favorecido quando há uma articulação entre o intra e o extraescolar, já que ele se compõe pela possibilidade de o sujeito estar dentro e fora do discurso escolar ao mesmo tempo; submeter-se e posicionar-se autonomamente. Por fim, concluímos que, na tensão produzida entre sujeito e instituição, quando houve adesão plena do sujeito à instituição, a singularidade do sujeito escritor não se constituiu, assim como quando não houve adesão. Na tensão entre adesão e autonomia, o sujeito escritor pode se constituir em sua singularidade. / This dissertation has been developed to investigate the subject/writing and subject/institution relationships established by students in Ensino Fundamental (F2) when they were systematically put in a situation of self-assessment, writing about their own writing. From the analysis of portfolios of texts produced by students year after year during F2, our goal has been to investigate in what ways the responses of the subjects to the school institutional calling - to speak about their own writing and their own learning - impact the constitution of the subject as a writer. We tried to show types of responses generated by the tension of the self-assessment; shifts in the subjects regarding the way they respond to the institution; and impacts in the writings of the students caused by the process of extradition of the subject carried out by the school. The corpus of the research comprises a collection of letters written by the students to their teachers, letters in which they comment on their own writing and their own texts. Our analysis is based on the concepts of dialogue, enunciation, surplus of vision, and polyphony, as put forth by Bakhtin, as well as on concepts taken from Análise do Discurso: heterogeneidade and metaenunciação (Authier-Revuz, 1990, 1998; Possenti, 2002, 2009). It has been possible to conclude from our results that the clash between subject and institution, in the setting of the (self)assessment, begets varied tensions that, more or less intense, elicit different responses from the subjects: (1) the repetition of the institutional discourse; (2) mastery of the school metalanguage and putting themselves in the place of the evaluator; (3) the possibility that the writer builds their own writing from a singular perspective, by means of metaenunciation and polyphony. Regarding the latter point, we have asked ourselves what factors could lead to the possibility of a shift in the subjects from an enunciative to a meataenunciative stance. Besides the systematic placement in the assessment situation, granted by the institution, we have come to conclude that in order for the subjectwriter to become more authorial and write with more autonomy inside the school, we have to find a place of complexity with the school institution in which institutionalization and subjectification take place in a non-dichotomic way. Our analysis has shown us that this place of complexity is favored when there is a connection between intra and extra-school elements, given that it is created by the possibility that the subject can be simultaneously in and out the school discourse; abyding by it and taking an autonomous stance. Finally, we conclude that, in the tension produced between subject and institution, when the subject adhered fully to the institution, the singularity of the subject-writer did not come to be, as well as when there was no adherence. In the tension between adherence and autonomy, the subject-writer might come to be in their singularity.

Submitted by Marilene Donadel (marilene.donadel@unioeste.br) on 2019-03-28T00:01:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Weslei_Amancio_2019.pdf: 1726405 bytes, checksum: 10dc2b937e29839a1ea0f086d5b4e6fa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-28T00:01:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Weslei_Amancio_2019.pdf: 1726405 bytes, checksum: 10dc2b937e29839a1ea0f086d5b4e6fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-02-22 / This paper analyzes the participation of the community in the institutional self - assessment carried out in certain public universities of Argentina (UNNE), Brazil (UFFS, UTFPR) and Paraguay (UNE). The theoretical basis was based on a review of the specialized bibliography of the theme; the methodological resources used are the comparative study, the documentary research and the content analysis, with quantitative and qualitative approaches. We assume that the procedures and instruments adopted in the self-assessment processes carried out in universities, as well as the way of operationalization, are influenced by neoliberal policies, and given the models of managerialist management and the conception of objectivist evaluation in their environment, there is centralization and concentration of strategic decisions and the participation of the community occurs in an instrumental way, hampering their involvement in the processes and potential achievements and transformative that can mean the evaluation action. The analysis of the data shows that the definitions about self-assessment are restricted to organs and commissions with defined cuts and the composition of a small fraction of the institutional actors who are in charge of carrying out all the operationalization of the self-assessment processes. Thus, the centralization and concentration of the strategic decision spaces of the institution is a present reality and with significant relevance in the researched universities. With regard to the self-assessment process, many institutional actors have been absent, especially in the elaboration of contents and instruments. The participation, otherwise, when it occurs, has been constituted by a low adhesion and little representative of the university community, being too instrumentalised, partial and based on the quest to establish quantitative and summative results. Against this background, we point out that there is much to be re-evaluated, reflected and specially corrected and developed in the self-rated processes studied, particularly with regard to community participation and involvement in its elaboration, planning, execution, that is, in the construction of the action evaluation as a whole. We conclude that it is necessary to problematize the meanings of the institutional self-assessment processes that are circumscribed to the researched universities, by promoting the debate about the elaboration, structuring and intensification of participatory processes, through which the guide is, in a perspective of formative and emancipatory evaluation, knowledge of the institution and commitment to transformation, with a view to academic-scientific improvement and strengthening of the university's ethical, democratic and social responsibility and commitment. / Este trabalho analisa a participação da comunidade nas autoavaliações institucionais realizadas em determinadas universidades públicas da Argentina (UNNE), Brasil (UFFS, UTFPR) e Paraguai (UNE). O embasamento teórico se deu por meio de revisão da bibliografia especializada do tema; os recursos metodológicos utilizados são o estudo comparado, a pesquisa documental e a análise de conteúdo, com abordagens quantitativa e qualitativa. Partimos do pressuposto de que os procedimentos e instrumentos adotados nos processos autoavaliativos realizados nas universidades, bem como o modo de operacionalização, sofrem influências das políticas neoliberais, e estando presentes os modelos de gestão gerencialista e a concepção de avaliação objetivista no seu ambiente, há centralização e concentração das decisões estratégicas e a participação da comunidade se dá de maneira instrumental, prejudicando o seu envolvimento nos processos e as potencialidades realizadoras e transformadoras que podem significar a ação avaliativa. As análises dos dados revelam que as definições acerca da autoavaliação estão restritas a órgãos e comissões com recortes definidos e com composição de uma pequena fração dos atores institucionais, que estão incumbidos de realizar toda a operacionalização dos processos autoavaliativos. Assim, a centralização e concentração dos espaços de decisão estratégicos da instituição é uma realidade presente e com significativa relevância nas universidades pesquisadas. No que diz respeito ao processo autoavaliativo muitos atores institucionais têm ficado ausente, especialmente na elaboração dos conteúdos e instrumentos. A participação, de outra forma, quando ocorre, tem se constituído por uma baixa adesão e pouco representativa da comunidade universitária, sendo excessivamente instrumentalizada, parcial e calcada na busca de estabelecer resultados quantitativos e somatórios. Frente a esse quadro, apontamos que há muito a ser reavaliado, refletido e especialmente corrigido e desenvolvido nos processos autoavaliativos estudados, particularmente no que diz respeito à participação e envolvimento da comunidade na sua elaboração, planejamento, execução, ou seja, na construção da ação avaliativa em seu todo. Concluímos que é preciso problematizar os sentidos dos processos autoavaliativos institucionais circunscritos às universidades pesquisadas, com a promoção do debate acerca da elaboração, estruturação e intensificação de processos participativos, pelo qual o guia seja, em uma perspectiva de avaliação formativa e emancipatório, o aprofundamento do conhecimento da instituição e o compromisso de transformação, com vista à melhoria acadêmico-científica e o fortalecimento da responsabilidade e do compromisso ético, democrático e social da universidade.

Pesquisas com bilíngues e usuários de línguas adicionais utilizam diferentes medidas para avaliar proficiência no processo de seleção dos seus participantes. A proficiência linguística de um indivíduo pode ser medida através de testes de proficiência, testes de desempenho e medidas de autoavaliação. Questionários de histórico da linguagem contêm perguntas sobre a experiência que os indivíduos têm com as suas línguas e escalas de autoavaliação de proficiência. Estudos sugerem que usuários de línguas adicionais são capazes de reportar a sua proficiência de forma consistente com o seu desempenho em medidas padronizadas (MARIAN et al., 2007; LUK et al., 2013). Nesse contexto, a presente dissertação teve como objetivo analisar a proficiência autoavaliada de usuários de inglês como língua adicional através do Questionário de Experiência e Proficiência Linguística (QuExPLi). Para isso, foram desenvolvidos dois estudos. No primeiro estudo, correlacionamos as variáveis da experiência linguística – marcos de idade, tempo de imersão e uso atual da língua – de 535 participantes com a proficiência reportada por eles no Questionário de Experiência e Proficiência Linguística (QuExPLi), a fim de investigar quais fatores se associariam à proficiência autoavaliada. No segundo estudo, correlacionamos as mesmas variáveis da experiência com o inglês como língua adicional com os resultados no TOEFL ITP de 112 participantes, que fizeram parte do primeiro estudo, para investigar quais fatores se associariam à proficiência demonstrada em um teste de proficiência padronizado. Além disso, correlacionamos a proficiência autoavaliada no questionário com os resultados no TOEFL ITP, para averiguar a relação entre duas diferentes medidas de proficiência e reunir evidências de validade do QuExPLi. Os resultados sugerem que, em relação às variáveis da experiência linguística, os fatores relacionados a marcos de idade, tempo de imersão e uso atual da língua associam-se com a proficiência auto reportada pelos participantes. Porém, dentre esses fatores, apenas os meses passados em um país em que o inglês é falado correlacionaram-se de forma significativa com a proficiência dos participantes demonstrada através do TOEFL ITP. A discrepância entre os fatores associados à proficiência autoavaliada e aqueles que se associaram com o resultado no TOEFL ITP pode advir da natureza acadêmica do teste. Os resultados também revelam uma correlação positiva significativa moderada entre a proficiência autoavaliada no QuExPLi e a pontuação dos participantes no TOEFL ITP, sugerindo que os participantes, usuários de inglês como língua adicional, conseguem reportar sua proficiência de forma acurada. / Research with bilinguals and additional languages learners use different measures to evaluate proficiency while selecting participants for studies. An individual‟s language proficiency can be measured through proficiency tests, performance tests or self-evaluation measures. Language background questionnaires include questions about individuals‟ experience with their languages and self-assessment proficiency measures. Studies suggest that users of additional languages can report their proficiency in a way that is consistent with their performance in standard measures (MARIAN et al., 2007; LUK et al., 2013). In this context, the goal of the present thesis was to analyze self-assessed proficiency of users of English as an additional language through the Questionário de Experiência e Proficiência Linguística (QuExPLi). In order to do that, two studies were designed. In the first study, we correlated language experience variables – age, time of immersion and current use of the language - of 535 participants with their self-reported proficiency on the QuExPLi, in order to investigate which factors would associate with self-assessed proficiency. In the second study, we correlated the same language experience variables with the scores on the TOEFL ITP of 112 individuals, who also participated in the first study, in order to investigate which factors would associate with the proficiency demonstrated in a standardized proficiency test. Moreover, we correlated participants‟ self-assessed proficiency with their scores on the TOEFL ITP, in order to investigate the relationship between two distinct measures of proficiency and gather evidences of validity of the QuExPLi. Results suggest that the factors related to age, time of immersion and current use of the language are associated with participants‟ self-assessed proficiency. However, only the months spent in a country where English is spoken correlated significantly with participants‟ scores on the TOEFL ITP. The discrepancy between the factors associated with self-reported proficiency and those associated with the results on the TOEFL ITP can be derived from the academic nature of the test. Results also show a moderate positive correlation between participants‟ self-assessed proficiency and their scores on the TOEFL ITP was found, suggesting that users of English as an additional language are able to report their proficiency accurately.