Learning objectives for this lesson:

•  identify alternative assessment strategies for online courses

•  create online quizzes and tests

•  incorporate online assessment tools to create rubrics

What is the changing paradigm in educational assessment?

Traditional assessment, which often uses a 'drive-by' standardized, multiple-choice test or a short-answer test is under increasing scrutiny and criticism. It is believed that, although this approach can adequately assess factual knowledge and basic skills, it often fails to assess students' acquisition of higher-order thinking skills such as critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving. It is also believed that traditional assessment does not evaluate students' learning process (Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001). Moreover, this approach may not increase students' desire to learn because they know that what will probably be tested is their factual recall or simple analysis. 

In recent years, alternative assessment, which uses strategies such as case studies, e-portfolio and peer review is considered as a valuable addition to standardized assessment. The rationale of alternative assessment is to gather evidence from real-life or authentic tasks, use multiple assessment strategies to assess learning, and provide ongoing feedback to students (Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001). The Committee on the Foundations of Educational Assessment suggests that a constructive alignment between instruction, learning, and assessment is possible, as demonstrated in the following assessment triangle.

The Assessment Triangle     
                                                                    
                                                                                                   

                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     Instruction
                                                 focus on learning and competence development

                                                                               
                                        Learning                                                Assessment
                                 reflective and active                             contextualized, interpretative,
                                knowledge construction                        and performance assessment
                             
 
Source: Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser (2001).

What are the alternative assessment strategies for online courses?

There exist a variety of alternative assessment strategies to assess student assignments and activities:

•  essays (submitted by email or discussion posting)

•  reports

•  research projects

•  case studies

•  online threaded discussions (students answer assigned questions and comment on others' posts)

•  self-assessment (via instant feedback quizzes and tests)

•  presentations (student production of PowerPoint presentations or Web pages)

•  writing (chapter summaries, literature reviews and other writing)

•  group projects, collaborative writing

•  Web logs (students record and reflect on their activities, questions, and outcomes online. Web logs are also called online/electronic journals. See examples: edublogs, Motime, Blogger, LiveJournal)

•  e-portfolios (assess students online deliverables)

•  student peer review (see procedures and design)

Source: Modified from University of Texas TeleCampus.

How to create and use an assessment plan?

•  define learning goals and learning outcomes  for students Tip 
•  identify performance criteria Tip 
•  identify appropriate assessment methods
•  evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of chosen methods
•  develop a plan and timeline for collecting information
•   implement assessment plan
•   use course feedback to improve future instruction

Click here to see an assessment plan sample.

Source: Modified from Concordia College, Minnesota.

How to create online tests and rubrics?

•  Blackboard test creation tutorial (Flash).
•  Using online resources to create ready-to-use rubrics.
•  Using peer assessment in the design of online collaborative learning environments (PowerPoint).

References

Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (2001). Knowing what students know: The science and   design of educational assessment. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Segers, M., Dochy, F., & Cascallar, E. (2003). Optimizing new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and standards. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.