Although the way humans learn has not changed through the
generations, the way students are taught has undergone many changes. With the
advent of modern technology – computers and especially the internet and the Web
– learning is becoming much less teacher-centered and much more
learner-centered. Students want to learn at their own pace, on their schedule,
and at a convenient place. These revolutions bring together learners from all
over the world, chatting online, learning on the move as they travel to work
and play. With the web access available on most cell phones today, learners can
research and learn almost anywhere. In formal online classes this instant
access brings challenges that were unheard of in a traditional classroom, such
as the assurance of the identity of the students and course design, but especially
how to assess learning. The instructor must be creative, assuring that the assessment
measures the intended learning outcomes. The methods used most frequently in a
traditional classroom are not always as effective in an online environment.
Because students seldom meet face to face in an online classroom, chats, blogs,
and online discussions are effective means of sharing ideas and broadening
viewpoints. These can also be evaluated by the instructor to determine if
students are learning and understanding. Projects, simulations, role-play,
tests, and quizzes are also valid assessment tools. To be effective,
assessments should measure higher-order thinking and not just ask for memorized
facts (since students can easily look those things up with the powerful search
engines available on the web, that search ability is what is being measured).
My personal theory of education says that when one has
learned something, one can say it in one's own words and even teach it to someone
else. The best methods to assess this level of learning are projects,
simulations, and role-play. The chats, blogs, and discussions help a student
arrive at learning more than they show that learning has occurred. Quizzes seem
to work best as self-assessment tools. Tests can be used, especially if they
are not simply multiple-choice and matching, but include short answer or
essay-type questions. Since I hope to teach math online, I will have to change
my methods considerably to operate in an online environment. I don’t want human
calculators, but students who understand how to use the operations they are
learning. In the past I never would have considered role play in a math class,
but I really liked the examples in our textbook by William Horton. He is very
creative in his assessments and definitely thinks outside the “box” where my
ideas have been enclosed.
References:
Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B. C. (09/2007). Effective
online instructional and assessment strategies. American Journal of Distance
Education, 117 - 132.
Horton, W. (2006). E-learning by design. San
Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Robles, M., & Braathen, S. (Winter 2002). Online
assessment techniques. Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 39 - 49.
I like your list of possible assessments. ” Projects, simulations, role-play, tests, and quizzes are also valid assessment tools.” These along with some of the others named provide a good foundation for instructors to assess online learning. The favorites in your list are projects and simulations. In an online class there are many opportunities to give student these authentic assignments. These assignments are generally more difficult but provide students with challenges of applying what has been learned rather than just reciting material from notes. Online assessments are evolving rapidly with the increase of student enrollment and are now providing many opportunities for simulations, embedded video analysis, and collaborative problem based projects. While there are challenges that accompany online assessments this time of rapid change is a very exciting time for students and instructors. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting! I enjoyed reading about online assessment from your perspective. I like that you seemed to stress the need to stress higher levels of thinking rather than the rote memorization of facts. I believe that the online environment provides an excellent opportunity to use various forms of assessment to attain a broad view of the knowledge that the students have attained. Thanks again! Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteAlma,
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about you not wanting "human calculators" and that you recognize that quizzes can be valuable assessment tools, as long as they aren't multiple choice. I agree, too, that projects, simulation and role-play are also helpful assessment tools. Assessing [online ] students can be difficult sometimes. Sometimes students do just memorize facts in order to pass a test or get a good assessment, but soon forget all of the [short-term] information that was crammed. I think you are right that when a person umderstands something, he or she should be able to talk about it in his or her own words.
Thanks,
Chris
Thanks,
-Chris
This reminded me of a wonderful math teacher I worked with almost twenty years ago. Her philosophy was that students should be able to explain how the got their answer if they had truly learned the concept. I cannot count how many times she asked students to articulate how they arrived at their answer. She felt they truly understood if they could tell someone else in their own words. She was integrating math and language arts long ago!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about concerns for student identity. There a concern for who is actually completing assignments. One of our local school board members stated to me recently that he had reservations about virtual schooling due to concerns for parents completing the work. After we discussed the methods our school has implemented for assessing students, he felt more confident about online schools. I explained that we can assess online in an Elluminate classroom and have students leave their microphones open so we can hear if assistance is provided. We can also require the student come to a face to face assessment at our school office or a local library. In addition, students submit work portfolios so we can see their work. Ensuring students complete their own work and avoid plagiarism is not easy, but there are ways to do this. We have to set high expectations and hold students accountable for those expectations.