Introduction: Recent Research in Assessment in Education Abroad

Abstract

The Guest Editors introduce their virtual issue on Recent Resarch in Assessment in Education Abroad, which curates past articles published in Frontiers on the topic.
 Click on the links beside each selected article in the REFERENCES section below to read the full article.

To Understand You, I Need to Know Me:

“…To our best knowledge, there have been no other pedagogical course design attempts that do not involve study abroad but instead rely on a glocal approach in response to the gaps and limitations in study abroad programs. Furthermore, we found no course designs that utilize assessment as a method of learning as described in the literature (Acheson et al, 2020;Rowe, 2012). To fill this gap, the study results reported here are guided by two research questions.…”

“…However, we are also living in a time when "people have found more and more ways to distance themselves from each other, and to protect their own understanding of the world" (Berdrow et al, 2020, p. 1). Cultural immersion admittedly offers numerous benefits for open-minded students, but this study suggests another option when study abroad is not possible or in combination with study abroad -a glocal classroom with a strong focus on assessment that provides awareness into cognition and effective intercultural behaviors through ongoing monitoring and feedback (Acheson, et al, 2020;Rowe, 2012). Hence, our proposed pedagogy utilizes assessment as a learning tool to provoke self-awareness, as well as ongoing formative assessment in the form of weekly feedback (peer and instructor), self-feedback, reflection, and the summative assessment in a final PDP report to inspire the development of metacognition and intercultural skills (Morris et al, 2019).…”

“…However, with the use of assessment, carefully designed highimpact pedagogy, and in-depth instructor training, it is plausible that students will report progress in a glocal classroom designed to replicate global challenges. Thus, as an alternative to study abroad, we propose an accessible glocal classroom pedagogy that utilizes assessment as a method of learning (Acheson et al, 2020, Rowe, 2012, a personal development process based on cognitive behavior therapy (Butler, et al, 2006), transformative education (Mezirow et al, 1990), carefully designed experiential activities (Kolb, 1984), and formative assessment (Yorke, 2003). To demonstrate its effectiveness, we report findings of a pre and post measure of intercultural effectiveness that yielded results similar to those that can be attained in highimpact study abroad experiences.…”

“…In both domestic and international education, assessment is commonly used to measure program learning goals and outcomes, as well as learners' mastery of the subject matter (Acheson, et al, 2020). This common approach to assessment can be described as assessment of learning (Acheson, et al, 2020;Rowe, 2012). In the GC, content knowledge is assessed with frequent quizzes and a mid-term exam; the skill-based course learning objectives are assessed by a behavioral exam at the end.…”

“…Assessment is less commonly employed to measure students' self-awareness of what they know (or think they know), in addition to, or in relationship to, the subject matter and student directed learning goals (setting and attaining) based on new self-insights. Termed assessment as learning (Acheson, et al, 2020;Rowe, 2012), this use of assessment provides an opportunity to create learning in its own right by acting as a building block for metacognitive development. According to Schraw (1998), metacognition can be defined as the awareness of what and how one thinks, and the ability to regulate one's thinking.…”