Elena Kardanova

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, understanding the capabilities and limitations of large language models (LLMs) in specialized fields such as education is crucial. A study by Elena Kardanova, Alina Ivanova, Ksenia Tarasova, Taras Pashchenko, Aleksei Tikhoniuk, Elen Yusupova, Anatoly Kasprzhak, Yaroslav Kuzminov, Ekaterina Kruchinskaia, and Irina Brun, introduces a novel psychometrics-based methodology to assess LLM performance in the field of pedagogy. By focusing on the educational domain and developing a robust benchmark tailored for LLM evaluation, the authors offer new insights into the strengths and weaknesses of these models.

Researchers at HSE University have proposed a novel approach to assessing AI's competency in educational settings. The approach is grounded in psychometric principles and has been empirically tested using the GPT-4 model. This marks the first step in evaluating the true readiness of generative models to serve as assistants for teachers or students. The results have been published in arXiv.

From October 18 to December 17, 2022, a series of workshops dedicated to the research on the conceptual foundations in assessment and measurement of human potential took place. Within the framework of the seminars, both theoretical classes devoted to economic and sociological approaches to the study of human capital and practical workshops on the technique of its measurement were held under the guidance of the leading researchers from the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center and young scientists, practitioners in human development.

The research of the International Laboratory of Evaluation of Practices and Innovations in Education was included in the research base of the Laboratory of Action against Poverty Abdul Latif Jamil (Poverty Action Lab, J-PAL)

The HSE Institute of Education and Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University have recently entered into a cooperation to advance research and development across an array of domains in education.

A group of researchers representing four countries summed up the results of the Supertest, a large-scale study of the academic performance of engineering students in Russia, China, India, and the United States. It is the first study to track the progress of students in computer science and electrical engineering over the course of their studies with regard to their abilities in physics, mathematics, and critical thinking and compare the results among four countries. The article about study was published in Nature Human Behavior.

Experts at IOE and Yandex have reported findings from a one-of-a-kind massive joint study that they carried out in association with Stanford and the University of California to evaluate whether and how engaging in practices of e-learning contributes to academic performance in primary school. Completing more assignments online can be specifically of aid in catching up those early-graders who fall behind on math literacy, the study suggests.

The HSE Institute of Education together with Yandex completed Russia’s first large-scale experiment assessing the impact of online technology on primary school students’ performance in school. The researchers concluded that online completion of assignments help improve mathematical literacy, particularly among underachieving students.

In late March, IOE hosted a closing session for a series of expert seminars on psychometric research and training that were held as part of the Russia Education Aid for Development (READ) program, a joint initiative between the Russian government and the World Bank. The forum brought together a cohort of strategists, institutional leaders, researchers and representatives of other stakeholders from India, Mongolia, Nepal, Vietnam, Armenia, and Tajikistan.

IOE is soon to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with Educational Testing Service, the world’s largest private organization in educational measurement and testing. During their recent visit to ETS Headquarters in Princeton (New Jersey, USA), IOE experts Elena Kardanova and Tatjana Kanonire met with their ETS colleagues to map out the overall scope of the upcoming cooperation and to negotiate preliminary plans in a number of specific areas.

Early this August, a picturesque historic location of HSE’s ‘Kochubey Mansion’ Training Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia welcomed testing professionals from over a dozen countries for IOE’s Fifth International Summer School ‘Applied Psychometrics in Education and Psychology.’ Instruction in the School was given by world-renowned experts in measurements and test development: Dr. Linda Cook (The National Center for the Improvement of Assessment), Dr. Mary Pitoniak (Educational Testing Service), Dr. Carol Myford (University of Illinois at Chicago), and Dr. Lidia Dobria (Wilbur Wright College & University of Illinois at Chicago).

On June 22, several HSE lecturers and staff members were awarded the status of Tenured Professor at a meeting of HSE Academic Council. Sixteen HSE staff members became Distinguished Professors at the Higher School of Economics for the first time.

What is «grit» and why it's time to rethink it

The more books in the family and the richer and more educated the parents, the more likely it is that the children will do well at school.

Elena Kardanova, the director of the Centre of Education Quality Monitoring, and Alina Ivanova, junior research fellow of the same centre, have participated in the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) held in Washington, DC. The conference dedicated to ‘Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies’ took place on April 7–12 and gathered around 14000 participants from all over the world.

Two researchers of the Institute of Education have taken part in the AERA Annual Meeting that was held in Washington, DC on April, 7–12. Alina Ivanova, IoE postgraduate student, shares her view on five reasons to attend one of the largest conferences in the field of education research.

The article ‘Developing instruments to assess and compare the quality of engineering education: the case of China and Russia’ by the group of IOE staff members (Elena Kardanova, Prashant Loyalka,  Igor Chirikov, Ekaterina ENchikova) was published on the online platform of the journal ‘Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education’ issued by Taylor & Francis.

On October 28, the HSE Institute of Education seminar discussed international comparative research project – iPIPS (The International Performance Indicators in Primary Schools). It examines child development on enrolling in school and during their first year of studies. The research was carried out in the UK, and HSE Institute of Education specialists adapted it – and for the first time carried it out in Russia.