Unit 3

Learning Assessments

U N I T - 3 - N A V I G A T I O N

Designing a Syllabus
Creating Learning Outcomes
What is an eLecture?
Developing Learning Activities & Tasks
Planning Learning Assessments
Building a KEWL Course
Basic Q & A for Using KEWL

S I T E - N A V I G A T I O N

Unit One
Unit Two
Unit Three
Unit Four
Unit Five
Index

Learning Outcomes:

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Explain the link between learning outcomes and learning assessment
  • Draw up an assessment plan

eLecture 

The George Lucas Educational Foundation indicate that assessments should:

  • provide diagnostic feedback
  • help educators set standards 
  • evaluate progress 
  • relate to a student's progress 
  • motivate performance
Isolating the impact of technology from other changes that affect the performance of learners is difficult. Nevertheless, all instructors assess what each learner is able to do, with knowledge, in context (see Wiggins 1997:20). Ritchie and Hoffman (1966) indicate this can be done either on- or off-line, through objective or subjective tests, or through development of products or portfolios. Some examples provided by Ritchie and Hoffman are as follows.
  • On-line testing can be automated for objective tests, or if open-ended questions are asked, saved in files for instructor critique. 
  • Assessment of online portfoilos, including those for WebQuests and other inquiry-oriented activities in which students are given specific tasks and access the Web to acquire, integrate, extend or refine their knowledge. 
Jo Anne Wangsatorntanakhun indicates the need to design performance assessments that will challenge the "Three-Story Intellect". She views "performance assessments" as a continuous process; with two parts: a clearly defined task and a list of explicit criteria for assessing a student's performance. The main goals of performance assessment are to gather data on students that focus on growth over time rather than comparing them with each other; to focus on what theyknow rather than on what they don't; and to meet the needs of diverse learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and proficiency levels. (Tanenbaum)

The Center for Teaching and Learning and Technology at Washington State University (WSU) offers a Guide to Rating Student Critical Thinking and a rubric for assessing student engagement online.

Feedback

Embracing performance assessment requires clarity in providing guidance and feedback to performance tasks and performance criteria. Once the tasks are made clear, as in the WebQuest example, criteria must be developed. Rubrics, such as those offered by WSU, are useful in helping students identify and apply the standards of excellence. 

Enrichment and remediation

Assessment might lead to remediation in areas where comprehension is lacking or enrichment which extends or applies students' knowledge. In addition to examinations and tests, assessment can be made more authentic by:

  • essays 
  • portfolios 
  • projects (case studies, journal articles) 
  • interviews 
  • rubrics 
  • performance tasks

    "There are no tools for assessing the value of instruction that results in students being more fully engaged in their communities or developing friendships with kids on the other side of the world." 

    Benton Foundation

Learning Tasks

Read

  1. Any 2 or 3 articles from the url below:  
    1. Go to  http://www.aahe.org/assessment/assess_links.htm
    2. From Standardized Tests to Alternative Methods: Some Current Resources on Methods to Assess Learning in General Education by Peggy L. Maki (March/April 2001 Change)
    3. Nine Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
    4. Fair Assessment Practices: Giving Students Equitable Opportunities to Demonstrate Learning by Linda Suskie (May 2000 AAHE Bulletin)
    5. Evaluating Department Achievements: Consequences for the Work of Faculty by Jon F. Wergin (December 1999 AAHE Bulletin)
    6. Doing Assessment as if Learning Matters Most by Thomas A. Angelo (May 1999 AAHE Bulletin)
    7. Editorial: Assessment and Standards by Theodore J. Marchese (September/October 1998 Change)
    8. The Road Not Taken by Robert Holyer (September/October 1998 Change)
    9. Assessing with the Net: Using Technology to Know More About Students by Tracy Tyree (October 1997 AAHE Bulletin)
    10. Using Accreditation for Your Own Purposes by Edward O’Neil (June 1997 AAHE Bulletin)

Discuss 

  1. Meet face to face with other learners from your Home Institution who are enrolled in this course for an hour. 
  2. Based on your choice of readings from above, discuss (1) the advantages and disadvantages of different types of learning assessments from the perspective of a practitioner or a learner in the ICT Policy and Regulation diploma program and (2) the link between learning outcomes and learning assessment.
  3. Report back on the outcomes of your face to face discussion by posting it on the discussion forum. 
  4. Comment on 1-2 of the postings from the other learners from other sites.

Create 

  1. Add more slides to your powerpoint presentation (which you have started after completing Lesson 1) to articulate why different types of learning assessment matters.
  2. If you were teaching a lesson on learning assessment, what would you assess and how would you do it.

Learning Assessment 

1)  Assess yourself by sharing your views with a peer on the following: 

  • Explain the link between learning outcomes and learning assessment
  • Draw up an assessment plan
 2)  Points towards final grade
  • Participation in the discussion forum = 1 point
  • Quality of participation in the discussion forum = 2 points
  • Powerpoint slides = 1 point