Faculty of Education - Theses

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End date: 2019 × Start date: 2010 × Type: Doctorate × Subject: assessment ×

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    The application of the Australian Core Skills Framework to assessment in the skills for education and employment program: a case study of teachers' perspectives and practices
    Le, Anh Quynh Thi ( 2015)
    The Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) has been adopted as the national assessment and reporting framework in Australia’s government-funded adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) education sector since mid-2009. Replacing the previous National Reporting System (NRS), the ACSF has become a compulsory framework for pre-training and achievement assessments in adult LLN programs like the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE). Despite its expansion in both applications and scope of implementation, no research findings are available on the application of the ACSF to assessment, especially in the SEE program where rigorous assessment and reporting requirements are in place. The literature review of LLN theoretical models and LLN framework development and application in different educational contexts highlights various issues of concern with LLN constructs, accounting for targeted learner cohorts and accounting for teachers as assessors. Adopting a case study approach, the present research examined the application of the ACSF to assessment in the SEE program through document analysis of the ACSF, questionnaires and interviews and think-aloud verbal protocols with teachers in a SEE training organisation. The document analysis generated understandings of the realisation of the assessment application in the ACSF. The questionnaire survey and interviews explored the SEE teachers’ perspectives and reflected experience of applying the ACSF to assessment. The audio-recorded think-aloud verbal protocols investigated teachers’ actual application of the ACSF to rating six writing samples by three SEE learners. The data from all the three sources were analysed for insights into the LLN constructs and the extent to which the SEE learners and teachers as assessors were accounted for in the application of the ACSF to assessment. The research findings revealed both the strengths and shortcomings of the assessment application of the ACSF in the above three areas of concern. The research recommended specific areas for improvement in the ACSF, issues to be addressed in the application process and directions for further studies on the research issue.
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    The washback of the TOEFL iBT on English language programs in Vietnam
    Barnes, Melissa Marie ( 2010)
    Washback, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning, has received considerable attention in language testing research over the past twenty years. It is widely argued that testing, particularly high-stakes testing, exerts a powerful influence on both teachers and learners, whether intended or unintended, positive or negative. This study investigated the washback of a high-stakes English language proficiency test, the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT), on general English and TOEFL iBT preparation courses in Vietnam. Vietnam, a developing country whose educational philosophies differ from those underpinning the TOEFL iBT, provided a unique context to explore the test's washback. Four teachers were observed and interviewed and teaching materials were collected from four educational institutions in Vietnam. The study revealed that the TOEFL iBT influenced both what and how the teachers taught, particularly in TOEFL iBT preparation courses. The findings of this study have important implications for teaching and learning in Vietnam.