A standardized method of exploring, diagnosing and evaluating the quality of knowledge among university students

Abstract

ABSTRACT : The aim of the present study was to develop a standardized method of exploring , diagnosing and evaluating the quality of knowledge among university students. By the term" quality of knowledge " is meant the objective characteristics of knowledge which are demonstrated as a result of the individual pursuit of the student and which define the level of his grasp of scientific skills and information qualitatively and quantitatively . Russian educators have produced several qualities of knowledge such as comprehensiveness ( bulk of knowledge ) , depth ( the degree of the essential correlations between different aspects of knowledge ), organization ( the hierarchical succession of knowledge ) and other qualities . The depth of knowledge was chosen as one of the important qualities ( properties ) of knowledge . The researcher proposed the hypothesis that understanding the psychological mechanism of the formation of depth of knowledge on the side of the learner as embodied in the level of his attainment of a specific skill within the framework of a concrete educational subject would allow to reveal in a more comprehensive way the content of this psychological attribute, and to construct the instrument appropriate for its measurement, diagnosis and evaluation. In connection with this research methodology the study focused on seeking the answers to the following questions : 1 - What are the psychological and educational contents of the depth of knowledge as a quality of knowledge ? 2 - How to measure, diagnose and evaluate the level of formation of the depth of knowledge among university students ? In order to fulfill this task the researcher suggested a method of exploring, diagnosing and evaluating the depth of knowledge that enables the construction of a standardized test as a part of the system of evaluation of quality of knowledge . The method includes the following main stages : 1 - Exploring the elements of knowledge reflecting the test content . 2 - Selecting and constructing test items . 3 - Establishing specific directional rules for scoring the test . 4 - Administering the initial form of the test to a pilot sample of subjects . 5 - Performing item analysis and determining test validity and reliability . 6 - Analyzing test results qualitatively and quantitatively . 7 - Improving test items and preparing the final form of the test . The suggested method was tested within a concrete skill in higher mathematics , that is, finding the derivative of some elementary functions using the rules and formulas from the table of derivatives . Subjects were a representative sample of 120 students randomly selected from the agricultural faculty at the People's Friendship University in the Russian Federative Republic in the Soviet Union . Computer was utilized for the factor analysis of the test results . As the new standardized method had exhibited a high efficiency in diagnosing the level of formation of the depth of knowledge in comparison with the traditional evaluative methods , the researcher demonstrated its possible application to a wider range of qualities of knowledge measured among different samples of students within identical subjects. The researcher also recommended applying the method to achieve the following objectives : 1 - To perform an express - evaluation of the level of formation of a given scientific skill among university students within a specific topic during the period of the lesson . 2 - To construct qualitative as well as quantitative tools for measuring the extent to which the student acquired a given skill. 3 - To improve teaching methods and evaluative techniques at the universities and institutes 4 - To build more comprehensive and more accurate criteria upon which to determine the level of formation of quality of knowledge among students .