Learning and assessment: Twenty-first century skills and cognitive readiness

Abstract

This effort considers briefly the interpretations and elements of twenty-first century skills, the components of cognitive readiness, and how they may generate overlapping conceptual models for learning and assessment. The chapter then addresses different functions, benefits, and flaws of the different conceptualizations as they apply to various purposes, including the design of learning and assessment. Next, content is treated through the use of a method to develop an ontology that reflects the domain relevant to measurement or learning. Ontologies have at least two major uses. First they provide a graphical representation of verbal goals or domain boundaries where they engender greater transparency, opportunity for agreement, discussion, and support, and sampling plans for critical or highly important content topics and methods. Their more complete use, however, is to set rules and content for the design of databases intended to monitor, revise, and manage performance generated by twenty-first century skill tasks, content, and items given to target respondents. Only a relatively brief treatment is provided here of the development of such smart databases. Finally, the chapter closes with a brief treatment of validity, including assessment design adequacy, criteria of quality, and validity of interpretations, in the context of the emerging research agenda in the field.