Creating Online Assessments for Learning
Are online student assessments that different than assessments designed for an in-person class? Certainly, creating assignments for students to complete in an online environment may require a different set of logistics for consideration, but the basic principles of effective, learner-centered assignment design still apply! Not only should assessments communicate to the instructor whether or not students have successfully learned a concept, skill, or value, but assignments can also be designed to promote learning. Here are some suggestions for creating effective assessments for learning in the remote teaching environment.
Consider Course Alignment
What do you want to assess for? What purpose does the assignment serve? Most courses already have articulated learning outcomes for the students. The outcomes that describe what students, who fully engage in the class activities, should be able to know, do, and value at the completion of a course, also direct the types of teaching activities and assessments that you design. For example, if you have an outcome that by the end of the course students should be able to analyze and synthesize scholarly articles, then students should have the opportunity to practice and demonstrate these academic skills. In a face-to-face course this might be accomplished through the creation of an annotated bibliography, or an essay, or as one component of a larger project, and this can still be done in an online class by having students submit these assignments through Brightspace. But what if you teach a larger class and had intended on assigning a group project? This can still happen online! You could have students create an annotated bibliography in groups using the collaborative wiki tool in Brightspace or submit short videos instead of group presentations. While these might be different than the assessments you would typically include in a face-to-face course, they are still activities that guarantee students have the opportunity to meet your intended outcomes.
You can read more about course alignment in Dalhousie’s Online Quality Guidelines.
Formative Assessments
One way to ensure students are on-track to successfully meet the course learning outcomes is to use formative assessment. A formative assessment checks student learning as well as provides continuous feedback. This type of assignment typically takes the form of low-stakes assessments that can be achieved by scaffolding the learning process. Formative assessments serve two purposes: to let students identify their own knowledge or skills gaps, and to allow you to identify when students are struggling so you can reiterate concepts as needed. Assessment for learning (AFL) is an approach to teaching and learning that considers assessments as opportunities for students to learn, instead of simply demonstrating learning. Assignments that are designed with student learning in mind create more substantial student engagement in their learning and provides feedback to assist students in improving their academic progress. AFL cultivates more positive student attitudes toward assessment and has been demonstrated to reduce stress and decrease pressures a student might feel to cheat. Both formative assessment and AFL can be approaches used for assignment design online or in-person.
“Scaffold” Projects and Assignments
So, what does a scaffolded assignment entail? Many instructors already take this approach to assessment design in their courses. Instead of assigning one major project, paper, or exam near the end of the term, consider the multiple stages required to complete those assessments. Ask students to share their work with you at various stages of completion or require them to provide peer feedback for different parts of an assignment. It’s more of a “slow-and-steady" approach instead of a sprint at the end of term. It allows your course design to be nimbler and easily adaptable to respond to potential teaching disruptions. Here are a few suggestions to get you thinking about scaffolded assignments:
Ask students to submit a project proposal prior to embarking on a large project. In large classes, peer groups could provide feedback and questions for their colleagues’ proposals.
Set up benchmarks or check-ins throughout the assignments. Students can create short videos in Brightspace to provide project updates, as well as reply to self-assessment surveys.
Instead of creating the questions for an exam, require students to submit potential questions and provide feedback so they can refine their work. Student-group created cases, scenarios, problems, or questions can greatly improve student-learning and knowledge retention.
In large classes, short reading responses can be shared in small groups with a rotating summary provider. The summary is submitted to you (along with students’ original responses) and you can assess the summary without doing in-depth grading of every reading response.
You can use the discussion board feature to ask students to submit short 200-word analyses of documents related to your course topic. This is a small low-stakes assessment that could be performed 5 times during a course.
Remember, you (or the course TAs) don’t always have to be the only ones providing feedback or assessing work. Well-structured peer-feedback and peer-assessment can provide exceptional learning benefits.
You can find more information on the Centre for Learning and Teaching’s Alternative Assessments webpage.
Resources:
5 Principles for Making Decisions about Assessment in Challenging Times, McGill University Teaching and Learning Services
Integrating Online Assignments Into Your Course, University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence