PROCEDURES FOR ASSESSING COGNITIVE SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.231421

Abstract

 

The purpose of the research was to find out how the procedures for measuring students’ cognitive skills could be incorporated into the university course Language Teaching Methodology. The study was organised within a framework of Anderson’s theory of cognitive skills development and Glaser’s taxonomy of dimensions for assessing achievement. We developed the instrument, which encompassed two empirical questionnaires for treatment groups. Both questionnaires comprised an equal number of tasks but differed in the content of procedures for measuring knowledge acquisition and structure as one of the dimensions of cognitive assessment. Empirical Questionnaire 1, based on a traditional approach to assessment, included multiple-choice questions related to the lecture material. Empirical Questionnaire 2 comprised both traditional and unconventional measures, such as a SVT test; constructed and conversation-based responses; simple and high order rule tasks. Thirty-four third-year students of the Department of Foreign Languages, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University participated in three-stage research-oriented teaching, which lasted ten weeks. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods were employed for the evaluation of learning outcomes. After final testing, we compared the results obtained from the students. The group mean difference (EG vs. CG) was 0.12 points, 95% confidence interval (0.07 - 0.17), two-sample t-test p < 0.0001. Findings suggest that cognitive skills assessment considerably affects and improves student learning. The implications relate to final grades assessment and curriculum design and contribute to expanded uses for cognitive skills testing.

 

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Iryna Sverdlova, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Associate professor PhD holder in Pedagogy, the Department of Methods and Practice of Teaching Foreign Languages, School of Foreign Languages

References

  1. Ainsworth, J. (2013). Sociology of Education: an A-to-Z Guide. Two Volume Set. Georgia State University, USA, SAGE Publications, Inc Encyclopedia Definition of cognitive skill. Retrieved 4 May 2021 from https://www.amazon.com/Sociology-Education-Z- Guide/dp/1452205051.
  2. Anderson, J. R. (1982). Acquisition of cognitive skill. Psychological Review, 89(4), 369-406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033- 295X.89.4.369
    |
  3. Benton, St. L., & Kiewra, K. A. (1987). The Assessment of Cognitive Factors in Academic Abilities. In Royce R. Ronning, John A. Glover, Jane C. Conoley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Joseph C. Witt Louisiana State University (Eds.), The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing (pp. 148-200). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers: Hillside, New Jersey London. Retrieved 19 May 2021 from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/buroscogpsych/9/
  4. Bespalko, V. P. (1989). Slagaemye pedagogicheskoj tehnologii [Components of pedagogical technology], Moscow: Pedagogika.
  5. Bonner, S., & Pennington, N.(1991). Cognitive Processes and Knowledge as Determinants of Auditor Expertise. Journal of Accounting Literature, 10, 1-50.
  6. Boruff, J. T., & Harrison, P. (2018). Assessment of knowledge and skills in information literacy instruction for rehabilitation sciences students: a scoping review. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(1), 15-37. https://doi:10.5195/JMLA.2018.227
    |
  7. Brown, G., Bull, J., & Pendlebury, M. (1997). Assessing student learning in higher education. London: Routledge. Retrieved 19 May 2021 from https://www.routledge.com/Assessing-Student-Learning-in-Higher-Education/Brown-Bull-Pendlebury/p/book/9780415144605
  8. Cole, M. W. (2010). Influence of Assessment for Learning Professional Development in Rural Georgia Public Schools. A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Liberty University.
  9. Denysiuk, О. V., & Stokaz, Ya. M. (2018). Metodychnyy pidkhid do formuvannya ta rozvytku stratehichnykh znanʹ pidpryyemstva [A Methodological Approach to Forming and Developing Strategic Knowledge of an Enterprise]. The Problems of Economy, 2,191-198. https://www.problecon.com/
  10. Elton, L., & Johnston, B. (2002). Assessment in universities: a critical review of research. UK: Learning and Teaching Support Network Generic Centre. Retrieved 19 May 2021 from https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/59244/
  11. Gagne, R. M., & Medsker, K. L. (1996). The Conditions of Learning: Training Applications. Fort Worth: TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
  12. Glaser, R., Lesgold, A., & Lajoie, S. (1987). Toward a Cognitive Theory for the Measurement of Achievement. In Royce R. Ronning, John A. Glover, Jane C. Conoley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Joseph C. Witt Louisiana State University (Eds.), The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing (pp. 41-85). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers: Hillside, New Jersey London.
  13. Ismail, Y. (2016). The use of problem solving techniques to develop semiotic declarative knowledge models about magnetism and their role in learning for prospective science teachers. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 5(8), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.5897/ijeaps2016.0476
  14. Jackson, T. G., Castellano, К. E., Brockway, D., & Lehman, B. (2018). Improving the Measurement of Cognitive Skills Through Automated Conversations. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 50(3), 226-240. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2018.1452655
    |
  15. Jönsson, A. (2020). Definitions of Formative Assessment Need to Make a Distinction Between a Psychometric Understanding of Assessment and “Evaluative Judgment”. Frontiers in Education, 5(2). https://doi: 10.3389/feduc.2020.00002.
  16. Kaba, A., & Ramaiah, K. Ch. (2020). Measuring Knowledge Acquisition and Knowledge Creation: A Review of the Literature. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). Retrieved 4 May 2021 from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/4723/
  17. Lenz, K., Dreher, A., Holzapfel, L., & Wittmann, G. (2020). Are conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge empirically separable? The case of fraction. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 809-829. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12333
    | |
  18. Li, H., Hunter, С. V., & Lei, P. W. (2016). The selection of cognitive diagnostic models for a reading comprehension test. Language Testing, 33, 391-409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532215590848
    |
  19. McIlwain, D. J. F., & Sutton, J. (2015). Methods for measuring breadth and depth of knowledge. In J. Baker, & D. Farrow (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport expertise (pp. 221-231). London; New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315776675-20
  20. O’Keeffe, L., Rosa, A., Vannini, I., & White, B. (2020). Promote Informal Formative Assessment practices in Higher Education: the potential of video analysis as a training tool. Form@re Open Journal Per La Formazione in Rete, 20(1), 43-61. https://doi.org/10.13128/form-8241
  21. Panadero, E., Jonsson, A. & Botella, J. (2017). Effects of self-assessment on self-regulated learning and self-efficacy: Four metaanalyses. Educational Research Review, 22, 74. https://doi.Org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.08.004
  22. Piaget, J. (1977). The Development of Thought: Equilibration of Cognitive Structures. UK, Oxford: Blackwell.
  23. Regian, J. W., & Schneider, W. (1990). Assessment procedures for predicting and optimizing skill acquisition after extensive practice. In N. Frederiksen, R. Glaser, A. Lesgold & M.G. Shafto (Eds.), Diagnostic monitoring of skill acquisition and knowledge acquisition (pp. 297-323). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203056899-16
  24. Richter-Beuschel, L., Grass, I., & Bogeholz, S. (2018). How to Measure Procedural Knowledge for Solving Biodiversity and Climate Change Challenges. Education Sciences, 8, 190. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8040190.
  25. Royer, J. M., Cisero, Ch. A., & Carlo, M. S. (1993). Techniques and Procedures for Assessing Cognitive Skills. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), 201-243. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543063002201
    |
  26. Tigelaar, D., & Sins, P. (2020). Effects of formative assessment programmes on teachers' knowledge about supporting students' reflection Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2020.1726992
    |
  27. Ullah, Z., Lajis, A., Jamjoom, M., Altalhi, A. H., Shah, J., & Saleem, F. (2019) A Rule-Based Method for Cognitive Competency Assessment in Computer Programming Using Bloom’s Taxonomy. In IEEE Access, 7, 64663-64675. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2916979
    |
  28. Vandierendonck, A (2017). A comparison of methods to combine speed and accuracy measures of performance: A rejoinder on the binning procedure. Behavior Research Methods, 49, 653-673. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-016-0721-5
    |
  29. Voinea, L. (2018). Formative Assessment as Assessment for Learning Development. Revista de Pedagogie - Journal of Pedagogy, I.XVI(), 7-23. https://doi.org/10.26755/revped/2018.1/7
  30. Wang, D., Sun, Y., & Jiang T. (2018). The Assessment of Higher Education Quality from the Perspective of Students through a Case Study Analysis. Frontiers of Education in China, 13(2), 267-287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11516-018-0014-0.
    |
  31. Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and Language. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, USA.
  32. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Process. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, USA.

Downloads

Published

2021-07-31

How to Cite

Sverdlova, I. (2021). PROCEDURES FOR ASSESSING COGNITIVE SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE LANGUAGE TEACHERS. Advanced Education, 8(18), 92–101. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.231421

Issue

Section

ARTICLES