Introduction to the New Assessment Methodology in Educational Settings: Use of KWM in an Engineering Graduate Course

Abstract

Accountability in educational institutions has become a widespread concern, leading to the need of assessment tools that could provide objective results for class improvements. The purpose of this study was to propose the use of an assessment methodology that measures the activities of students and teachers in classroom settings. Subjects were recruited from an elective course in the Graduate School of Engineering. Key Words Meeting （KWM） was used to assess the transmission situation of the keywords. Activities of the students and teachers were scored and termed “learning amount” and “guidance amount,” respectively. The average score of “learning amount” was 80.0 points （SD = 8.9） and the average score of “guidance amount” was 88.7 points （SD =1.4）. The largest difference in the scores of students arose from their activities related to feedback from the teachers. The teachers completed all the activities before and after class, however, there was a difference in the status of students’ transmission situations. From the scores of class activities, assessment criteria for students and teachers were identified. The results of this study may encourage students and teachers to engage in further activities before and after class, and provide a way to objectively assess both in class and out of class activities for concrete class improvements.