Making the Psychological Dimension of Learning Visible: Using Technology-Based Assessment to Monitor Students’ Cognitive Development

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Gyöngyvér Molnár¹  Benő Csapó² 

[1] Department of Learning and Instruction, University of Szeged;MTA–SZTE Research Group on the Development of Competencies, University of Szeged

关键词: technology-based assessment;    online assessment;    assessment for learning;    visible learning;    cognitive development;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01368

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Technology-based assessment offers unique opportunities to collect data on students’ cognitive development and to use that data to provide both students and teachers with feedback to improve learning. The aim of this study was to show how the psychological dimension of learning can be assessed in everyday educational practice through technology-based assessment in reading, mathematics and science. We analyzed three related aspects of the assessments: cognitive development, gender differences and vertical scaling. The sample for the study was drawn from primary school students in Grades 1–8 (ages 7 to 14) in Hungary. There were 1500 to 2000 students in each grade cohort. Online tests were constructed from 1638 items from the reading, mathematics, and science domains in the eDia system. The results confirmed that the disciplinary, application and psychological dimensions of learning can be distinguished empirically. Students’ cognitive development was the most steady (and effective) in mathematics, where the greatest development occurred in the first years of schooling. Path models suggested that the psychological dimension of learning can be predicted at a moderate level based on students’ level of school knowledge consisting of the disciplinary and application dimensions of learning as latent constructs. The predictive power was almost the same in both dimensions. Generally, girls developed faster in the psychological dimension of reading, mathematics and science learning; however, the size of gender differences varied by age and domain. This study (1) provides evidence that the psychological dimension of learning can be made visible even in an educational context, (2) highlights the importance of the explicit development of the psychological dimension of learning during school lessons, and (3) shows that there are gender differences in the developmental level of the psychological dimension of learning in favor of girls but that this varies by grade and domain.

【 授权许可】

CC BY