The Becoming-Statistic.

This article examines how computerized adaptive testing functions in relation to learning in control societies. We first document the transition from static and discrete forms of statistical work that characterized Foucault’s disciplinary societies into the continuous, predictive analytics that have...

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Published in:Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 491 - 502
Main Authors: Sellar, Sam, Thompson, Greg
Format: Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Oct2016
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: The Becoming-Statistic.
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          Sellar, Sam
          Thompson, Greg
        affil:
          University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
          Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
      su:
        Ontologies (Information retrieval)
        Computer adaptive testing
        Data-based decision making in education
        Pearson PLC
        Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984
        Deleuze, Gilles, 1925-1995
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          Ontologies (Information retrieval)
          Computer adaptive testing
          Data-based decision making in education
          Pearson PLC
          Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984
          Deleuze, Gilles, 1925-1995
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        CAT
        control society
        data
        Deleuze
        information
        ontology
      ab: This article examines how computerized adaptive testing functions in relation to learning in control societies. We first document the transition from static and discrete forms of statistical work that characterized Foucault’s disciplinary societies into the continuous, predictive analytics that have emerged as the powerful form of statistical work in Deleuze’s control societies. We then explore the function of information science ontologies in adaptive testing and learning applications from the perspective of Deleuze’s philosophical ontology. Working between these two conceptions of ontology enables us to open a critical space in which to posit the need for an alternative ontology of number in education. Focusing on the case of Pearson, the world’s largest edu-business, we consider how the “datafication” of education is presenting opportunities to exploit information assemblages for profit. The primary focus of analysis is Pearson’s Next Generation Assessment agenda, which focuses on the development and implementation of computerized adaptive testing within a broader digital learning environment. Next Generation Assessment is theorized as an information assemblage that functions according to an axiomatic modeling of numerical data enabling the production and communication of information throughout proliferating data infrastructures in education. We argue that the shift from “becoming a statistic” in disciplinary society to “the becoming-statistic” in control society is facilitating the development of digital learning platforms that risk limiting the conditions for learning in the creative sense of this term.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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