Online Assessment and Feedback 2019

Principles of Online Assessment Consider how your assessment method aligns with your learning outcomes (you must be testing for LO achievement and not for outlying skills and knowledge) Structure opportunities for students to collaborate/interact with other students and with you Consider informal ways to assess student engagement and understanding

Principles of Online Assessment Ensure that the assessment methods are at the right level of difficulty and weighting/effort Consider assessment that relates to the discipline (not only an academic context) Design weekly/module activities and formative assessments that develop skills and knowledge for formal assessments

Online Assessment What do you feel are the benefits of Online Assessment? What are some of your concerns about Online Assessment?

Benefits of Online Assessment

Concerns about Online Assessment

Benefits of Online Assessment Effective management tools (efficiency) Tools to facilitate assessment processes Provide timely and comprehensive feedback Audio feedback can save time and personalise online learning experience Monitor student progress Everything can be housed in one portal/tab Simplify marking processes Some automated marking (quizzes) Online submission Record of submissions

Benefits of Online Assessment Authentic learning opportunities Feedback/comments ’banks’ can be created and used multiple times (efficiency) Recorded demonstration of teaching and learning Once set up can be used for all course iterations Clear and organised assessment outlines and processes Record of submissions (discussion board, blogs, turnitin reports etc.)

Main sticking points for academics with online assessment Plagiarism Generating interaction/group discussions Student presentations and oral reports Skill development - procedures, relationship building, etc. Allocation of assessment weighting – do we attach assessment weighting to online discussions / activities Workload – reduce marking time, automating marking processes

Considerations Assessment feedback – written work, rubrics, audio feedback, skill development Limited informal assessment tools i.e. how do we gauge student understanding and engagement during the course? Assessment design – use of quizzes and tests – do these develop higher order thinking skills? Workload – reduce marking time, automating marking processes

Discussion From your own experience as an online learner or educator, recount an example of when an online tool(s) for assessment was effective? From your own experience as an online learner or educator, recount an example of when an online tool(s) for assessment was not effective?

Assessment Design Consider why students may feel the need to cheat: - Is the assessment too difficult? - Poorly outlined? - Too heavily weighted? - Poor weighting/effort ratio? - Is there too much content being covered to make sense of in an assessment? - Is there not enough time to complete the task?

Designing Online Assessments for Academic Integrity Avoid using the same assignment topics and questions each time a course is offered Set very specific questions rather than broad or general ones Build in requirements for submission of assessment process, not just the final product (reflection, how they completed the steps etc.) Devise alternative assessment types that require ongoing evidence of students’ engagement in course/content Design assessments that reflect your discipline rather than academia (essay writing)

Designing Online Assessment Assessment Procedures Provide timely feedback to students to inform next assessment Create plenty of opportunities for students to ask questions and discuss the assessment requirements (discussion thread, FAQs, collaborate session, email Provide clear and simple outline of the assessment description – have it peer reviewed Provide opportunities for students to practice and develop the skills required to complete each assessment

Tips for managing assessment: Use the technologies – Online marking tools (GradeMark/Inline Grading, Turnitin) – Rubrics – Retention Centre (monitor performance) Provide opportunities for Practice/Review – Practice quizzes – Encourage use of Echo (Panopto) recordings for review Access the Student Preview Tool – What items are visible in ‘My Grades’ Keep the Grade Centre simple

Online Assessment Tools and Ideas MCQs, quizzes and short answer tests Blogs Post ideas, opinions, discussions, and responses on a shared topic Wikis Collaborate in creating and editing content Journals Reflect on learning, observations, problems, approaches etc. Modified Essay questions (MEQs) Sequence of questions, could be based on a case/scenario/problem

Types of assessment with examples

Online Assessment Ideas Reflections on the process At various times students turn in written descriptions of their research process. Problem solving approach What steps would be taken to solve a problem. Literature review Evaluative annotated bibliography. Science in the news Find evidence in literature for news release claims. Event initiated examples Evaluate a current event based on literature findings. Letter to the Editor Choose a newspaper/magazine and write an editorial. Design a theme for a conference Describe why this topic would be of interest to experts in this field. Adopt a persona Perspective of a famous person in your field/discipline about specific topic Read and find evidence Read an editorial, article, reflection and find evidence to support/refute claims.

Online Assessment Ideas Create a webpage Select a topic to do with course content. Biography Select a scholar/researcher in field and report on career, influences, major ideas, moods and trends in research program. Follow a piece of legislation through government processes What groups are lobbying for/against it and why? Follow a current foreign policy issue as it develops Have students adopt the perspective of one of the various groups involved and predict the next move. Write a resume and cover letter (real or fictional) Find a relevant job posting in your field Write a presentation proposal Find a relevant scholarly or industry conference and write a proposal abstract. Write an exam Provide answers and justify rationale for questions asked. Write a report Complete a case or problem-based learning activity Complete a mini-research task/experiment

Online Assessment Ideas Write a review of a performance, a movie, a book, a journal article, a guest speaker lecture… Write a newspaper, magazine, webpage story on a topic. Evaluate an article in a trade magazine (Psychology Today, Harvard Business Review) – Compared to findings in scholarly journals. Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources. Evaluate a website. Compare and contrast the state of knowledge on a topic in two different decades or eras. Prepare for a hypothetical interview Have students do background research on a company or job offer and how they fit with job description. Compare and contrast the content, style, and audience of three different scholarly journals in a field. Compare and contrast a scholarly journal article with an article from a popular magazine. Write and conduct an interview

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