Graduate attributes (GAs) have become a necessary framework of reference for the 21 st century competency-based model of higher education. However, the issue of evaluating and assessing GAs still remains unchartered territory. In this article, we present a criteria-based method of assessment that allows for an institution-wide comparison of the various acquisition levels of different GAs. In order to achieve this, we first propose an understanding of GAs as knowledge, skills and attitude constructs, which directly impacts the operational development of GA scales. Second, after briefly discussing some shortcomings in current assessment/evaluation tests for GAs, we present the many features of the criteria-based model for assessing GAs, such as the importance of the proper interpretation of GAs as can-do statements, a theory-based development of the abstract categories that make up a scale for GA assessment and concrete examples of GA scales based on these abstract theories.
In this chapter, the authors propose an overview on the use of learning analytics (LA) and educational data mining (EDM) in addressing issues related to its uses and applications in higher education. They aim to provide meaningful and substantial answers to how both LA and EDM can advance higher education from a large scale, big data educational research perspective. They present various tasks and applications that already exist in the field of EDM and LA in higher education. They categorize them based on their purposes, their uses, and their impact on various stakeholders. They conclude the chapter by critically analyzing various forecasts regarding the impact that EDM will have on future educational setting, especially in light of the current situation that shifted education worldwide into some form of eLearning models. They also discuss and raise issues regarding fundamentals consideration on ethics and privacy in using EDM and LA in higher education.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.