Designing and Developing Online Course Assessments :: Webcast

1. Designing and Developing Online Course Assessments :: Webcast Dr. Veronica Diaz, Maricopa Community Colleges Dr. Patricia McGee, The University of Texas at San Antonio

2. Day 2 Agenda • Welcome • Part 4: What are the types of effective assessments in an online course? • Part 5: How can we select the appropriate assessment strategy? • Q&A

3. What are the types of effective assessments in an online course? PART 4

4. Review of Day 1

5. Assessment and Learning

6. Assessment Toolkit P. McGee

8. Online vs. Face-to-face • Progressive online learner assessment • Self-Assessment • Peer review • Individual • Team

9. What are the types of effective assessments in an online course? Part 4

10. Effective uses of rubrics: content, processes, attitudes, etc.

11. Rubrics • Specifically state the criteria for evaluating student work • Are more specific, detailed, and disaggregated than a grade and can help students to succeed before a final grade • Can be created from • Language in assignments • Comments on students’ papers, or • Handouts intended to help students complete an assignment

12. Identify what you are assessing (e.g., critical thinking, writing, process, participation) Identify the characteristics/behavior of what you are assessing (e.g., presenting, problem-solving) Decide what kind of scales you will use to score the rubric (e.g. checklists, numerical, qualitative, or numerical-qualitative) Describe the best work you could expect using these characteristics: top category Describe the worst acceptable product using these characteristics: lowest category Development Steps

13. Develop descriptions of intermediate-level products and assign them to intermediate categories: • 1-5: unacceptable, marginal, acceptable, good, outstanding • 1-5: novice, competent, exemplary • Other meaningful set • Test it out with colleagues or students by applying it to some products or behaviors and revise as needed to eliminate ambiguities More Steps

14. Develop the rubric with your students Use same rubric that was used to grade Use examples to share with students, so they can begin to understand what excellent, good, and poor work looks like Have students grade sample products using a rubric to help them understand how they are applied In a peer-review process, have students apply the rubric to eachother’s work before submitting it for official grading Rubric Tips

15. Benefits • Allows assessment to be more objective and consistent • Focuses instruction to clarify criteria in specific terms • Clearly shows the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected • Promotes student awareness of about the criteria to use in assessing peer evaluation

16. http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/rubrics.shtml http://www.calstate.edu/AcadAff/SLOA/links/rubrics.shtml http://www.iuk.edu/~koctla/assessment/rubrics.shtml http://www.csupomona.edu/~uwc/faculty/CSU-EPTScoringGuide.shtml http://condor.depaul.edu/~tla/html/assessment_resources.html http://www.winona.edu/AIR/rubrics.htm http://www.engin.umich.edu/teaching/assess_and_improve/handbook/direct/rubric.html http://www.seattleu.edu/assessment/rubrics.asp http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/ctr.htm http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/assessment/iar/students/report/rubrics-types.php Rubric Template: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/july/rubrics/Rubric_Template.html Rubric Resources

17. Activity • Consider how you might use or modify one of these for your course • Share in chat

18. Peer Assessment

20. Developing Good Feedback

23. Frequency of Feedback Pedagogical Timing Calendar Schedule Indirect – weekly Direct - bi-monthly • After practice • At completion/achievement of objective

24. Where and how… From http://www.french-in-aude.com/pages/skype.htm From http://www.thethinkingstick.com/?p=604

26. Student Self-Assessment

27. Involving the learner… • Incorporate meta-cognitive assessments • Provide a strategy for self-assessment and progress • Track progress • Compare work to that of others • Grade own performance

28. Progressive Benchmarks

29. Self-Assessment • Techno CATs • Before/after unit • Reflection • Feedback on design • Feedback on technology • Increases accountability • Engages students • Starts discussions • Early alert • Practice

30. What was the one most useful thing you learned in this assignment, unit or module? What suggestions would you give other students on ways to get the most out of this assignment, unit or module? In what area did you learn or understand the most? Least? List three ways you think you have developed or grown as a result of this assignment, unit or module? What did you learn about writing, research, (or any other skill) from this assignment, unit or module? What problems did you encounter in this assignment, project, unit, or tool that was used? What unit/module of this course was your best work and why? Examples

31. Cases

32. Case-based instruction • Well-bounded cases are presented to students as a focus for discussion and analysis. • One situation or case becomes the focal point for an instructional sequence. • Cases can illustrate a real world situation that requires application of learned course content. • Cases can be provided in segments, as learners become prepared to address different components of the case.

33. Case Assessment • Teams • Final outcome against pre-determined criteria • Completion • Performance against other teams • Individual • Contribution • Objective assessments

34. Case-based Assessment Student Generated Instructor Provided Case is focus of formal assessment Solution-resolution-outcome is withheld Students complete case • Pre-determined and communicated context, focus, format • Peer review/critique • Expert review/critique • Contest

35. Projects

36. Project-based learning A long term instructional activity in which students work as a group as they focus on a question, problem, event or interest, investigate and negotiate understanding, and produce a product that represents their understanding (Brown & Campione, 1994).

37. Considerations for Online Collaborative Projects • Virtual or field? • Team or individual? • Cooperative or collaborative? • Progressive?

38. Types of Projects • Research • Debate • Presentation • Teach/mentor • Design-Develop • Simulation (virtual worlds)

39. Helpful techniques • Set benchmarks • Use peer review • Provide regular and informative feedback if nor formal assessment • Set criteria for performance, completion, scope, and achievement

40. Student Portfolio

41. What are they? • A way to organize, summarize, and share artifacts, information, and ideas about [you decide] • A sampling of the breadth and depth of a person's work conveying the range of abilities, attitudes, experiences, and achievements

42. Uses • Reflection • Reference • Progressive • Evaluation • Sharing • Employer oriented • Course, unit, program based • Repository

43. Tools & Considerations Tool Ideas Considerations Interactive Support multimedia Security and privacy Allows assessment (scoring and data aggregation based on a rubric) Portable (exportable) Storage space • Internal • CMS • Web pages • External • Wikis • Google Sites • Blogs

44. Peer Review • Example: peer review in a research methods course • Google Docs

45. POLL: Which best describes your experience with student teams? • Have used them successfully (students like them and I do too) • Have used them, but students don’t like them • Have never used them • I’d use them more often if I could use them effectively • They don’t fit well with my courses

46. How can we select the appropriate assessment strategy? PART 5

47. Team/Group Assessment

48. Using Teams • Based on the work of Larry Michaelsen (University of Oklahoma) • http://teambasedlearning.apsc.ubc.ca/ • 3 Keys • Promoting ongoing accountability • Using linked and mutually reinforcing assignments • Adopting practices that stimulate idea exchange

49. Promoting Ongoing Accountability • Require pre-group work • Require group members to express individual opinions and monitor via another member • Include peer evaluation in grading • Readiness Assurance Process • Test over readings • Group: Test, discuss, reach consensus and retest • Provide information for peer feedback process

50. Using linked and Mutually Reinforcing Assignments