Introduction
For many, the word “assessment” conjures up a stressful reaction, memories of long hours studying, or getting a final good or bad result in an exam. These familiar notions of assessment do not capture the wide range of possibilities associated with e-assessment and how it could drive excellence and agency among students. A blended course designer can reframe the ways assessment is seen and appreciated by students.
Goals
Goals for e-assessment: To create opportunities for students to distil what they know, what they don’t know and what they don’t know they don’t know. To foster an approach to assessment among students that completes the loop. Assessments that are not only about an event, but a process that allows them to monitor their own progress.
An online quiz about a reading can assist a lecturer or facilitator to see if the text has been read beforehand and allow for personalised feedback. An interactive problem completed remotely could determine whether a concept has been understood and then link the student back to targeted support. A set of self-reflective journal entries that attest to current-level skills can show progress over time. Interactive group assignments that require collaboration offers induction possibilities, while structured peer feedback offers insights that are specific and timely. These are the types of assessments that allow for feedback and contribute towards the development of learning.
Assessment for learning
A formative or developmental approach about topic(s) to which the student can relate and use to direct future learning. This kind of e-assessment takes place during the learning programme, rather than at the end (summative), or beginning (diagnostic), and can be used repeatedly.
Assessment of learning
A final assessment of a student’s achievement, ultimately leading to a formal qualification or certification of a skill. This kind of e-assessment is generally undertaken at the end of a course or programme. It is used to make a judgment about the candidate’s overall achievement of learning outcomes.
To Begin: E-assessment Basics
- Instructions: Any
e-assessment has two main elemets, an instrument (where evidence of
understanding is collected) and a set of instructions (where an
explanation about the instrument) are given. It is easy to neglect the
latter and assume that the student understands the intended use of the
instument.
Below are some points to consider when communicating e-assessment instructions. - Dummy Run: To avoid the
inevitable technical problems, students should practice with
e-assessment technology and address common technical hitches and
glitches early on in the semester.
Here are recommendations for runninng a dummy run. - Peer Assessment: Students learn
when they can explain their ideas to other students and then provide
feedback to each other. We call this peer learning. Many times, these
interactions occur outside the classroom. But when these
student-to-student interactions are structured into class or online
activities, peer learning becomes peer assessment. Learning is
enhanced when student are involve in marking each others work. As they
exercise their judgement, they need to understand the purposes of an
assessment is and what consitutes acceptable evidence of
accomplishment.
Here is a comparison between peer and other assessment.
To Consider: Auto Marking E-assessment
- Computer assisted assessment:
Question types such as multiple choice, true or false, matching
responses and so forth, can be used with a bank of questions to test a
large class easily and release marks automatically. For lecturers,
especially those with high enrolment numbers, a reduced marking load
is welcome. We’ve already mentioned the need for a dummy run to
address technical issues. But auto marking and the questions that are
marked need to be thought through quite carefully.
There are both opportunities and challenges associated with auto marking e-assessments
To Try:Constructing a Rubrics
- Sign-post or guides: Rubrics
allow students to develop their own evaluative judgments. The criteria
stated in a rubric can act as a sign-post or a guide for students.
When rubrics are associated with an essay, a presentation, lab work,
forum contributions etc, they allow students to unpack the different
dimensions and guide their evaluative judgments with benchmarks.
Three steps to create a rubrics
To Do: E-Assessment Checklist
- Choose how you will use e-assessment:
Assessment need not only be about high stakes tests. Having completed
the panel about assessment, you might want to include a few new
e-assessment practices.
Use the checklist to guide your future e-assessment practice.