Michael,
Interesting, do you think the online environment changes the way you assess?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yes, I do. Although I must say that the content certainly drives the majority of the grade, it is still important for students to be able to communicate clearly and accurately through use of proper grammar and punctuation.
Dania,
Agreed! Content does drive the grade! I too grade for punctuation and grammar even in some discussion board!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I have used both, and I will continue to use both types. Some students can demonstrate higher thinking with well-written essay responses, while some struggle with their writing skills to the point that the actual writing part of the assessment becomes more burdensome than demonstrating that they understand the topic being brought up. By that same token, other students do really well on standardized tests, while others freeze. Using a combination of objecting and subjective helps to keep learning the course content the focus instead of the test taking issue becomming the larger issue.
I have used a variety of assessments in my courses. It really depends on if you are teaching courses online or on ground. When teaching online, I find that it is easier to assess using shorter essays and multiple choice tests and quizzes that were taken from the reading and also, I think it is important to even assess using the discussion forums, etc. because you can get a feel for their knowledge on the topic you are covering.
I completely agree with you, it is so important that students learn to use correct grammar and punctuation, but often, this can be hard to teach when you are focused on another subject. What are some suggestions you have for teaching this for example, I teach Humanities online and Ethics and students get frustrated when they are marked down for something unrelated to the course. What do you think?
Kendra,
You are correct! With our culture of testing, it is important that we don't lose problem solving of real problems.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ashley,
I too use the same techniques. Online I use more essays!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ashley,
I create a writing guide that a use consistently in my online courses. These are just review of the basic grammar and punctuation rules. This is part of the expectation of the course and they can review the guide. I have also given a simple quiz to remind them of the "rules"
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Yes, I have a tendency to use objective evaluation. I like it becvasue there is a cut and dry answer. Most standardized tet are this way so it's not a hard concept for students to adjust to. There are also easier to grade when you have a large class with alot of information to consume.
Gwendolyn,
You are right if you are teaching large groups you need to use objective. Do you think objective test stifle creativity in students?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In online courses that I have taught, the subjective evaluation is used. Objective evaluations may be given for the student to self-assess their knowledge of the course content but are not recorded by the instructor or used in “grading.†Subjective evaluations are weekly discussion boards and individual projects, and usually a group project about half way through the course. Both of the individual efforts have a scenario with several questions or issues that the student will discuss based on material presented in written sources, to include a textbook, and weekly live chat sessions. The importance of rubrics cannot be understated, and I look forward to the module where we will get into that. The rubric is posted in advance so that students have some guidance in how they complete the project and how formative assessment will be conducted. The discussion board requires a substantive main post (essay) and two responses that are also of substance with at least one post made before midweek. This ensures student participation and encourages interaction on this forum. The group project allows the students to share knowledge and ideas on a project structured very much like the discussion board, where a scenario is presented and questions that shape the group effort are provided. There is usually an individual component that ensures that each group member contributes knowledge and ideas for consideration by other group members. The individual contributions and comments by group members are synthesized into a final group presentation. The individual project is intended to measure the students’ knowledge of the subject, but also skills to focus research efforts, make sense of that research and assess critical thinking skills. The result should be a coherent scholarly paper in the APA format.
I admit that evaluating these assessments is a challenge particularly in the time that is required. Students appreciate the individual attention that they get in these methods and the formative feedback that is tailored to their learning experiences.
I like to use objective evaluations more as formative assessments to get a quick sense if the students are grasping the concepts of the material. For a summative assessment I will use a combination of both. I think that it is important for students to be able to process the information in their own words to truly be able to demonstrate understanding of the material.
Gretchen,
I tend to use open-ended questions as well, it helps to know the level of thought the students are on and what he/she has acquired from the content covered.
Most of the time, I use a mixture of objective and subjective evaluations. During my assessments, I would give multiple choice, true false and essay questions. In addition, I try to give questions that are at varying levels of Bloom's taxonomy. I do not just make my essay questions at Bloom's taxonomy level 4-6. In my question construction, I try to put together muliple choice questions that are at higher thinking order.
George,
I love your answer! I really like the scenario technique. You have apparently much thought and effort in this. It shows.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Janelle ,
True, and with objective evaluations, feedback does tend to get to students quicker.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dell,
Looking for specific words and level of thought makes open ended questions a much better choice. good job
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Beverly,
Good comments. We don't want to get so "attached" to developing assessments in the 4-6 level when the course may not warrant it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I facilitate online, graduate degree courses where authentic assessments are used exclusively and assignments are "scored" based upon grading rubrics. The grading rubric components are mapped to the terminal course objectives and subsequent enabling objectives (aka behavioral objectives, performance objectives, learning objectives, instructional objectives).
FYI...when measuring "learner" performance based upon the learning objectives, specifically the criterion statement, they are considered "summative assessments", which are different from "summative evaluation".
More specifically, summative assessments are used to measure individual performance [based upon the learning objectives], while summative evaluation is based upon the entire target learner population.
