Assessment: Check for Learning

 

As you know from teaching face-to-face classes, without evaluating learning, you cannot truly know whether students are meeting the learning outcomes for your course. The role of assessment in an online course can actually make your students feel more connected to the material and give you more insight into their learning. Online tools can open up new possibilities for different (perhaps even more efficient and effective) ways to engage and assess your students as they journey through the course. 

How do you measure success? In the introductory video to this module, Matt Fajkus explains the careful art of balancing his own agenda and interests as an architect with the ultimate end goal: making the project meaningful for the users.

In this module, you will explore these key issues:

 

An image of the staircase in the Tree House

Open Quotation Marks icon Assessment defines what students regard as important, how they spend their time and how they come to see themselves as students and then as graduates . . . If you want to change student learning then change the methods of assessment." (Brown, et al., 1997: 7)

This is Tree House by Austin architect and UT Associate Professor Matt Fajkus Links to an external site. and his team Links to an external site.. 

Like the design of Matt’s house, assessment is most effective if formed in direct correlation to the bigger function: have you thought through the steps the students need to take to reach the heights of what you want them to learn?

Assessment should not be just checking to see if something has been completed, but to see if students know what you want them to know, can do what you want them to be able to do, and value what you want them to value. 

Different types of assessment work holistically together to allow students to monitor their progress and see the relevance to their learning.

How should I think about adapting my assessment strategies in an online context?  

While assessment is important in every educational context, it is critical to develop robust assessments for your online course to keep the student connected with the content, the instructor, and other students. Good assessments can make or break your course.

Kinds of Assessments

Examples

Diagnostic 

What do students already know? 
  • Identifying prior experience/knowledge through:
    • Mind maps (e.g., "what IS ethics?")
    • Definitions/Explanations
    • Surveys

Formative

How are students progressing?  What can I do to assist students on their learning path?  

 
  • Video and Reading Guides
  • Questions and Answer Forums
  • Audio-Visual Feedback
  • Multiple Choice Quizzes
  • Think-Pair-Share
  • Peer Review
    • Team Self-Evaluations
    • Group Reviews of Other Groups
    • Self-Assessment through Peer Activities
    • Peer Review of Peer Papers, Projects or Presentations
  • Interactive Games

Summative

What evidence will demonstrate how well students have achieved the outcomes for this learning experience?  
  • Research Projects (Article, Poster, Infographic, Grant Proposal, Project Pitch)
  • Final Papers
  • Video Presentations (Screencast, Voice-Over PowerPoint, Oral History or Interview)
  • ePortfolios (Product Gallery, Learning Journal)

What are the best practices of assessment in an online course?

  • Provide feedback with every assessment: In an online course, students will need more feedback on their assignments because it is one of the more direct ways that you have to interact with students on an individual basis.  
  • Use rubrics when possible (and especially for major assignments): Rubrics Links to an external site. allow you to clearly communicate expectations to students to see how they will be graded on assignments. It also allows you to manage your own grading workload.  Canvas has a rubric tool that can help grade many different kinds of assignments in a streamlined process. 
  • Take advantage of assessment tools: Canvas has many tools that help you assess your students' performance in an online setting (e.g., Quizzing tool, Discussions, Assignments, ePortfolio, and SpeedGrader). Canvas also allows you to plug in additional technologies. When you are in your online course, go to "Course Settings," and click on the "Apps" tab for a list of apps that you can explore. 
  • Engage students in assessing their peers and in self-assessment: Empower your students to be a part of the assessment process! 

UT Featured Snapshot: Aligning Learning Outcomes and Assessment

Snapshot Introduction

Image of Brenda Berkelaar.Brenda Berkelaar (Communication Studies) aligned Links to an external site. her learning outcomes for her Career Dynamics course with her assessment in order to evaluate the extent to which students have learned the intended curriculum

For Brenda, proper alignment ensured:

  • the course provided a holistic experience
  • students received consistent messages about what they should learn
  • students spent time on activities that lead to intended course goals
  • the instructor could reasonably estimate the effectiveness of instruction

Brenda wanted to empower students to assess and communicate skills they have in preparation of the job market. Her learning outcomes, listed on her syllabus under course objectives, are:

Course Objectives in Brenda's course

From these learning outcomes, Brenda developed a series of learning activities designed to assess her students' skill development. Notice how she uses the syllabus to communicate with her students which activities are expected to serve as opportunities to measure which learning outcomes:

Image of Brenda's syllabus

This gesture may seem small, but its impact is huge. By drawing connections between learning outcomes and assessment for herself and for her students, Brenda is focusing her students on what they need to know and how they should learn it.