Summary of Doctoral Thesis in Education Science: Management of the academic performance assessment activities of students at pedagogical universities by competency-based approach

Research purposes: Based on theoretical and practical research, the thesis proposes solutions to manage AoAP activities of students at PU by CA to improve the efficiency of assessment, contribute to improving the quality of PU in the context of radical innovation, comprehensive renovation of Education and Training.

VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI HA PHUONG

MANAGEMENT OF THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

ACTIVITIES OF STUDENTS AT PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITIES

Academic supervisors:

1 Assoc.Prof Dr NGUYEN THI HUONG

2 Assoc Prof Dr NGUYEN THI MY TRINH

Theses can be found at:

- National Library of Vietnam

- Center of Information - Nguyen Thuc Hao Library , Vinh University

PREFACE

1 Rationale

1.1 Assessment is a crucial stage of the teaching process in general and in the university training process It has a direct impact on the quality of education and

training In the context of fundamental and comprehensive innovation of Education

and Training in Vietnam today, the assessment of students' academic performance (AP) is considered a breakthrough, an important task, and solution, is the core content In the current innovation in Vietnam, it is required that assessment and management of this activity must be conducted in a synchronous and more scientific manner Therefore, the issue of academic performance evaluation management and its management of the Assessment of Academic Performance (AoAP) of students by

Competency-based Approach (CA) should be fully researched in a systematic

manner, which plays a role as the basis for this activity implementation in universities

in general, and in pedagogical universities in particular

1.2 From the school year 2020 - 2021, the General Education Program in

2018 has been implemented nationwide, with a comprehensive innovation, from objectives, content and methods The AoAP of students from developing CA requires pedagogical universities to renew their training methods, in which academic performance assessment of students is a critical stage The AoAP of students by CA

is a crucial stage

1.3 Currently, in pedagogical universities (PU), the AoAP of students has initially innovated towards CA However, the AoAP of students still has certain shortcomings in terms of objectives, content, methods, forms of assessment and especially the competencies that need to be formed for students in the training process This problem is caused by many reasons such as awareness and experience

in organizing, implementing AoAP of students by CA of managers, lecturers There are still many inadequacies in the training programs, facilities, which is not suitable for requirements assessed by CA

The research of management solutions to improve the effectiveness of students’ AoAP at PU by CA, to meet the requirements of innovating higher education and high education program in 2018 is an urgent issue From the above

reasons, we chose the topic "Management of the academic performance assessment activities of students at pedagogical universities by competency-based approach" as a topic for research

2 Research purposes

Based on theoretical and practical research, the thesis proposes solutions to manage AoAP activities of students at PU by CA to improve the efficiency of assessment, contribute to improving the quality of PU in the context of radical

innovation, comprehensive renovation of Education and Training

3 The subjects and objects of study

3.1 The subjects of study:

The AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

3.2 Objects of the study:

Management of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

4 Hypothesis

Management of the AoAP activities of students at PU by CA is still encountering a lot of inadequacies The effectiveness of the AoAP activities of students in PU by CA can be improved if the solutions are proposed and implemented scientifically and feasibly The assessment should based on the functions and content

of management Some solutions are: planning and process of organizing, directing AoAP activities of students by CA; enhancing the competence of AoAP of students at

PU by CA for managers, lecturers; building competencies framework as a basis for the AoAP of students at PU by CA; establishing conditions to ensure the management

of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

5 The aims of research

5.1 Research on the rationale of management of AoAP activities of students at

6 Scope of the research

- The thesis researches on the management of AoAP activities of full-time students at PU by CA (common competencies and pedagogical competencies of

7 Research Approach and Methodology

7.1 Approach point of view: process approach; operations approach; competencies approach; content approach; management function approach; practicality approach

7.2 Research methodology

7.2.1 Group of theoretical research methods

Document analysis and synthesis method; The method of generalizing independent statements; Modeling method

7.2.2 Group of practical research methods: Methods of investigation by

questionnaires; Methods of discussion, topic interviews; Methods of summarizing

educational experience; Experimental method

7.2.3 Mathematical statistical methods

Using statistical formulas to process obtained data quantitatively, compare the research results of the thesis

8 Arguments to defend

8.1 Evaluate students' AP at PU by CA not only assess what students have learned,

but also more importantly what students can do in relation to their future careers

Managing the AoAP activities of students at PU by CA is an area of training management, which requires planning, organizing, directing and testing the assessment

in order for this activity to achieve progress assessment goals and the development of students in the learning process

8.2 Currently, in PU, AoAP activities and management of AoAP activities of students mainly follow content approach This approach is no longer appropriate when the PUs are innovating strongly in terms of goals, curriculum, methods and forms of training towards forming the core competencies of teachers

8.3 The management of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA must be based on the management functions, characteristics and AoAP methods of students, factors affecting this activity in PU Raising awareness for managers, teachers, and

PU students about the importance of AoAP of students by CA; Develop plans and processes to organize and direct AoAP activities of students by CA; Organize training to improve the AoAP competencies of students at PU by CA for the team of managers, teachers; Develop competencies framework for students' AoAP at PU by CA; Establishing conditions to ensure the management of AoAP activities of students

of universities of education by CA These are the basic solutions of the management

of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

9 New contributions of the thesis

9.1 The thesis clarifies some theoretical issues about the AoAP of students at

PU by CA and management of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA, especially clarifies characteristics of assessment activities of students at PU by CA, content, the subject of this management activities at PU

9.2 The thesis has objectively evaluated the current status of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA and management of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA, thereby showing the strengths, limitations and causes of the current situation as a foundation for proposing solutions to manage AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

9.3 The thesis proposes solutions to manage AoAP activities of students at

PU by CA, especially the thesis has built a training program to improve students' AoAP competencies at PU by CA for managers, teachers, and building competencies framework as a basis for the AoAP of students at PU by CA, contributing to improving the training quality of PUs

10 The structure of the thesis:

In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, Recommendation, List of references and Appendices, the thesis includes 3 chapters:

Chapter 1: Rationale of the management of AoAP activities of students at PU

by CA;

Chapter 2: Current status of AoAP management activities of students at PU by CA; Chapter 3: The solution of managing the AoAP activities of PU students by CA

Chapter 1 RATIONALE OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSESSMENT

ACTIVITIES OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS AT PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY BY COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH

1.1 Overview of research issues: Through an overview of overseas and

domestic studies on the assessment and management of AoAP activities of PU students, it shows: The authors proposed the arguments, concepts, principles , methods, scales, forms of assessment and management of assessment activities in many perspectives, but in a nutshell, the assessment of AoAP of students by CA is a type of education showing many advantages, the dissertation can be seens as an exemplary model to be used From the results of the overview research, the thesis will continue to focus on solving the main issues: 1) Research to continue to solve theoretical issues about assessment and management of AoAP activities of students at

PU by CA; 2) Research to clarify the current status of assessment and management

of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA; 3) Research and propose solutions to manage AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

1.2 Some basic concepts: The thesis has clarified and drawn the content of

concepts to use in research: Assessment; Study; AP; AP rating; AoAP activities of

PU students; Competence; AoAP of students at PU by CA; Manage; management of AoAP activities by CA

1.3 Some problems about AoAP of students at PU by CA

1.3.1 The characteristics of AoAP of students at PU by CA: This is a higher

development step than the content assessment, there are some basic differences between content assessment and goal assessment, assessment methods, forms,

subjects, tools, time and context

1.3.2 The purpose, meaning, and function of AoAP of students at PU by CA: Provide accurate, timely and valuable information about the response level of the

curriculum standards, the progress of the students to guide and adjust teaching activities, management, developing curriculum, improving the quality of training It means a lot to students, faculties, schools, employers and families The basic function

is to orient, create motivation, classify and improve the forecast at different levels of

the training process

1.3.3 Some principles of AoAP of PU students by CA: Guarantee the

objectivity; Guarantee the comprehensiveness; Guarantee the fairness, reliability;

Guarantee the regularity and for the development of students; Guarantee the competencies of students can be evaluated; Guarantee the integration of assessment with teaching

1.3.4 The content of AoAP of students at PU by CA: Assessment of ability to

master knowledge, skills, application to solve practical problems in career and life Content of assessment activities include: Building an assessment toolkit; Building exam question banks based on 6 levels of Bloom scale; Implementing the step-by-step assessment process: Defining a system of common competencies, specific competencies that students need to form in the learning process; Identifying appropriate AoAP methods and forms; Evaluation of student competencies has been achieved through different channels, at the same time incorporating self-assessment

of students; Using the results of the assessment as a basis to confirm teaching quality, helping students and teachers adjust teaching activities; The school management at all levels in a timely manner can direct teaching activities to improve the quality of training

1.3.5 Methods, forms of the AoAP of students at PU by CA

1.3.5.1 The methods of AoAP of students at PU by CA: Observation; Multiple

choice questionnaire; Open-ended question; Evaluation through learning records

1.3.5.2 Forms of AoAP of students at PU by CA: formative assessment;

periodic evaluation; summative evaluation

1.3.6 Process of AoAP of students at PU by CA: Identify outcome standards,

competencies, competencies that students need to know, can perform, need to achieve; Define and design tasks based on subject content to assess competencies; Identify the assessment criteria, indicators / task completion indicators; Build up a score for the tasks; Organizing assessment and giving feedback and sharing with assessment stakeholders

1.4 Manage AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

1.4.1 The importance of AoAP activities management of students at PU by CA

Meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive innovation of higher education; Meet the requirements of developing PU; Improve the training quality of PU

1.4.2 Content of management of the activities of AoAP of students at PU by CA: Planning of assessment; Implementing the assessment activities; Directing the

assessment activities; Checking the AoAP activities and management of the

conditions to ensure AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

1.4.3 Subject of AoAP management activities of students at PU by CA :

Rectors; Heads of Department of Education and Training; Heads of departments / centers responsible for the assessment; Deans; Head of academic sections; Lecturers;

Students

1.5 Factors affecting the management of the activities of AoAP of students

at PU by CA

1.5.1 Objective factors : The strong development of science, technology and

international integration; Regulations, regulations and guidance on the AoAP of students; Management mechanism, cultural environment of PU; Financial factors, facilities, techniques

1.5.2 Subjective factors: Perceptions of managers, lecturers; competencies

applying methods and forms of AoAP by CA of teachers; Competence of specialized

staff in charge of assessment; Awareness and self-assessment capacity of students

CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER 1

1 Evaluate AP and management of the activities of AoAP of students at PU by

CA is a matter of research interest of some national and international researchers Through the review of the authors' studies shows that the problems of assessment and management of the AoAP of students by CA have not been specifically studied in

PU, there is no science-based solution which guarantees feasibility

2 The AoAP of students at PU by CA is an accurate, objective and

comprehensive measurement process of students' achievement level of common competencies, pedagogical competencies formed in the training process; Assessment by CA has its own characteristics compared to assessment based on

content, which requires the use of many different methods and forms of assessment

3 Management of the AoAP activities of students by CA is an important content in the management of training activities in PU It is the process of planning,

organizing, directing and monitoring the assessment activities with the participation

of many stakeholders Management of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA is influenced by objective and subjective factors Therefore, it is necessary to take into account these factors in the research process of managing AoAP activities of

students at PU by CA

Chapter 2 THE CURRENT STATUS OF ASSESSMENT OF ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES OF STUDENTS AT PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITIES BY COMPETENCY-BASED

ASSESSMENT

2.1 Conduct a survey of the current status

2.1.1 Survey objectives: Objectively evaluate current status of the AoAP of

students at PU by CA to establish the rationale of the topic

2.1.2 Content of the survey: The current status of assessment activities,

management of assessment activities, factors involved in the AoAP of students at PU

by CA

2.1.3 Survey subjects and areas

2.1.3.1 Respondents: Rector, Vice Rector, Head of Faculties /Departments of

pedagogical disciplines, Heads of Center of Quality Assurance: 98 people; Teachers

of the faculties / majors: 213 teachers; Students of pedagogical disciplines / majors:

620 students

2.1.3.2 Survey locations: Hanoi University of Education, Thai Nguyen

University of Education, Hue University of Education, Ho Chi Minh University of Education

2.1.4 Survey method and process: Survey by questionnaire;

indepth-interview;

2.1.5 Data processing and rating scale

2.1.5.1 The process of data and analysis includes the following steps:

Building data processing models; Set up processing steps (Using SPSS 22.0 statistical software) (1) Create encrypted data entry; (2) Import data; (3) Data cleaning; (4) Scoring; (5) Data processing; Reliability assessment; Calculate the

scale

2.1.5.2 Rating scale: 5 levels of evaluation, ranked from 1 to 5

2.2 Overview of the pedagogical universities (University of Education) surveyed

The five PU selected above to conduct the survey are PU with a long history of establishment and development They are key schools in pedagogical training, always

at the vanguard of in curriculum innovation, teaching methods, making many contributions in theory and practice to education science, teacher training These features meet the survey requirements of the the thesis

2.3 The situation of AoAP of students at PU by CA

2.3.1 Awareness of students about AoAP at PU by CA

2.3.1.1 The situation of awareness of competencies to develop for PU students: Currently in Vietnam there has not existed any document that mentions the

competencies of PU students in detail and specifically, if any, it does not specifically describe the knowledge, skills or competencies of the profession; pedagogical universities are rightly aware that developing students' common competencies and

professional competencies is necessary and important

2.3.1.2 The situation of awareness about the significance of activities of AoAP

of students at PU by CA: managers, lecturers basically have had the right attitude

about the significance of AoAP of students at PU by CA, which has a lot of influence

on teaching and learning;

2.3.2 Current status of ensuring the principles of students AoAP at PU by CA:

AoAP activities of students at PU, basically ensuring the principles assessed by CA

However, AoAP activities have not properly reflected students' competencies At time, these activities have failed to ensure the subjectivity, and haven't fully integrated the

assessment into teaching and learning; and still focus on the final assessment

2.3.3 Current status of the activities of AoAP of students at PU by CA: PUs are

aware of the necessity of defining the competencies of PU students, trying help students apply what they learn into practicality However, the methods and forms of assessment are not abundant, competencies evaluation criteria for implementing learning tasks are not yet effective, exam questions are still heavy on content presentation, knowledge-based Teachers are still having difficulty in building exam questions that accurately measure competencies Using assessment results has not been effective in modification of learning activities

2.3.4 Status of methods, forms of AoAP of students at PU by CA

2.3.4.1 The status of method of AoAP of students at PU by CA: AoAP methods

are suitable, applied regularly, but the effectiveness of the methods has not achieved high results in the assessment by CA

Figure 2.3 Current status of the method of AoAP of students at PU by CA

2.3.4.2 Status of forms of AoAP of students at PU by CA:

Types of AoAP of students are used, however, schools often focus on periodic assessment and summary assessment The assessment of students' ability is mainly based on the score of the tests, other important criteria such as the value system are

very little included in the assessment

2.3.5 Status of AoAP process of pedagogical university students by CA: Schools

have implemented the identification of outcomes standards, competencies that students needs to know and can achieve high results. The identification of tasks based on the content of the subject, the effectiveness of applying methods, forms of assessment, assessment based scores, show many flaws and have not meet the set goals Assessment information and feedback have not really been effective in adjusting the

quality of training

2.4 Current status of AoAP activities management of students at PU by CA

2.4.1 The awareness of the importance of managing the activities of AoAP of

students at PU by CA: educational managers, lecturers of schools are initially rightly

aware of the importance of the AoAP management of students by CA Innovation in

assessment activities meet the development requirements of PU's, contributing to

improving the quality of training of PU's

2.4.2 The status of AoAP planning of students at PU by CA: The planning of

AoAP of students by CA in PU has not clearly defined the functions, tasks, not detailed activities, objectives, indicators, so it has not promoted the purpose, meaning, importance of the plan and also creates overlap in management assessment activities

2.4.3 The status of the organization of implementing AoAP activities of students at PU by CA

Figure 2.8 Current status of AoAP activities

of students at PU by CA through surveys of managers and lecturers

Assessment, organization of training competencies of design, how to use the assessment of subjects in the teaching process of lecturers has not really met the requirements of assessment by CA The implementation of the basic exam question meets the requirements, however, the basic exam papers are still in the direction of approaching the content The level of implementation of the AoAP process has only limited at implementing the steps and regulations from the testing department The organization of IT application in assessment activities, the organization of collecting and processing assessment feedback, building facilities has not really been effective

2.4.4 The status of directing AoAP activities of students at PU by CA:

Assessment steering activities are of interest to assessors, but the direction has not been highly effective, has not met the training by CA in the construction of standard outcomes in the curriculum, in using the method, form of assessment, organizing the compilation and construction of the test bank according to the determined levels of competencies

2.4.5 The status of AoAP activities of students at PU by CA: The school's

inspection and inspection activities have not really focused much on examining the implementation of the assessment process in teaching Not focusing on testing competencies defined by the training program's goals

2.4.6 The status of management of conditions to ensure the AoAP operation of students at PU by CA: The PU are very interested and invested in

building facilities; however, the construction of LMS software has not been done evenly in schools, or has been implemented but not yet completed The universities have been able to building a system of regulatory documents, instructions of use, protection, saving facilities, so the assessment and management activities initially changed positively, although funding for activities in the universities remains

inadequate The majority of students are satisfied with the conditions that ensure the

assessment

2.5 Current status of factors affecting AoAP activities of students at PU

by CA:

Objective factors: Strong development of science, technology and international

integration; Regulations and guidance on AoAP of students; Management mechanism, cultural environment of PU; Financial factors, facilities, techniques

Subjective factors: Awareness of educational managers, lecturers on assessment of students' academic performance by CA; Capacity to apply AoAP by

CA of teachers; Capacity of full-time assessment staff; students' self-assessment awareness and competencies

These factors strongly influence the AoAP activities of PU students