Incorporating Assessment in Course Design Sean Burns, Learning Analyst and Assessment Coordinator Lydia Page, Course Developer

Introduction  Assessment at CSU  Canvas Tools  First Time Course Design  Use what works:  ‘Start Here’  Modules  Accessibility

Initial Course Design  Learning Objectives  Clicks over Scrolls  Mixed Modalities  Awareness of Time  Communication Policies  Engagement Mechanisms

Assignment

Teleconference

Discussion

Survey

Designing Survey Questions – Question Types  Close-Ended  Examples:  ‘I could easily find help with technical problems in this course.’  ‘Resource ‘X’ helped me learn in this course.’  Advantages and Disadvantages

Designing Survey Questions – Question Types  Open-Ended Statements  Examples:  ‘Comments about assignments, quizzes, and exams in this course.’  ‘What resources (discussions, blogs, wikis, etc.) most helped you learn in this course?’  Advantages  Disadvantages

Designing Survey Questions - Scales  Fixed responses used for Close-Ended Questions/Statements  Yes/No responses (E.g. ‘Did you use Resource ‘X’ during this course?’)  Rank ordering (E.g. ‘Rank the following resources in order of most helpful (1) to your learning to least helpful (4).’)  Rating Scale/Continuum (E.g. Likert-type scale, hours spent, likelihood)

Designing Survey Questions - Topics  Interaction and Communication  I am satisfied with the amount/quality of interaction with the instructor/other students  How might we improve interaction between students in this class?

Designing Survey Questions - Topics  Resources  Video lectures helped me learn in this class  Each week, about how many hours did you spend using the following resources?

Designing Survey Questions - Topics  Assessments (Assignments, Quizzes, Exams)  I always know what is expected of me on assessments (assignments, quizzes, and/or exams).  Comments about assignments in this course.

Designing Survey Questions - Topics  Usability of website  Submitting assignments (quizzes, papers) is easy  How often did you encounter problems with Canvas?  What were the best tools in Canvas?

Designing Survey Questions – Other Considerations  When asking your students to complete these surveys, tell them a few things:  How long will the survey take (not more than 5-10 minutes!)  Why their responses are important and how they will be used  To improve the course in the future based on the students’ responses.  To help you, the instructor, focus your time and energy on the most important resources in your course  To make note of any technical or design issues, in order to fix them as soon as possible

Case Study: Biomedical Sciences 305  Class Set-up  Survey  Analysis  Redesign

On the Horizon  Canvas Learning Outcomes  Learning Objectives  Rubrics  Course Objectives  Program Goals  Department Goals  University Goals  Program Review

Questions?  How can assessment or design aid you?  Anything else you want to know?

Thank you for coming!