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- Python
- A highly popular programming language in the research community.
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- Qualitative/quantitative analysis
- Tasks that combine quantitative (i.e. number based) and qualitative (meaning-based) forms of analysis.
These tasks assist learners’ appreciation of the differences, benefits and complimentary nature of distinct research methodologies.
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- Quiz
- Testing knowledge through a question/answer format.
Typically quizzes are multiple choice, true or false, or ask students to fill-in-the blanks.
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- Referencing
- Asking students to acknowledge sources of information through the referencing conventions of their discipline/school.
Assessments with a referencing focus are well suited to first year (gateway) courses as it eases first year transition, builds academic literacies, and inducts students into discipline-specific research cultures and conventions.
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- Reflective/reflexive
- Assessment focusing on consciously thinking about a specific topic (reflective) or analysing one’s self (reflexive).
For example, students could be asked to reflect on a specific event (reflective) or discuss how a particular experience affected them emotionally and/or intellectually (reflexive).
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- Report
- Reports are the presentation and analysis of findings from practical research.
Depending on the guidelines or purpose, a report may make recommendations.
A report generally has a fixed structure which course coordinators can specify on the basis of the purpose/subject of the report.
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- Research skills
- Assessments focusing on research skills are aimed at enhancing the ability to search for, locate, extract, organise, evaluate and use or present information that is relevant to a particular topic.
These formats are designed to familiarise students with the process of detailed and methodical investigation into a certain area of study in response to a specific research question or hypothesis.
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- Review
- A review is a focused piece of scholarly commentary aimed at describing or summarising the content, evidence, arguments and/or conclusions of a specified text, film, showcases, objects or other media.
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- Role Play
- Students imagine they are a particular actor or stakeholder in responding to a real-world scenario (e.g. Presidential advisor, UN secretary general, or foreign minister). A form of authentic assessment that allows students to practice real life decision making with minimal risks.
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- Scaffolded
- A type of formative assessment, usually occurring in the middle of a course, aimed at supporting learners to move from what they already know to what they are able to do next.
Scaffolding is targeted at bridging a student’s ‘zone of proximal development’ – the space between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving, and the level of potential development that can be achieved by guidance and/or collaboration with those with established knowledge and expertise.
Scaffolding is a collaborative process involving negotiation of meaning between teacher and learner about expectations and how best to improve performance by using insights about a learner’s current understanding to alter the course of instruction and thus support the development of greater competence.
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