The hottest Assessment Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Education Topics

Student Assessment in the Age of AI

In My Tribe • 501 implied HN points • 12 Jun 25
🚌 Education Assessment AI Integration Teaching Methods Critical Thinking
  1. AI can help monitor student assessments and make cheating harder. By having someone supervise, universities can ensure students aren't using AI to cheat during tests.
  2. Interviews can be a better way to assess students than traditional exams. They allow professors to see how well students understand important concepts and let students explain their reasoning.
  3. Using AI to conduct these interviews can be efficient and consistent. This way, professors can evaluate a large number of students fairly without getting overwhelmed by grading.

EXCLUSIVE: A High Schooler Graduated with a 3.4 GPA. He Couldn’t Even Read.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1711 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🚌 Education Policy Reform Legal Assessment Access
  1. A high school student graduated with a 3.4 GPA but couldn't read or spell his own name. This raises concerns about the education system's effectiveness.
  2. The student is suing his school district, claiming they didn't provide him with the education he needed, which is required by law.
  3. A federal appeals court agreed with the student, saying his lack of education caused him serious harm and that he was capable of learning to read.

Does Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) improve academic outcomes?

The Science of Learning • 219 implied HN points • 12 Aug 24
🚌 Education Learning Research Curriculum Instruction Assessment
  1. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) helps students with their emotions and relationships but it's unclear if it boosts academic performance. Some studies show positive impacts, while others do not.
  2. Different schools use SEL in varied ways, making it tough to gauge its true effectiveness. This inconsistency leads to mixed results in research about SEL's benefits.
  3. There's no strong evidence that SEL reduces the achievement gap or promotes equity in education. More focused studies are needed to really understand SEL's long-term effects.

Recruiting Brainfood - Issue 380

Recruiting Brainfood • 1100 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
💼 Business Recruitment Economy Remote working Assessment Blockchain
  1. Networking is crucial in the industry, meet people in-person to build connections.
  2. Enhancing your profile can give a competitive edge, consider participating in initiatives like Brainfood Tribune and Guest appearance on Brainfood Live.
  3. Performance is key, networking and profile building can complement performance in a positive cycle.
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Take my Infinity final exam!

Infinitely More • 35 implied HN points • 21 Dec 24
🚌 Education Philosophy Mathematics Learning Assessment Critical Thinking
  1. The Cantor-Hume principle connects with Euclid's principle, and there are different views on whether they agree or conflict. It's a topic worth exploring in depth.
  2. Understanding potential and actual infinity is important in calculus, especially when dealing with infinite series. This distinction affects how we solve mathematical problems.
  3. The continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice raise interesting questions in philosophy and mathematics, showing how these concepts challenge our understanding of infinity and choice.

Can parents save math?

The Bell Ringer • 159 implied HN points • 05 Apr 24
🚌 Education STEM Parenting Learning Assessment Equity
  1. More math education can help get more students into STEM fields. Parents believe that improving math is a fair way to provide opportunities.
  2. A group of parents in California is advocating for better math programs in schools. They think this will help kids who want to succeed in science and technology.
  3. Investing in math education is seen as important for the future. Parents want to ensure all students have the chance to excel in these subjects.

Unlocked: Teaching math with John Mighton

The Bell Ringer • 79 implied HN points • 31 May 24
🚌 Education Teaching Learning Curriculum Assessment Pedagogy
  1. John Mighton emphasizes the importance of understanding math concepts rather than just memorizing formulas. This helps students develop deeper problem-solving skills.
  2. Focusing on problem-solving in math education encourages critical thinking and creativity in students.
  3. Teaching math should be about making connections and understanding rather than just practicing procedures. This approach can make learning more enjoyable.

AI × Education: Some Thoughts on How I'm Approaching My Courses This Fall

The Absent-Minded Professor • 235 implied HN points • 14 Jun 23
🚌 Education Technology Assessment Relationships Trust Teaching
  1. Spend time building relationships and explaining AI tools instead of blocking or preventing students from using them.
  2. Focus on building trust with students rather than setting traps or relying solely on technology to prevent cheating.
  3. Consider re-evaluating assessments to ensure they align with learning objectives, especially if AI tools expose weaknesses.

Impact of 'noise' on assessing school shooting threats

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports • 39 implied HN points • 15 Apr 24
🚌 Education Research School Safety Assessment Training Decision-making
  1. Noise is the unwanted variability in decisions made by different experts looking at the same information.
  2. Variability in assessing threats leads to inconsistency and high costs, such as locking down schools and deploying officers.
  3. Conducting noise audits can reveal inconsistencies in decision-making, highlighting the importance of understanding and reducing noise in evaluating school shooting threats.

GenAI opportunity and risk

imperfect offerings • 79 implied HN points • 26 Jun 23
🚌 Education Research Technology Learning Assessment AI
  1. Researchers, policy-makers, educators, and edtech activists are raising concerns about the use of GenAI in teaching and learning, highlighting issues such as inaccuracy, bias, and ethics.
  2. Balancing the opportunities and risks of GenAI is crucial, as technologies are designed for use and may present actual harms over time that are harder to research.
  3. Cutting through the hype surrounding GenAI, the real opportunities involve improving efficiency in textual production and providing natural language interfaces for accessing information, but careful consideration is needed to ensure true educational value.

ACF: Introducing a New Framework for Classifying AI Capabilities

The A.I. Analyst by Ben Parr • 58 implied HN points • 15 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Frameworks Intelligence Development Assessment
  1. The AI Classification Framework (ACF) offers a new way to assess AI capabilities beyond the Turing test.
  2. The ACF evaluates AI based on eight modalities and aims to measure progress towards more advanced AI.
  3. Moving on from the outdated Turing test, the ACF provides a more relevant framework for understanding and developing AI.

'Human intelligence'

imperfect offerings • 13 HN points • 10 Apr 24
🚌 Education AI Data Work Learning Assessment
  1. The concept of 'artificial intelligence' has historically been used to define and value 'intelligence', leading to discriminatory practices in education and beyond.
  2. The term 'human intelligence' has been co-opted by the AI industry to alleviate concerns about job displacement, but in reality, it devalues certain types of work and people, especially those involving care and emotional labor.
  3. The comparison between artificial and human intelligence creates a double bind for students and workers, expecting them to conform to data-driven systems while also being 'more human', which can lead to confusion and anxiety.

Solves maths Olympiad problems, doesn’t grasp place value: What kind of intelligence is GPT-4?

Augmented • 39 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Education Assessment Intelligence Language Models
  1. GPT-4 can solve complex problems but struggles with basic math concepts.
  2. Large language models like GPT-4 excel in certain areas but show limitations in understanding.
  3. The standards used to measure intelligence need to be reevaluated based on the capabilities of AI like GPT-4.

Adapting Land Value Taxation to Space

Splitting Infinity • 39 implied HN points • 17 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Taxation Natural resources Assessment Resource Management
  1. Taxation is essential for governance and must be adapted for effective government in space as the celestial realm sees more activities and developments.
  2. Principles of taxation like efficiency, sufficient revenue, practicality, tolerance, clarity, and locality should guide the design of tax systems in space to ensure fairness and viability.
  3. Georgism, with its focus on land value taxes, can offer a balanced solution for taxation in space by encouraging development while discouraging rent-seeking behaviors.

Gloves Off

The Radar • 19 implied HN points • 27 Dec 23
💼 Business Leadership Talent Management Development Assessment Bias
  1. Old ideas and worn-out concepts in talent management must be identified and discarded to allow for genuine progress.
  2. Binary labels like 'hard skills vs soft skills' and 'introvert vs extrovert' are misleading and can hinder accurate talent assessment.
  3. The concept of 'high potential candidate' often introduces bias and leads to poor decision-making, hindering talent development and organizational growth.

The Covid-19 Grading Mess

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 19 implied HN points • 24 Aug 20
🚌 Education Assessment Algorithm Covid-19 Impact
  1. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenges of grading students became pronounced, resulting in significant issues with assessment and grading strategies in educational institutions.
  2. The UK's Ofqual algorithm for adjusting predicted grades and translating them to final grades during the pandemic resulted in unfair outcomes, with significant disparities in grading and allocation of University places.
  3. Utilizing algorithms for student grading during crisis situations should incorporate considerations for bias and adjust predicted grades accordingly, to avoid harmful outcomes and ensure fair assessment.

8/5 TBC Insider Digest

Tech Buzz China Insider • 0 implied HN points • 06 Aug 21
🕹 Technology Regulation Internet Usage Assessment Risk Analysis
  1. Many are uncertain about potential gaming restrictions in China, but it's unlikely to face the same fate as after school tutoring.
  2. A government study on Chinese minor internet use revealed concerns like nearsightedness and parental responsibility.
  3. An assessment of regulatory risks across product categories was shared, sparking discussions on industry impacts.

#32: Missing the point

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 0 implied HN points • 10 Jun 20
🚌 Education Learning Assessment Curriculum Technology Failure
  1. Fear of failure is often unnoticed, especially in organizations. If we can't see it, we can't talk about it or fix it.
  2. People tend to create excuses to avoid actions that might lead to failure. Recognizing these excuses is key to overcoming them.
  3. Technology makes it easy to find answers, but it can prevent true understanding. Students need to learn that it's okay not to know everything.

When Perfect Targets Go Bad: The Pitfalls of Over-Optimizing Our Measures

Anima Mundi • 0 implied HN points • 18 Jan 25
🚌 Education Learning Assessment Society Efficiency Goals
  1. Over-optimizing a goal can cause it to backfire. Instead of improving, your real goal might actually get worse.
  2. This issue, known as the strong version of Goodhart's law, shows that when we focus too much on a specific measure, we can end up harming our original aim.
  3. To avoid these pitfalls, we need to make sure our measures align closely with what we really want and be cautious about pushing for too much efficiency.

The Future of Education

Sustainable Views • 0 implied HN points • 07 Apr 23
🚌 Education AI Assessment Teachers
  1. The current education system is based on outdated methods of grading and testing.
  2. Assessment in education should focus more on application of knowledge rather than just understanding or problem-solving.
  3. Teachers need to adapt to the changing landscape of education by assessing and teaching on a higher level, and a new business model may be needed for them.

Rebirths and Fresh starts!

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 26 Jan 09
🚌 Education Teaching Learning Curriculum Assessment Research
  1. Teaching allows for a fresh start every semester, making it unique compared to other jobs. You can leave the past behind and embrace new beginnings.
  2. The excitement of starting a new class motivates the teacher, and they hope to share that enthusiasm with students.
  3. The opportunity to connect lessons from past experiences into fresh classes enriches the learning process for everyone involved.

Our Engagement Process

realkinetic • 0 implied HN points • 04 Oct 18
💼 Business Consulting Mentorship Strategy Assessment
  1. Real Kinetic uses a declining-engagement model emphasizing mentorship to help clients for long-term success and quick value delivery.
  2. Their assessment process involves on-site visits and delivering documents like Assessment Summary, Key Risks, Next Steps and Path to Production, and Best Practices and Recommendations.
  3. Real Kinetic transitions from an active weekly/biweekly involvement to a monthly/quarterly retainer-based model, aiming to make clients self-sufficient while providing continuous support.

Time to adjust your assessment

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 06 Nov 20
🚌 Education Assessment Online Learning Diversity Equity Inclusion
  1. When transitioning to online assessments, consider the implications of privacy when using surveillance software - it can invade students' personal spaces and raise trust issues.
  2. Using surveillance software can signal a lack of trust and respect towards students - consider alternative assessment methods to avoid creating a disruptive and distrustful environment.
  3. Surveillance software for exams may disproportionately impact students of color and other protected classes, highlighting the importance of considering diversity, equity, and inclusion in assessment approaches.

Should writing be graded?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
🚌 Education Assessment Writing Learning AI Tools
  1. Consider embracing AI tools for written assessment instead of banning them, as tools like ChatGPT can enhance the learning process and reveal deeper understanding.
  2. Rethink traditional assessment methods to focus more on critical thinking and application of knowledge rather than just memorization and regurgitation.
  3. Encouraging students to use tools like ChatGPT thoughtfully, along with evaluating and signing off on the AI-generated content, can contribute to a more nuanced and fair assessment process.