Engaging Students in the Assessment Process The Conference 2006 Thomson Course Technology's 11th Anniversary Event San Francisco, CA March 30, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM

2 Who Are We? Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA  Patricia Rahmlow Assistant Professor, Computer Science  Marie Hartlein Associate Professor, Computer Science  Linda Moulton Professor Mathematics and Computer Science

3 Agenda  Online Assessment Overview  Demonstrations  Textbook Web Sites  Blackboard  SAM  Course Grader  Assessment Integrity  Technical Issues

4 Why Assess Students Online?  Space and time independent

5 Why Assess Students Online?  Immediate feedback

6 Why Assess Students Online?  Learning aide

7 Uses of Online Assessment  Evaluation of student learning  Pre-test  Post-test

8 Uses of Online Assessment  Evaluation of student learning  Assessment of knowledge  Exams  Make-up tests

9 Uses of Online Assessment  Evaluation of student learning  Assessment of knowledge  Self-evaluation  Repetitive testing  Feedback

10 Uses of Online Assessment  Evaluation of student learning  Assessment of knowledge  Self-evaluation  Distance learning assessment  Keeps students as “distance” learners  More convenient for student

11 Online Assessment Tools  Course delivery software  Blackboard  WebCT  Publisher course delivery sites

12 Online Assessment Tools  Course delivery software  Simulated software application testing  SAM  Train IT  SimNet  SNAP

13 Online Assessment Tools  Course delivery software  Simulated software application testing  Free / low-cost quiz sites s.asp#assessmenttools

14 Online Assessment Tools  Course delivery software  Simulated software application testing  Free / low-cost quiz sites  Textbook web sites  Computer Science Concepts  Information Literacy Concepts  Active Help Desk 3/index.html  Accounting Textbook

15 Tool Selection  Cost  Ease of use  Student  Access  Software  Professor  Set-up  Grading (SCORM)  Purpose  Graded assessment  Self-assessment

16 Online Assessment Modes  Time constraints  None  Timed – warning mode  Timed – shut down mode

17 Online Assessment Modes  Time constraints  Number of attempts  One  Multiple  Unlimited  Student specific

18 Online Assessment Modes  Time constraints  Number of attempts  Restricted access  Site password  Assessment password **********

19 Online Assessment Modes  Time constraints  Number of attempts  Restricted access  Survey  Anonymous  Course evaluation ?

20 Blackboard Demonstration  What we will demonstrate

21 Knowledge Based Questions  True/False  Multiple Choice  Matching  Multiple Answer  Ordering  Fill in the Blank  Essay  Calculated Numeric  Calculated Formula  File Response  Hot Spot  Fill in Multiple Blanks  Jumbled Sentence  Opinion Scale/Likert  Short Answer  Either/Or  Quiz Bowl

22 SAM – Why Selected  Remediation tied to textbook  Richer reports  All actions taken by students are recorded  Include a screen shot  Easy installation for student (flash based)  Crash recovery  Adaptive, customized training  Addresses multiple learning styles – observe practice, apply

23 SAM  What we will demonstrate  Also – what types of knowledge based questions are in SAM

24 SAM  Student quotes

25 Performance Based Questions  Open / close files  Search internet  Send  Format documents  Develop formulas  Query a database

26 Course Grader  What we will demonstrate

27 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Allow use of textbook  Insufficient time to look up all answers

28 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Large pool of questions  No two quizzes identical

29 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Randomize questions  Facilitates face-to-face use  Less likely to memorize answers

30 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Randomize questions  Frequent assessments  Less likely someone else will take assessment

31 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Randomize questions  Frequent assessments  Don’t reveal answers  Send answers after exam time ends  Send only correct / incorrect indicator  Time release results

32 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Randomize questions  Frequent assessments  Don’t reveal correct answers  Proctored

33 Assessment Integrity  Timed  Question pool  Randomize questions  Frequent assessments  Don’t reveal correct answers  Proctored  Other forms of assessment  “Portfolio” of student ability  Discussions  Homework / Projects

34 Technical Issues  ISP Disconnect  “Passive” assessments  Keep under 30 minutes  Reset quizzes  Question pools  “Active” assessments  Count first recorded response  Pop-up Blockers  Special Software

35 Summary Slide

36 Demonstrations  SAM   Blackboard   Textbook web sites  Computer Science Concepts  Information Literacy Concepts 86-,00.html  Active Help Desk hapter03/index.html  Accounting Textbook