Student Learning Assessment

What is Assessment?

Assessment is the systematic collection and analysis of information to improve student learning. It determines what’s “working” in the classroom and is particularly important in the early stages of innovative course design (like online courses) because assessment makes it possible to make informed improvements to current practices and document success to share.

Assessment incorporates two important components:

  1. Evaluating Student Performance for Grading Purposes

  2. Assessing Whether the Course is “Working”

Evaluating Student Performance for Grading Purposes

In assessing online learning, it is important to create a “mix” of assignments that cover the multiple dimensions of learning that online courses can employ. Traditional tests become a smaller part of the grade as you move towards encouraging student interaction on group projects and other activities


"I have learned that providing a range of assessment opportunities beyond traditional tests permits students to feel that their strengths are being assessed." - Robert Feldman, Professor of Psychology

Different forms of assessment include:

• End of semester paper

• Weekly tests

• Group projects

• Case study analysis

• Journals

• Reading responses

• Chatroom responses

• Threaded discussions participation

Assessing Whether the Course is “Working”

Assessing whether your course is “working” provides feedback to understand what is useful to students. Josh Bersin in “Measuring E-Learning Effectiveness: A Five-Step Program for Success” offers a helpful framework for thinking about the kinds of information you can use to determine your course’s success.

1. Enrollment

Is the audience showing up?

If students are not enrolling in your course, then they might not know about the course or do not know how to enroll in the course. If the course is an elective course, the course may be named poorly or not located correctly in the catalog.

2. Activity

Are they making progress?

Typically, if the content is appropriate for the audience, students will progress at a reasonable rate. You may find that students move quickly and then stop at a particular point. Such information is valuable to help you assess the usability, relevance and performance of the course content.

3. Completion

Did they finish?

Students who truly complete the course can provide valuable feedback. However, many course software will “flag” a student “complete” even if that student has not completed all the course assignments. Make sure that you can accurately track which students have completed all the course work

4. Scores

How well did a student score?

In online learning environments, one can not determine why a student has scored highly on a quiz or assignment. Did they really learn the material or copy from someone else? Multiple assessments will allow you measure incremental progress towards the final learning goal, so you can measure what exactly a student scored well on and where they have fallen short.

5.Feedback/Surveys

Did they like it?

Feedback is a vital part of online learning. Regular feedback will provide you important details about the course content, assessments, and technology. An instructor can then alter the course based on suggestions by the students.

References:

  1. Al-Hossami, Erfan (2020) . Chapter 9: Facilitating Online Learning. Teaching Seminar, Fall 2020. In CCI Collected Wisdom: Handbook for TAs. Charlotte, NC: University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

  2. M. Poe and M. L. A. Stassen,Eds., Teaching and Learning Online - Communication, Community and Assessment: A Handbook for Umass Faculty.

  3. Bersin, Josh. (2002, March). Measuring E-Learning’s Effectiveness: A Five-Step Program for Success. E-Learning

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