ECER 2022 was held in two parts: ECER 2022 in Yerevan at August 23-25 (in-person), and ECER Plus which for Network 9 took place at Sept 1-3 (online). For Network 9 the participation was much higher at ECER plus than in Yerevan. Network 9 organized 7 paper sessions and 1 workshop in Yerevan and 15 paper sessions and 1 workshop online at ECER plus. The main reason why people chose ECERplus over ECER was the location of the conference, the difficulty and cost to get there and the political situation in the country, which prevented some to travel there. Unfortunately, very few in Network 9 participated in both parts of the conference.
The attendance of the sessions was in general good and the discussions were rich and interesting. There were no serious technical or organizational issues online at ECER plus. In Yerevan, however, the absence of technical assistance in the classrooms was somewhat annoying at the beginning, as it was impossible for the presenting persons to move the slides themselves. However, this shortcoming was soon removed.
In all, the conference programme consisted of 72 individual papers in 22 sessions, 1 joint symposium session (3 papers) with NW12, 1 joint panel discussion with NW12, 5 posters, and 2 research workshops. Authors of the Network 9 submissions accepted for ECER 2022 were from 33 countries, reflecting the international composition of conference presentations.
In addition, the programme also comprises the annual Network 9 meeting along with a keynote speech as an invited contribution. Invited this year was professor Sarah Howie from Africa Centre for scholarship, Stellenboch University, South Africa, who gave a talk titled: “21st Century Assessment and Examinations for a Complex, Global World”. Both the network meeting and the keynote address were held online at ECER plus to assure participation for all interested.
Below follows the list of the 22 paper sessions which were held in Network 9 by topic (in alphabetic order):
• Assessing Non-cognitive Skills • Assessing Student Performance • Assessing Students’ 21st Century Skills • Assessment and Feedback in Higher and Adult Education • Assessment in the Field of Social Sciences • Assessment of ICT and Digital Skills • Examining Factors Influencing Academic Resilience • Exploring Formative Assessment • Exploring Gender Differences and Test-Taker Behaviour • Exploring Pre-servis Teacher Training • Exploring School Effectiveness • Impact of COVID-19 on Teaching and Learning (in person) • Impact of COVID-19 on Teaching and Learning (online) • Linking and Equating Large-scale Assessment Scales • Relating Individual Non-cognitive Factors to Student Achievement • Relating Student Educational Progress to Socioeconomic Characteristics • Relating Teacher Characteristics to Student Achievement • Relationship between Self-beliefs and Academic Achievement • Studies on Educational Quality and Equity • Tackling Challenges Associated with Electronic Assessment of Reading Proficiency • Tackling Challenges Associated with Grading Students • Use of LSA Data for National Evaluation Purposes
Further contributions to the network program were two research workshops: • Firstly, a full-day workshop in a pre-conference setting organized by Falk Brese on the theme of “How to Analyze Students’ Mathematics and Science Achievement”. • Secondly, a research workshop on the theme of “Analyzing Large-Scale Assessment and Survey Data with the RALSA R Package” organized by Plamen Mirazchiyski.
In terms of offers for capacity building and professional development, members of Network 9 gladly continued supporting the Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) by participating in the review process and by serving as mentors for sessions in the ERC 2022.
For further details on the work and activities in Network 9 see the minutes of the network meeting at ECER 2022 and the different sections of the website of Network 9.
Also contributing to the network program were two sessions, a joint symposium and a panel discussion, in collaboration with Network 12; • The joint symposium had the theme “From Research Data Collection to Usage: How to Facilitate Further Data Analysis”. • The panel discussion was organized with the topic “IEA Open-Access Publishing Calls for Collaboration Across Disciplinary Borders: What Can Be Achieved and How?”
Finally, a joint symposium and a panel discussion were organized in collaboration with Network 12. The joint symposium had the theme “From Research Data Collection to Usage: How to Facilitate Further Data Analysis”. The panel discussion was organized with the topic “IEA Open-Access Publishing Calls for Collaboration Across Disciplinary Borders: What Can Be Achieved and How?”