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Showing 22 results for Assessment
Sahar Zahed Alavi, Mohammad Reza Ghorbani,
Volume 27, Issue 2 (9-2024)
Abstract
In educational settings, a common concern is whether instructional materials and assessments are cognitively aligned to foster deeper learning. This study investigates the alignment between the learning objectives presented in the Select Readings textbook and those evaluated in university-standardized achievement tests at Shiraz University, using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (2001) as the analytical lens. Drawing on Razmjoo and Kazempurfard’s (2012) coding methodology, both the textbook and two versions of related achievement tests were systematically analyzed. The results revealed a clear dominance of lower-order thinking skills, particularly factual knowledge within the Remembering and Understanding domains. Notably, the achievement tests emphasized Understanding to a greater extent than the textbook. Although the textbook incorporated some higher-order cognitive domains (Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating), these appeared infrequently in the tests. The findings point to a misalignment between instructional intent and assessment focus, raising concerns about the depth and validity of the evaluation tools. Contextual variables such as instructional intent, learner proficiency, and curricular constraints may also contribute to this imbalance, warranting further examination. The study underscores the need for assessment designers to adopt more cognitively diverse items that reflect the full spectrum of learning objectives embedded in teaching materials.
Ms. Atragin Sadat Saadatmand, Dr. Mansoor Ganji, Dr. Ali Beikian, Dr. Nahid Yarahmadzehi,
Volume 28, Issue 1 (4-2025)
Abstract
IELTS writing is a critical factor in facilitating academic and professional mobility and success of both EFL learners and non-English majors globally. This study systematically identifies and categorizes the principal research themes, methodological trends, learners’ challenges, and proposed solutions through a scoping review of the previous literature. In accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, relevant studies on IELTS writing task 2 were identified and screened from Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, and ResearchGate. Through a multi-stage screening process based on rigorous exclusion and inclusion criteria, 30 peer-reviewed studies were selected for the final content analysis. Thematic content analysis employing manual open coding was applied to these chosen studies in order to identify the recurring patterns regarding the themes, methodology, problems, and solutions. The analysis yielded five primary themes: linguistic features, cross-linguistic transfer, pedagogical interventions, assessment and washback, and emerging AI-based evaluation. The findings showed that IELTS writing research is mainly employing qualitative approach, followed by mixed-methods, making use of corpus analysis, discourse analysis, surveys, and classroom interventions. According to these studies, candidates consistently face challenges in grammar, lexical range, coherence, L1 transfer, and task management, while the proposed solutions strongly emphasize genre-based instruction, model-essay noticing, contrastive rhetoric teaching, focused feedback, strategy training, and AI-supported diagnostic tools.
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