March 23-24, 2010

CRET Research Exchange Report - On ATC21S DWP Reading Circle -

　We participated in the meetings of a reading circle on five DWPs (Draft White Papers), generated from ATC21S (Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills), held on 23rd and 24th of March, 2010.

　The reading circle was organized by Dr. Nahomi Miyake with the purpose of developing an accurate understanding of ATC21S based on the DWPs presently available, sharing movements among researchers of learning science and promoters of IT education, and discussing what must be done next.

　ATC21S is a three-year project propelled by three IT companies in the U.S. and the University of Melbourne. The CRET Report dated May 26th, 2009 reports on this. The first meeting was held in April 2009. On January 11, 2010, the Learning and Technology World Forum was held in London to review progress over the first year. The main work of the project was advanced under five Working Groups. Each has produced a DWP with the following titles:

　1. Defining 21st century skills
　2. Perspectives on methodological issues
　3. Technological issues for computer-based assessment
　4. New assessments and environments for knowledge building
　5. Policy frameworks for new assessments

　DWP1 defined a framework for 21st century skills. DWP2 addressed methodological problems in the assessment of 21st century skills. DWP3 identified and analyzed technological problems associated with the assessment. DWP4 reviewed the relationship between the learning environment and assessment. DWP5 focused on the policy frameworks necessary to achieve the shift to implementing new forms of assessment.

　The reading circle was attended by 20 participants from the academic and educational community and the private sector. The Jigsaw method for a collaborative learning support system was used. Each individual prepared numerous pages of the DWP before the meeting. All participants were able to grasp, in Japanese, the content of five DWPs written in English in the short span of one and a half days. The power of the collaborative learning support system was demonstrated.

　ATC21S sets its goal as the emergent, concurrent, embedded and transformative assessment for knowledge building. A measurement of the end result of learning is not the objective. What matters is an assessment which enables the accurate identification of the learning progress and the measures to be taken for its improvement. The conventional style of general assessment focuses on the targeted learning results and the actual learning follows. However, the new type of assessment starts with learning and the achievement target is adjusted from time to time corresponding to the learning progress. A solid IT foundation is a prerequisite to enable a continuous assessment system which closely monitors and assesses the learning progress. Stealth assessment was introduced as a methodology to measure abilities without the assessed individual being aware of the assessment.

　Dr. Yasutaka Shimizu of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, who has attended the Learning and Technology World Forum in January, submitted an article commenting as follows;
“It was explained that OECD plans to implement a skills assessment of ATC21S for PISA2012. It means that the assessment of problem-solving abilities is soon to initiate. We must take note of that. Ebr>
　At the Technology World Forum, Dr. Barry McGaw from the University of Melbourne presented a keynote address. He shared information on what ATC21S is planning to take up in the second year. It is the development of collaborative problem-solving, individual problem-solving, and digital literacy items for secondary school students.

　The diffusion of the internet is rapidly creating a modern society without borders. It is our hope that Japanese students will grow up to serve the global community. There is also an anxiety about the Japanese education system at present. Is it sufficient to equip children for the future? CRET will continue to watch global trends and be instrumental in the enhancement of education in Japan.

※Details of the DWP summary are available only in Japanese.
　 click here for the Japanese page.

January 11-15, 2010

CRET Research Exchange Report -EC, ROA, Ofqual-

　We visited the European Commission (EC), ROA*1 at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and Ofqual in the UK from January 11th to 15th 2010, to exchange views on the new competencies required in Europe in the future. The following is the report on the EC surveys, named Skill Needs and New Skills for New Jobs.

　In Europe, there is an increasing demand for jobs requiring new skills, accompanying the rapid shift from primary industry to knowledge-based industry, resulting in a globalization of the scope of work. We have interviewed researchers at the division of Lifelong learning: contribution to the Lisbon process, at the EC. They said that surveys had been conducted since 2007 on the demand for the New Skills based on the eight key competencies*2 for lifelong learning presented in December 2006.

　The Cedefop*3 report entitled, "Future Skill Needs in Europe (2008)" compiles the expected demand for different jobs and the skills required for them.

　A chart on the Cedefop report : "Qualification requirements by level of qualification (in millions, %), 1996-2015, EU-25, Norway and Switzerland" shows the qualification requirements by level of qualification up to the year 2015 for 25 EU states (Bulgaria and Romania were excluded) plus Norway and Switzerland. The chart shows that among the 27 countries, the qualification requirement for the lowest level of qualification is expected to decrease from 26.2% to 20.8% from 2006 to 2015, and the requirement for the highest level of qualification will increase from 25.3% to 29.3% during the same period.

　Another chart on the report: "Net employment change (in millions), 2006-2015, by occupational groups and highest level of qualification, EU-25, Norway and Switzerland" indicates that even for elementary occupations, at least a medium level of qualification is required. Although there may be variations among nations, we can conclude that skills are an increasingly important factor for workers to retain their jobs, in spite of the changes in industrial structure.

　Cedefop will start reporting on the supply forecast in addition to the demand for skills every two years starting from 2010. New Skills for New Jobs showing the required skills for each industry will also be initiated. Let us keep an eye on future trends.

October 11-17, 2009

Report on CRET Research Exchange with OECD, DIPF, and IEA

　From October 11th to October 17th 2009, CRET researchers, led by Mr. Kenichi Arai, the Chair of CRET, visited OECD , DIPF , and IEA . A useful exchange took place concerning competencies measured by international assessments such as PIAAC2011(Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies), PISA2012(The Programme for International Student Assessment), their measurement methodologies, as well as CRET current research activities. The following is the latest report on PISA2012, PIAAC2011, and Computer Based Test (CBT).

　(1) PISA2012 and PIAAC2011

　OECD has been implementing PISA for students aged 15, reaching the end of compulsory education, every three years from the year 2000. In PISA2012, standard questions of mathematical literacy, reading literacy and scientific literacy will be included, with the emphasis on mathematical literacy. As an option, using CBT to measure three types of literacy and problem-solving abilities is scheduled to be executed.
　In 2011, PIAAC is scheduled to be implemented for those from 16 to 64 years of age. The predecessors to this survey are IALS(International Adult Literacy Survey, 1994 - 1998) and ALL(Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2002 - 2006) , measuring competencies in three areas: reading literacy, numeracy and problem-solving abilities. The home-visit survey method will be used. It will be available both as a CBT and a Paper Based Test (PBT). The examiner will choose the appropriate test form depending on the examinee’s ability to operate a computer.

　Approximately 60% of PIAAC2011 is to resemble the questions used for IALS and ALL. Referring to the questions of ALL publicly disclosed , the questions are oriented to assess basic literacy necessary at work and in daily life, such as the ability to read gasoline meters. In the preliminary PIAAC survey scheduled to take place from March to April 2010, 28 countries including Japan are expected to participate. Past surveys indicated that some adults equipped with basic reading and essay writing skills were unable to use them effectively in real life. We shall see how the 2011 survey will turn out.

　The reports on the two assessments are expected to come out in 2013. The possible perspectives of data analysis include the comparison of the test results of PISA2012 and PIAAC2011 for the group of 16-year olds, and the PIAAC2011 and PISA2000 comparison of the group of 28-year olds who took PISA 2000.

　(2) On CBT

　There are several points to note in developing CBT. Here are two of them.
　One is the effect on the test score of the examinee’s affinity to computers. This was also mentioned in the report on JART’s special lecture in September where Dr. Randy Bennett (ETS) gave a speech . Considering this point, in the CBT for PISA and PIAAC, tests will be based on the premise that computers can be used with ease by test takers, comparable to the use of pencils for PBTs, based on what we heard during our visits.
　The second point of concern with CBT is the increased burden on test-takers, resulting from the need to scroll pages as sentences get longer. As a possible measure to reduce the need for scrolling, CRET has been exploring the possibility of replacing written questions with animated or other images. Much interest was shown in the CRET report presented at e-Learn2009 in October, entitled  Ea href="../research/research.html#091027" class="blue" target="_blank">Use of Animation to Display Math Problems in a Computer-Based Test. Ebr>
　We have learned that steady preparations are being made for international tests to incorporate the measurement of competencies to effectively use computers for cross-disciplinary problem-solving requirements in modern society. CRET intends to keep up with this global trend in search of the optimum education for Japanese.

May 26th, 2009

Participation Report on the 21st Century Skills Conference

　I participated in the First Project Conference on the 21st Century Skills educational assessment and guidance held in San Diego, U.S.A, from April the 17th to the 19th, 2009.

　This is a three-year project, to be completed in 2011, that is being led by Professor Barry McGaw of the University of Melbourne in a joint contract with Cisco, Intel and Microsoft. Its mission is for concerned researchers and research institutes to work in collaboration, regardless of their federal, public or private backgrounds, in order to research the guidance and assessment of 21st century skills. This conference was held in accordance with the press release statement issued on January 13th, 2009.

　The First Conference saw 74 participants, including Andreas Schleicher of the OECD, as well as people from the U.S.A., Germany, Australia, England and so forth. There were also 3 participants from Japan, including a representative of the University of Tokyo and two CRET researchers.

　The Conference was split into 5 working groups : 1) Learning Environment & Formative Assessment, 2) Methodology, 3) Technology, 4) Measurable 21st Century Skills, and 5) Policy Issues.

　At the Measurable 21st Century Skills working group that CRET researchers participated in, ten types of competencies were chosen. In order to choose them, we referred to existing materials such as the Framework for 21st Century Learning developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, as well as Key Competences for Lifelong Learning developed by the EU, and finally A Big Picture of the Curriculum which gives an overall description of the British curriculum. Our plan is to define these various types of competencies and to ascertain the kinds of knowledge, skills, attitudes and circumstances necessary for bringing about the said competencies. Please refer to this link - http://www.atc21s.org/ - for further details regarding this project.