What is the best way to evaluate on line courses?
I would like to know your opinions about the best way to evaluate on line courses? Multiple chopces ot true or false or short essays questions?
I have never been a fan of the multiple choice or true false. This type of evaluation I feel should be self-evaluation. Essays are harder to cheat on and show more or what a student has learned. Just my thoughts.....how about you?
I didn't teach on line courses before. that's why i want to get a feedback from someone who is currently teaching online courses.
I have taught online for many years. Honestly...the best evalutation is up to the instructor. What works best for you in your ground class? It is your test with your personality that makes it work. I have worked with multiple choice/true false online...did not like that type of test at the ground campus....guess what? I do not care for that type of test online either! Personally I like research paper or essays, but that is not to say that multiple choice is not a good choice....it is just not my "personal" favorite! What do you like?
Mervat, essay questions are great for assessing a student's knowledge of a course concept since they need to write their work in their own words.
Case studies work well too since the questions are based on the actual case and again you should see students submitting work in their own words.
I believe that it takes a variety of approaches to evaluation of students' progress. In the course I teach, we use all three: multiple choice quizzes following each lecture, then a short-essay assignment that must be completed on a given theme, and a discussion participation, where students must answer a posted question before seeing what other students have posted. Some people work better with multiple choice, and others perform better with essays and short answers. This way, you give everyone a chance to do well, and yet, make students work for their grades.
I think the caliber/level of the student needs to be taken into account, as well as the nature of the course. A Math or Algebra course might utilize different evaluation techniques compared to a Sociology course, for example. Where you might complete an essay on a theory in the SOC class, there is typically just one right answer to a Math formula or a given algebraic equation. So for those the Math/Algebra variety, a simple multiple choice might work just fine. As far as the caliber/level of student is concerned, you would certainly expect a senior level student or a grad student to be able to elaborate well on an essay topic, but a freshman level course might require a simpler approach.
I have come to appreciate the value of subjective questions as more online learners engage in the "copy and paste" function enabled by open book tests, especially when eBooks are involved. Subjective questions can, indeed, force logical rationalization for the response and allow the instructors to gauge comprehension as effectively as with essay or short answer.
good point about the ebooks.....our tests should include more critical thinking.
Considering online vs. tradition in-classroom courses, is there really that much different regarding assessment?
Quizzes, essay questions, writing assignments, homework exercises, etc. they all still apply just as well in an online environment. So as others have posted, pick what you like best and adapt it for an online assessment.
You will have to be creative in finding replacements for things like classroom presentations. If you feel a presentation is an essential assessment, then you can consider things like pre-recorded video presentations, or synchronous video chat as a possible replacement.
Something else to consider in examinations or high-stakes assessments, is that the opportunity to cheat is high. What is to stop a student from googling the answer?
You need to gauge how much a student's access to online resources will degrade the quality of the assessment. If it is unacceptable, then you will need to turn to more essay and analysis assessments and less multiple choice.
Love the chat features. I do agree without that chats is a great replacement for the classroom presentation!
Shelly, I agree with your point of view. Assessment based on student performance on real learning tasks is more accurate for measuring achievement than multiple-choice tests
A combination of both mutiple choice questions and short essay questions seem to be the most adequate way of evaluating a student. MC is cut and dry and shows the retention of the basics and Essay formats allow you to analyze the degree to which the student comprehends.
Kelly,
That is a good point. We all learn differently and test differently.
Shelly Crider
True or false and multiple choice answers tend to keep the student motivated to stay on course and are easily graded.
There are many approaches that can be adopted to assess an online course objectively. It is best that the instructor chooses an assessment approach that he/she feels will give them the best information needed to mive forward during the course assessment and evaluation.
Shelly:
I appreciate your comment. In order to improve participation in the assessment survey, we should offer many different options such as multiple choice, short answer and true/false. Students could be intimidated or reluctant to provide only in-depth responses as they require not only more of a commitment in time but also in terms of valid comments. Students would be more likely to actively participate and perceive the process more positively.
Suzanne
I don't think there is a single best way to evaluate online courses. Multiple measures are probably best. Short answer, multiple choice, projects, and so on each demonstrate different kinds of content mastery. Expanded use of assessments that look at higher order skills is probably a good thing: traditional multiple choice questions simply don't do this. Does a course promote critical thinking and content mastery? Can we test for that easily in an online environment?
