DPhil Students

Victoria Elliott

Victoria Elliott taught English in secondary schools for three years before leaving the wilds of Yorkshire to study for the Oxford University Department of Education MSc in Educational Research Methodology.

Her research interests lie in the making of judgements in assessment contexts, primarily by examiners, and computer assisted assessment systems. Five years of experience as an English examiner at a variety of levels supports her understanding of the context.

Victoria's work is supported by an Economic and Social Sciences Research Council Quota studentship.

Malcolm Hayes

Malcolm's main interest is the application of Rasch and IRT models in the analysis of test data, his work has been focused around but not limited to Mathematics and English tests aimed at Key stages 2 and 3 of the National Curriculum. Within this area there are several test designs that are or have been in operation and it is a considerable challenge to ensure that such tests are fair, valid and reliable. In addition, the tests are used as accountability measures for teachers, schools, Local Authorities and even the government. It is therefore vital that level thresholds are set in such a way as to ensure the maintenance of standards over time.

There is considerable literature surrounding the calibration, linking and equating of parallel forms of tests with the same structure but rather less about more complex situations such as tiering as was used with the key stage 3 mathematics and science tests. The proposed Single Level tests also create a situation where both vertical (across levels) and horizontal (across years) equating would be a desired outcome

Malcolm's research project is to look at methods of optimising of equating models for such complex testing designs.

Shan Huang

Shan Huang achieved an MEd of Educational Leadership, Policy and Development at the University of Bristol in 2006-07 and is currently studying for an MSc/DPhil in Education Research Methodology at the University of Oxford. Shans previous work has focused on analysing the criteria of national evaluation systems at an institutional level, to uncover the underlying tension between the diversity and convergence of development of higher education institutions. Currently her research is on the critical analysis of the international ranking of universities.

Yanhong Li

Yanhong Li joined the centre as D.Phil student in October 2008. Prior this post, she worked at Brookes University, Middlesex University and Portsmouth University.She has researched and published on issues around performance measurement and assessment in both public sector and business sector. Her previous research experiences include: Assessment and making practices in Higher Education; Service quality in High Education; International students learning experiences; Assessing Supply Chain’ performance—application of Data Envelopment Analysis, and Study of Chinese Bank Ownership—using DEA approach.

Manzil Maqsood

Manzil completed a BSc in Computer Science and an MSc in Software Project Management from The National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, after which she started teaching software engineering and software project and process management in the same university. While teaching, she developed an interest in the field of education, and hence pursued an MPhil in Education Research from the University of Cambridge in 2007. Manzil is presently pursuing a DPhil in Education, with a focus on assessment at the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment.

Manzil's research interests span a variety of areas, such as the use of ICT in education systems of developing countries and the social, cultural, technical, and pedagogical issues related to computer-based assessment; the planning and development of e-assessment systems for primary, secondary, and higher education systems of developing countries such as Pakistan; educating teachers in public and private schools of Pakistan for test development; and comparative analysis of educational assessment systems in various countries around the world.

Maria Teresa Florez