Elena Kardanova
- Associate Professor: Institute of Education / Department of Educational Programmes
- Leading Research Fellow, Academic Supervisor: Institute of Education / Centre for Psychometrics and Measurement in Education
- Programme Scientific Supervisor: Science of Learning and Assessment
- Tenured Professor (2018)
- Elena Kardanova has been at HSE University since 2010.
Education, Degrees and Academic Titles
Zhdanov Leningrad State University
Zhdanov Leningrad State University
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, Candidate of Sciences belongs to ISCED level 8 - "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar. Candidate of Sciences allows its holders to reach the level of the Associate Professor.
Awards and Accomplishments
- Best Teacher — 2022–2023, 2013–2015
- Winner of the HSE University Best Russian Research Paper Competition – 2023
Courses (2026/2027)
- Advanced Psychometrics (Postgraduate course; Institute of Education; 2 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Artificial Intelligence in Psychometrics (Mago-Lego; Institute of Education; 3 module)Eng
- Designing of of Measurement Tools (Postgraduate course; Institute of Education; 1 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Mago-Lego; Institute of Education; 3, 4 module)Eng
- Past Courses
Courses (2025/2026)
- Designing of of Measurement Tools (Postgraduate course; Institute of Education; 1 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Mago-Lego; Institute of Education; 3, 4 module)Eng
Courses (2024/2025)
- Advanced Psychometrics (Postgraduate course field of study Postgraduate Studies; 2 year, 1, 2 semester)Rus
- Designing of of Measurement Tools (Postgraduate course; 1 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Mago-Lego; 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, Pedagogy; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
Courses (2023/2024)
- Advanced Psychometrics (Postgraduate course field of study Postgraduate Studies; 2 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Desinging of measurement tools (Postgraduate course field of study Postgraduate Studies; 1 year, 1, 2 semester)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, field of study Psychology; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Mago-Lego; 3, 4 module)Eng
Courses (2022/2023)
- Advanced Psychometrics (Postgraduate course; Faculty of Social Sciences field of study Education and Pedagogical Studies; 2 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Desinging of measurement tools (Postgraduate course field of study Postgraduate Studies; 1 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Large-Scale Assessment in Education (Mago-Lego; 3 module)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, field of study Psychology; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Eng
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Mago-Lego; 3, 4 module)Eng
Courses (2021/2022)
- Advanced Psychometrics (Postgraduate course field of study Education and Pedagogical Studies; 2 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Desinging of measurement tools (Postgraduate course field of study Education and Pedagogical Studies; 1 year, 1 semester)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology; 2 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Psychometric Theories and Analysis of Test Items (Master’s programme; Institute of Education field of study Psychology, field of study Psychology; 1 year, 2-4 module)Eng
Conferences
- 2018
19th Annual Conference of the Association for Educational Assessment - Europe (Неймеген). Presentation: A possibility for cross - country comparisons of early reading for children starting school in Russia and in the UK
Seventh International Conference on Probabilistic Models for Measurement (Перт). Presentation: Setting benchmarks of children reading development for potential comparisons across countries and cultures
- 2017
18th Annual Conference of the Association for Educational Assessment - Europe (Прага). Presentation: Providing Validity Evidence for the Engineering Students Professional Competences Test (evidence from Russia and China)
- 2016
XVII Апрельская международная научная конференция «Модернизация экономики и общества» (Москва). Presentation: Прогресс первоклассников за первый год обучения в школе: фиксация неравенства на начальной ступени образования
XVII Апрельская международная научная конференция «Модернизация экономики и общества» (Москва). Presentation: Оценка качества инженерного образования в элитных и неэлитных вузах России
- 2015
16th Annual AEA-Europe Conference (Глазго). Presentation: The challenges of equating tests between Russia and Scotland
- 2014
15th Annual AEA-Europe Conference (Таллинн). Presentation: Cross-cultural comparability of SAM-Math results
ECER 2014, Porto The Past, Present and Future of Educational Research in Europe. Presentation: Cross-cultural Comparability of Survey Data: Case of Nordic-Baltic Comparative Study"; "Measuring Heterogeneity Of The Educational System
- 2013
7th International Technology, Education and Development Conference INTED 2013 (Валенсия). Presentation: Academic Heterogeneity of Universities Freshmen
7th International Technology, Education and Development Conference INTED 2013 (Валенсия). Presentation: The results of student achievement monitoring in primary school and their connection to educational environment characteristics
14th Annual AEA-Europe Conference (Paris). Presentation: Comparative Study on Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices
14th Annual AEA-Europe Conference (Paris). Presentation: Student Achievement Monitoring Toolkit (SAM): Validity and Reliability Issues
- 2012
4th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN12) (Барселона). Presentation: New technologies of assessment: School Achievements Monitoring
13th annual AEA-E Conference (Берлин). Presentation: School Achievements Monitoring Toolkit: Framework and First Results
Supervisor of the following Doctoral theses
- 1E. Yusupova Teacher Expectations and Academic Achievement of Students with Different Levels of Academic and Social-Emotional Skills in Primary School, 2024
- 2A. Ivanova Development and validation of the Russian version of an instrument for an international comparative study of what students know and can do at school entrances and their progress during the first year: problems of adaptation and localization, 2021
- 3I. Antipkina Measuring parental involvement into children’s education, 2020
- 4A. Kulikova (Ponomareva) Methodology of Data Preparation and Data Analysis for International Comparative Studies Aimed at the Research of Russian teachers, 2019
- 5Automatic generation of items with known psychometric properties for Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Employment history
2010 – present
Tenured professor, Director, Center for Psychometrics and Educational Measurement, Scientific supervisor of master program "Measurement in Psychology and Education"
1989-2012
Novgorod State University, Associated professor
Pocket Money, Personal Interest, and Family Practices: What Shapes Students’ Economic Literacy?
University students' economic literacy depends not only on their field of study but also on their interest in economics, the learning environment, and family financial practices. For example, students who received pocket money irregularly tend to perform better on economic literacy tests than their peers who received financial support on a regular basis. These findings come from a study conducted by HSE University involving more than 1,100 students from five Russian universities. The findings have been published in Cakrawala Pendidikan.
The Best Method for Making Language Testing Faster and More Accurate
Researchers discovered that language proficiency tests could be significantly shortened by processing responses more effectively. An international team of scholars, including a researcher from the Institute of Education, demonstrated this using data from around 3,000 students who took English listening tests.
‘Education is the Mother of all Disciplines’
Moses Oluoke Omopekunola, from Nigeria, is a second-year student of the Science of Learning and Assessment (SOLA) programme. Intent on pursuing a career in psychometrics, he has already joined the PhD programme in Education to deepen his knowledge of the theory and methodology of learning. In this interview with the HSE News Service, Moses explains how his master’s programme aligns with his future plans, recalls the challenges he has faced, and shares the most valuable lessons he has learned so far.
Pioneering Psychometrics-Based Assessment of Large Language Models in Education
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.
HSE Researchers Develop Novel Approach to Evaluating AI Applications in Education
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.
Human Potential: Approaches to Study and Measurement Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has summed up the results on approaches to the study and measurement of human potential
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.
Study of the International Laboratory for Evaluation of Practices and Innovations in Education was included in the effectiveness research database of the Abdul Latif Jamil Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
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)
IOE Ramps up R&D Partnership with Kazakhstan
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.
The Effect of Digitalization on School Children Calculated for the First Time
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.
HSE Staff Members Awarded Status of Tenured Professor
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.
Immeasurable Hardiness of Character
What is «grit» and why it's time to rethink it
Children of Richer Parents Do Better at School
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.
International iPIPS Research Evaluates Children’s Success — not Countries’
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.