Checklists Stakeholders Methods Pedagogy Learning styles Writing styles Style and language Content Intercultural aspects Multimedia Questionnaires Examples Usability Assessment: tests and tasks Students Teachers, tutors Learning/Content/Language/ Cultural differences/ Multimedia experts Test / learning material developers Task analysis Card sorting Think aloud protocol Plus/Minus method Interview Focus Group Keystroke / web logging Description Description QuADEM is a method for Quality Assessment of Digital Educational Materials in the area of professional and academic writing. Different perspectives are presented to evaluate digital learning modules in the field of professional and academic communication. Blended learning: the Quality Method combines specific characteristics of a digital learning environment and the interaction with the traditional instructional setting. Didactical framework: theories of social constructivism, problem solving, guided instruction, self-guided learning and individualized learning related to the organization of the writing process and observational modeling in writing didactics. Main beneficiaries: students (undergraduate, graduate & postgraduate) and instructors who develop (modular) teaching materials for written communication. The Quality Method can be transferred to other domains of online learning outside writing. Application: the Quality Method is supported by a book and a web-based administration tool. Procedure Procedure Example: ‘learning styles’ More information: 1.Starting situation 2. Determine the scope of the assessment 3. Assess the blended learning context 4. Select the relevant evaluation units 5. Check the preconditions 6. Select the research methods 7. Select the respondents 8. Customize the selected research methods 9. Design your script 10. Complete the checklists 11. Use of the results: Solve problems/ Implement changes Methods Think aloud Retrospective InterviewLogging 1The environment is designed to guide students through the information in a structured or pre- defined way. xx 2The environment is designed to let students define their own learning path.xxx 3The tasks / assignments cater to multiple learning styles so students can choose their preferred styles. xxx 4The tasks / assignments encourage students to explore alternative learning styles.xx Checklist -2012N/A 1The environment is designed to guide students through the information in a structured or pre-defined way. 2The environment is designed to let students define their own learning path. 3The tasks / assignments cater to multiple learning styles so students can choose their preferred styles. 4The tasks / assignments encourage students to explore alternative learning styles. Additional comments: ProblemSolution 1The environment is not designed to guide students through the information in a structured or pre-defined way. Make sure that the content offered in the module is visualized adequately. The navigation tree is a very important aid for users to build a mental model of the topics that are dealt with. The order and hierarchical structure of these navigation links should reveal the logic structure that is the basis of the module. 2The environment is not designed to let students define their own learning path. Design the learning materials in such a way that, for instance, both activists and theorists, can approach the learning objectives according to their preferred learning style (cf. Kolb). Learning materials should accommodate different learning styles. 3The tasks / assignments do not cater to multiple learning styles so students can choose their preferred styles. Write the tasks and assignments in such a way that it is easy for the learner to relate the problems they encounter while completing a case or exercise to the theory. In every step of the task completion explicit links should be provided to specific topics dealt with in the theoretical part of the module. This enables more practically oriented learners to use a more problem solving approach to their learning. The same holds for the references that should be made explicit to best practices or related models (cf. also reflectors). 4The tasks / assignments do not encourage students to explore alternative learning styles. Provide enough incentives for the students to actively question their own learning approach and offer alternative routes to explore the content. Giving students explicit options, for instance, to either pursue or deviate from a more chronological navigation can encourage the students’ explorative behaviour. The QuADEM project has been funded with support from the European Commission.This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein