ASSESSMENT

When learners are engaging solely online it is important to gauge where they are in the learning process throughout a course. A lack of assessment diminishes learners opportunities to fully grasp and apply the new material. Due to the nature of technology, online learning can become passive. Assessment fosters an active and engaging online learning experience.

The Misconception

Assessment is more than a grade. In courses that have a grading scale, the instructor must realize that the design of the course should include both low and high risk assessment to allow a variety of learners to thrive.

Assessment is not a trap to weed out the weak. As we begin discussing effective assessment practices, let's avoid the notion that assessment's end goal is solely to assign and receive a grade. Assessment should be learner focused, not instructor focused. With that said let's review some basics.

Strategy 1: Use Formative & Summative Assessment

Let's chat about Formative (low risk) and Summative (high risk) Assessment. I like to think of these two types of assessment as low vs. high, even though they are much more than these descriptors. Some learners love high risks while others crumble under the pressure. Let's define and then break down this idea of formative (low risk) versus summative (high risk) assessment.

Formative

Formative assessment allows both the learner and instructor to assess the learner's knowledge at any given point throughout the course. These types of assessments may be used more often than summative because they are low risk in nature and provide ways for the learner to give themselves feedback on both their weaknesses and strengths without the pressure of performance.

Examples

Discussion board posts
Practice quizzes
Summaries of lectures, readings, or other materials
Turning in a draft of a paper.
Asking the student to write about or demonstrate the concept or idea they struggle with the most
Anything that allows for student/instructor feedback concerning the student's learning

Summative

Summative assessment is a comprehensive assessment that happens at the end of a module, unit, or course. The goal of these types of assessments is to measure what information the student has retained throughout that module. These types of assessments have higher stakes because they have a higher point value.

Examples

Test
Final Paper
Capstone or Portfolio

Strategy 2: Applicable Assessment

Include assignments and assessments that engage learners with real world problems. In David Merill's discussion on Instructional Design he states, “The best motivation of all is for our students to be able to learn some real world “ask.” Students cannot simply learn factoids. In order to cognitively process on a deeper level, there must be some sort of meaning behind the information being taught. Asking students to demonstrate and apply their learning to real world "asks" gives them the confidence continue learning, but also solidifies the new information being delievered.

The Right Tool

Both Blackboard and Canvas are great learning management systems to implement the assessment advice above. They both offer ways to use formative and summative learning tools.

These Learning Management Systems are able to provide online paper submissions, quizzes, discussion boards, and messaging systems that provide multiple ways for a student and instructor to asses the students' progress.

While Blackboard and Canvas do offer similar services, I will say that Canvas does have more features and a more user friendly interface, but both systems provide exceptional opportunities for assessing a students learning needs and progress.