We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
INFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: A SUPPORTIVE TOOL FOR SYSTEMIC VALIDITY IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION.
- Authors
du Plessis, C. L.; Els, C.
- Abstract
Reviewing academic programmes and curricula is a necessary part of ensuring theoretical accountability in respect of the education provided to university students. However, accountability is context dependent and requires scrutiny of multiple sources of information to inform course design, including the analysis and interpretation of assessment data. This latter part is easy to overlook, especially when the focus falls on curriculum completion. The aim of this article is to argue how the correlation, analysis and interpretation of different kinds of course content and data can be used to identify and support learning needs, and provide further justification for course design. In view of the reciprocity that exists between language teaching and testing, core principles used for test validation are also useful for validating course components. As illustration hereof, this article evaluates a tertiary language course offered to Education students by drawing on the notions of construct and content validity. Empirical data gleaned from a literacy survey and assessment artefacts are correlated and interpreted against course objectives and content. A need is identified for substantial revisions to the course in order to ensure closer alignment with students' learning needs and critical literacies. The study shows how accountability in language education coheres with the principle of systemic validity.
- Subjects
HIGHER education; EDUCATIONAL accountability; CRITICAL literacy; EDUCATION students; TEST validity
- Publication
South African Journal of Higher Education, 2019, Vol 33, Issue 6, p92
- ISSN
1011-3487
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.20853/33-6-3027