James Tognolini：Measuring and assessing graduate qualities at universities

On the evening of May 25th, the 9th International Salon of the Future Education Institute was held in Room 301 of the Lijiao Building. The keynote speaker invited to this salon was Professor James Tognolini, Director of the Education Measurement and Evaluation Research Center at the University of Sydney. Professor Tognolini's research focuses on educational assessment, including the application and effectiveness of measurement models, the use of measurement information, monitoring indices, and the use of data to improve teaching quality. Sun Bo, Vice Dean of the Future Education Institute, as well as relevant teaching and research personnel and students from the institute attended this salon.

James first introduced a large project underway at the University of Sydney that measures the nine qualities that graduates need to attain. These qualities are required by almost all universities for their students. However, few schools can provide evidence to demonstrate the extent to which university education affects the formation of these qualities (i.e. increases students' personal value). Research and evaluation on this degree (more or less) is a measurement issue that requires a measurement solution. Therefore, the University of Sydney has developed an evaluation index for measuring the quality of graduates, which forms the basis of measurement. At the same time, the University of Sydney is also exploring the use of standards in the indices to measure and record the level of achievement of individual students, and to incorporate individual student level measurement as part of the student's record of achievement. In this salon, James discussed the latest developments in the project and explored the issues of measurement and evaluation standards and project implementation that arise during the process.

Next, Ms. Yuan Li from the Future Education Institute had an interactive exchange with James on university examination and evaluation reform and innovation. James emphasized that the key to the success of the University of Sydney's implementation of the quality education reform for undergraduates is to promote the project implementation from top to bottom. At the same time, teachers and students have a very positive attitude towards the new evaluation methods.

Ms. Zhang Shu from the Future Education Institute had a discussion with James on how to evaluate students in mathematics teaching, especially on the cultivation and evaluation of students' abilities during the mathematics teaching process, as well as the problems and challenges in the mathematics teaching classroom.

Finally, James summarized the interim results achieved by the University of Sydney's project and analyzed the challenges in evaluating the quality of university students at present. He believed that a comprehensive and three-dimensional evaluation of students' hard and soft skills is the development trend of future education evaluation. Schools no longer only consider students' hard skills, but also regard quality education as an important component of evaluation. This evaluation method not only needs to adapt to the development needs of future evaluation systems in schools, but also meets the requirements of the entire society, especially employers for talent cultivation from universities.

After this salon event, everyone gained a new understanding of future education evaluation methods and learned about the scale design and evaluation indicators for creativity, collaboration, and communication skills. The salon event ended in a warm atmosphere.