eprintid: 31528
rev_number: 18
eprint_status: archive
userid: 6643
dir: disk0/00/03/15/28
datestamp: 2022-06-10 11:46:16
lastmod: 2022-06-14 05:38:03
status_changed: 2022-06-10 11:46:16
type: doctoralThesis.habil
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Schüttpelz-Brauns, Katrin
title: The utility of low-stakes assessment with the example of the Berlin Progress Test
subjects: ddc-370
subjects: ddc-610
divisions: i-851200
adv_faculty: af-06
keywords: higher education research, medical education, low-stakes assessment
cterms_swd: Hochschulforschung
cterms_swd: Medizinstudium
cterms_swd: Prüfung
abstract: In a culture where grades are the aim of a course or a study year there seems to be no rationale for assessments where student performance has no consequences.  

However, such low-stakes assessments serve several purposes: for students as formative assessment, for faculty as evaluation tool, for policy as large-scale assessment and for society as research tool. Although they seem low-stakes for participants, low-stakes assessments can have severe consequences for teachers, faculty, institutions or policy (Breakspear, 2012; Cole, 2007; Cole & Osterlind, 2008). If test-taking effort is not taken into account, the validity of results can be threatened (Akyol, Krishna, & Wang, 2018; Brown & Walberg, 1993; Butler & Adams, 2007; Eklöf, 2010; Penk, 2017; Thelk et al., 2009; Wise & DeMars, 2005; Wolf & Smith, 1995). As a consequence, low-stakes assessments may not serve their purposes properly. However, low-stakes assessment is only useful if it serves its purpose. Progress tests can serve all of the purposes described above and they represent both moderate-stakes and low-stakes assessment. Therefore, research findings concerning moderate-stakes versus low-stakes progress tests can be compared and thus the special aspects of low-stakes assessments can be worked out. 

In this cumulative habilitation I first introduce progress testing: why progress tests were developed, what they look like, where they are used, how the purposes of low-stakes assessments are fulfilled and what the stakes of progress tests mean. Furthermore, I discuss moderate- and low-stakes progress tests in terms of the findings for each component of the model of Utility of Assessment Methods (van der Vleuten, 1996) to outline the special features of low-stakes assessment, which are the subject of the studies in my research. These studies pursue the following aims
• developing and validating a short scale for identifying students with low test-taking effort, 
• investigating the construct validity of a low-stakes progress test after eliminating non-serious test-takers, 
• finding strategies that are related to the acceptability of low-stakes progress tests.
date: 2022
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00031528
ppn_swb: 1806825066
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-315286
date_accepted: 2021-03-19
advisor: HASH(0x558eaa5cdf00)
language: eng
bibsort: SCHUTTPELZTHEUTILITY2022
full_text_status: public
place_of_pub: Heidelberg
citation:   Schüttpelz-Brauns, Katrin  (2022) The utility of low-stakes assessment with the example of the Berlin Progress Test.  [Habilitation]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/31528/1/Sch%C3%BCttpelz-Brauns_2020_UtilityLowStakesAss.pdf