Grades and evaluation

Assessment research in schooling and education is a field that focuses on studying assessment practices in education settings. Research into grades and assessment takes a broad social science perspective that includes pedagogical, sociological and historical problems.

Regardless of which subject a teacher teaches or what age the pupils are, the teacher must assess their knowledge. We know from previous studies that the way teachers work with assessments affects the pupils' learning, study performance, motivation, self-confidence, self-esteem and choice of studies. However there is a need for more knowledge of what teachers should assess, how pupils are assessed, on what grounds teachers formulate judgements and how teachers and pupils communicate about assessments.

At LiU, research into assessment and grading is conducted in a number of environments, primarily based on knowledge interests in pedagogical, psychological and subject-didactic areas. The studies are related to preschool, primary/lower secondary school, upper secondary school and adult education. Relevant objects of study are the areas of the school's assessment practices, pupils and teachers' experiences of assessments and validation of competence.

Research

An ancestry-segregated school class friendship network.

Peer influence or discrimination? Understanding the mechanisms behind ethnic differences in school achievement.

This project explores the achievement gaps in schools among students from different ethnic backgrounds. By analysing data from European youth and Swedish registers, we aim to increase awareness of bias in the education system.

TekNaD-start

Technology and Science Education Research - TESER

Technology and Science Education Research – TESER – is a research unit in science and technology education research that was initiated in 2011.

A ladybird on rusty barbed wire.

Language, tools and representations

This research area focusses on these tools and representations and what opportunities for learning science they present. We also examine how new types of tools change learning in the natural sciences in and of itself.

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