Internship of Marina Kholmanskaya at the University of Auckland in New Zealand

Marina Kholmanskaya, an academic PhD student now in her third year and a junior researcher in the Laboratory for Curriculum Design, interned at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in August-September 2024.

Marina Kholmanskaya, an academic PhD student now in her third year and a junior researcher in the Laboratory for Curriculum Design, interned at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in August-September 2024.

Why was Auckland chosen? Marina gives the following answer to this question: “Indeed, we know very little about New Zealand, and for many people it is a surprise that it is even 4,000 kilometers further from us than Australia. However, it is a very interesting place, including in terms of science and education. The University of Auckland is one of the strongest in the world, with a long tradition. The fact that John Hattie, the author of the famous research and book “Visible Learning” worked there is worth mentioning. When at the beginning of this century the New Zealand government decided to reform the education system, in particular, the assessment system, it was Hattie who was entrusted to lead this process. As a result, for fifteen years now, all schools in the country have been operating on a no-marking system, based primarily on formative assessment. Of course, as a feedback researcher, it was extremely interesting for me to see for myself how it was organized and to learn from Hattie's associates (he himself is retired).

 

I was very fortunate to be mentored by Professor Gavin Brown, formerly a graduate student at Hattie and now a world-renowned scholar, author of numerous books and articles on assessment and measurement in education. During the five-week internship, Professor Brown and I analyzed the data I brought with me, including using methods that are not yet common in our country, and also made groundwork for a joint article in English. It was an incredibly fruitful time! It seems as if it was compressed there, and in a short period of time I managed to acquire as much new knowledge and skills as one usually acquires in many months. And being in a new academic context and working closely with researchers from different countries is an extremely useful experience. My colleagues from Austria, China, Colombia and of course New Zealand and I were constantly exchanging ideas and noting how useful it was for all of us, because each of us has a different context and experience of solving problems, but the problems are very similar.