Achievement test characteristics

Achievement test have some important characteristic, UGC net exam have a question about it. An achievement test is a test of developed skill or knowledge. The most common type of achievement test is astandardized test developed to measure skills and knowledge learned in a given grade level, usually through planned instruction, such as training or classroom instruction. Achievement tests are often contrasted with tests that measure aptitude, a more general and stable cognitive trait.

Achievement test scores are often used in an educational system to determine what level of instruction for which a student is prepared. High achievement scores usually indicate a mastery of grade-level material, and the readiness for advanced instruction. Low achievement scores can indicate the need for remediation or repeating a course grade. Under No Child Left Behind, achievement tests have taken on an additional role of assessing proficiencyof students. Proficiency is defined as the amount of grade-appropriate knowledge and skills a student has acquired up to the point of testing. Better teaching practices are expected to increase the amount learned in a school year, and therefore to increase achievement scores, and yield more "proficient" students than before.

When writing achievement test items, writers usually begin with a list ofcontent standards (either written by content specialists or based on state-created content standards) which specify exactly what students are expected to learn in a given school year. The goal of item writers is to create test items that measure the most important skills and knowledge attained in a given grade-level. The number and type of test items written is determined by the grade-level content standards. Content validity is determined by the representativeness of the items included on the final test.

Effect of Validity and Reliability in Research.

The precision with which you measure things also has a major impact on sample size: the worse your measurements, the more subjects you need to lift the signal (the effect) out of the noise   (the errors in measurement). Precision is expressed as validity and reliability. Validity represents how  well a variable measures what it is supposed to. Validity is important in descriptive studies: if the validity of the main variables is poor; you may  need thousands rather than hundreds of subjects.

Reliability tells you how reproducible your measures are on a retest, so it impacts experimental studies. The more reliable a measure, the less subjects you need to see, a small change in the measure. For example, a controlled trial with 20 subjects in each group or a crossover with 10 subjects may be sufficient to characterize even a small effect, if the measure is highly reliable.

Video conferencing Impact on education - UGC NET EXAM

Videoconferencing (VC) is the conduct of a videoconference (also known as a video conference or videoteleconference) by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to communicate by simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a type of groupware.

Videoconferencing differs from videophone calls in that it's designed to serve a conference or multiple locations rather than individuals.It is an intermediate form of videotelephony, first used commercially in Germany during the late-1930s and later in the United States during the early 1970s as part of AT&T's development of Picturephone technology.

With the introduction of relatively low cost, high capacity broadband telecommunication services in the late 1990s, coupled with powerful computing processors and video compression techniques, videoconferencing has made significant inroads in business, education, medicine and media.

Videoconferencing provides students with the opportunity to learn by participating in two-way communication forums. Furthermore, teachers and lecturers worldwide can be brought to remote or otherwise isolated educational facilities. Students from diverse communities and backgrounds can come together to learn about one another, although language barriers will continue to persist. Such students are able to explore, communicate, analyze and share information and ideas with one another. Through videoconferencing, students can visit other parts of the world to speak with their peers, and visit museums and educational facilities. Such virtual field trips can provide enriched learning opportunities to students, especially those in geographically isolated locations, and to the economically disadvantaged. Small schools can use these technologies to pool resources and provide courses, such as in foreign languages, which could not otherwise be offered.

A few examples of benefits that videoconferencing can provide in campus environments include:

1. faculty members keeping in touch with classes while attending conferences;
2. guest lecturers brought in classes from other institutions;
3. researchers collaborating with colleagues at other institutions on a regular basis without loss of time due to travel;
4. schools with multiple campuses collaborating and sharing professors;
5. schools from two separate nations engaging in cross-cultural exchanges;
6. faculty members participating in thesis defenses at other institutions;
7. administrators on tight schedules collaborating on budget preparation from different parts of campus;
8. faculty committee auditioning scholarship candidates;
9. researchers answering questions about grant proposals from agencies or review committees;
10. student interviews with an employers in other cities, 
11.  teleseminars.

What are the two main approaches in educational research ?

There are two main approaches in educational research. The first is a basic approach. This approach is also referred to as an academic research approach.The second approach is applied research  or a contract research approach. Both of these approaches have different purposes which influence the nature of the respective research.

Basic approach

Basic, or academic research focuses on the search for truth or the development of educational theory. Researchers with this background “design studies that can test, refine, modify, or develop theories”.Generally, these researchers are affiliated with an academic institution and are performing this research as part of their graduate or doctoral work.

Applied approach

The pursuit of information that can be directly applied to practice is aptly known as applied or contractual research.Researchers in this field are trying to find solutions to existing educational problems. The approach is much more utilitarian as it strives to find information that will directly influence practice.Applied researchers are commissioned by a sponsor and are responsible for addressing the needs presented by this employer. The goal of this research is “to determine the applicability of educational theory and principles by testing hypotheses within specific settings”