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

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

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

Review of Day 1

Assessment and Learning

Assessment Toolkit P. McGee

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

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

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

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

Development Steps  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

More Steps  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

Rubric Tips  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

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

Rubric Resources            Rubric Template:

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

Peer Assessment

Developing Good Feedback

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

Where and how… From From aude.com/pages/skype.htm

Student Self-Assessment

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

Progressive Benchmarks

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

Examples 1.What was the one most useful thing you learned in this assignment, unit or module? 2.What suggestions would you give other students on ways to get the most out of this assignment, unit or module? 3.In what area did you learn or understand the most? Least? 4.List three ways you think you have developed or grown as a result of this assignment, unit or module? 5.What did you learn about writing, research, (or any other skill) from this assignment, unit or module? 6.What problems did you encounter in this assignment, project, unit, or tool that was used? 7.What unit/module of this course was your best work and why?

Cases

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.

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

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

Projects

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).

Considerations for Online Collaborative Projects  Virtual or field?  Team or individual?  Cooperative or collaborative?  Progressive?

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

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

Student Portfolio

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

Uses  Reflection  Reference  Progressive  Evaluation  Sharing  Employer oriented  Course, unit, program based  Repository

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

Peer Review  Example: peer review in a research methods course  Google Docs

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 45

How can we select the appropriate assessment strategy? PART 5

Team/Group Assessment 47

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

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 49

Using linked and Mutually Reinforcing Assignments 50

Adopting Practices that Stimulate Idea Exchange Use of assignments that create conditions that foster give-and-take interaction  Assign roles  Use permanent groups  Size: 4-7 Diversity of opinion, ideas, and perspectives  Not too easy  Not too much writing  Employ, select, apply concepts from the course 51

Team Teaching Tips  Outline learning goals  Teach team skills  Clear and detailed instructions  Rubric  Stages of team development  Forming - polite but untrusting  Storming - testing others  Norming - valuing other types  Performing - flexibility from trust 52

Cooperation and Collaboration  COOPERATION – Each team member takes on a specific and unique role, e.g., editor, task manager, researcher, etc.  The instructor assign tasks, monitors accountability, sets a clear procedure, devices a strategy for oversight of parts as relate to the whole  COLLABORATION – Team members contribute perform same role and compile contributed pieces, e.g. all students research, interview, collect, examine, etc.  Assign roles, accountability, clear procedure

Team Contracts  Purpose, goals, and missions  Expectations  Roles  Conflict resolution strategies  Meetings  Communication  Decision-making policy  Agendas  Record-keeping 54

Other Resources  Team Based Learning (Michaelsen)  c.ubc.ca/?page_id=9 c.ubc.ca/?page_id=9  Video Demonstrations  c.ubc.ca/v/michaelsenvid.html c.ubc.ca/v/michaelsenvid.html 55

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4 Questions  What do I want students to be able to DO after this unit of instruction (behavioral outcomes)  What will students have to KNOW to do XYZ (learning outcomes)  How can I ASSESS whether or not students have successfully mastered key course concepts? (feedback)  How can I tell if students will be able to USE their knowledge of key course concepts? (application) 57

Polls/Surveys

Poll/Survey Options  Drill & practice activities with participation points (online quizzes)  Polls  Polldaddy.com  Survey monkey  Survey tools in CMS

Individual Assessments

Individual Classroom Assessment  A method used to inform you on ….  Students learning  Effectiveness of course content  Effectiveness of teaching methods

Individual Assessement Benefits  Learner-centered  Teacher-prompted  Mutually beneficial  Formative  Fast to administer and interpret  Non threatening  Ongoing  Foster trust between student and instructor

Basic Development Steps 1.Choose a learning goal to assess 2.Choose an assessment technique 3.Apply the technique 4.Analyze the data and share the results with students 5.Respond to the data, i.e., make modifications as necessary

5 Suggestions for Online CATs  Customize to your specific needs and learning environment  Should be consistent with your instructional philosophy  Test out a CAT and assess their effectiveness  Allow extra time to carry out and respond to the assessment  Let students know what you learn from their feedback and how you and they can use that information to improve learning

Online CAT Examples  Chain notes  One-sentence summary  Application cards  Student-generated test questions  Can be easily modified or converted to an online environment

CATS as Formative Assessments  CATs (most can be easily converted) CATs  Classroom Assessment in Web-Based Instructional Environment:  Teaching Tips: Com/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm#assessment Com/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm#assessment

Assessment Resources  Com/guidebk/teachtip/assess-2.htm Com/guidebk/teachtip/assess-2.htm    nt_techniques_in_asynchronous_learning_networks/ nt_techniques_in_asynchronous_learning_networks/  ols.htm ols.htm

Exercise  Review the CATs and pick one  Identify the goal for your CAT  Explain why this CAT is helpful/necessary in this particular area of the course  How and when will students receive feedback on the CAT

Discussion Assessments

Posting vs. processing  But I posted six messages??  You didn’t tell me I had to respond to other posts  I didn’t have anything to say!  I didn’t understand the instructions!!!

Start with..  General discussion criteria in the syllabus  Reiterate criteria and instructions as first message in discussion thread  Provide examples of an appropriate post  Facilitate with public feedback to the group and private feedback to the individual

Possible discussion criteria  Number of posts (least effective)  Number of words  Type of responses:  Answer a question  Pose a question  Respond to another post  Provide new information, examples, or evidence  Quality of response

Chat Assessments

Participation vs. contribution  Did the learner arrive on time?  Did the learner remain in chat room the entire time?  Did the learner contribute?  Did the learner interact with others?  Did learner follow chat conventions?  What was frequency of contribution?  Where chat expectations communicated?  How did student meet chat expectations?  How was chat assessed?

Chat strategies  Breakout rooms with specific outcomes  Presentations with per-determined criteria (Rubric)  Debates (winner)  Discussion (participation and contribution)

Other chat assessments? [respond in chat]

Bloom’s & Web 2.0 ProcessesTools Attributes RememberRecognizing, recallingVisual/Text/Audio stimuli, selecting, feedback UnderstandInterpreting, classifying, comparing, summarizing, explaining Sorting, tagging, labeling, entering, selecting ApplyExecuting, implementingManipulating, entering, feedback AnalyzeDifferentiating, organizing, attributing Selecting, grouping, altering, tagging, labeling EvaluateChecking, critiquingCommenting, entering, responding CreateGenerating, planning, producingAdding, generating, combining, publishing

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

Blogs vs. wikis Blogs  Typically individual  Documentation of thinking, experiences, events, reporting, peer critique  Measured by: frequency, critical/reflective thinking, quality of writing, etc. Wikis  Typically collective group  Production of ideas, reporting, collaborating/cooperating, publishing  Measured by: amount, contributions, collective quality, group determined value, etc.

Blogs    

Wikis    _Page _Page   

Web 2.0 Tool Videos  Blogs Blogs  Wikis Wikis  Social bookmarking Social bookmarking  Social networking Social networking  Social media Social media  RSS RSS  Podcasting Podcasting  Web searches Web searches  Google Docs Google Docs  Google Reader Google Reader

Assessment Toolkit P. McGee

Q&A