Virtual Change Agents
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Validity of Learning DAVID F. FELDON Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Synonyms Assessment validity
Definition The validity of learning refers to the accuracy and utility of measures used to assess learning outcomes. These properties are central for both research and practice in education and training contexts, as they are the mechanism by which evidence can be compiled to support or recommend against specific interventions that attempt to influence learning. The topic is complex due to the wide array of competing theories addressing: benchmarks for evaluating validity, operational definitions of learning as a phenomenon, and essential or desired characteristics of learning outcomes. The theoretical frameworks that inform these definitions of learning are discussed in the following section.
Theoretical Background Notwithstanding several substantial debates about the nature of and criteria for determining validity that are beyond the scope of this writing, as a general principle, validity is the extent to which (1) data collected for analysis reflect accurately the nature of a phenomenon
and (2) the human interpretation and application of those data draw justified logical inferences that do not exceed their informative power. Consequently, conclusions about the validity of learning require explicit links to a specific theoretical framework which provides both an operational definition of learning and an analytic perspective that governs the manipulation of data (e.g., appropriate application of quantitative and/or qualitative methods) and subsequent interpretation. Generally, there are four different operational definitions of learning that each serve as a foundation for a major class of learning theories: Behaviorism considers learning to be appropriately operationalized as a change in observable behavior as a response to stimuli. Cognitive theories define learning as a change to the representation of knowledge (e.g., schema, production, etc.) held in long-term memory. Social theories of learning postulate that meaningful learning manifests as an enhanced ability for a learner to successfully assume a socially defined role that includes the competencies, discursive tools, and cultural norms of a community of practitioners. Connectionist theories, in contrast, hold that learning is appropriately identified by the development of new connections among neural pathways at a physiological level. With such diverse conceptions of appropriate learning indicators, it is unsurprising that there is little agreement on appropriate mechanisms for assessing learning outcomes across theoretical frameworks. Debates regarding the value of one framework over another are frequently intractable, because the selection of a theoretical lens is not primarily an empirical question. A theory acts as a lens to interpret data, so it is effectively refuted only in the unusual event that data viewed through that lens are fundamentally incompatible with its tenets.
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