From the category archives:

Assessment

Creating Online Tests that Are Not Tests

April 28, 2009

Although online tests are often associated with student assessment, online testing tools can be used in many different ways. Yes, online assessment is possible, allowing for students to complete tests for grades. On the other hand, online quiz tools can also be used for collecting information from students such as their understanding of course content [...]

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What the Best College Teachers Do – Assessment

March 24, 2009

I’m reading an excellent book right now, What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain. Though it’s research-based, it’s actually an easy read and chock full of ideas for instructors. In the chapter on evaluating students, he makes a number of thought-provoking points:

Assigning student grades should be about helping students learn, but often has [...]

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Rubrics for online activities

March 18, 2009

When integrating online activities into a course, it’s important to clarify what is expected from all participants. How do the instructors define “participating”? What exactly is expected from students? From instructors? How will everyone know if they are participating at the level that is expected? If not, what are the repercussions and implications? How will [...]

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Creating Rubrics to Bridge Instruction and Assessment

March 9, 2009

As mentioned in an earlier post, students tend to prefer rubrics over written feedback. Which brings about the question, “How do I create a meaningful and useful rubric”? I describe a rubric as a teaching and assessment tool that brings accountability to both the instructor and student. Some ideas to get started are:

Review examples of good [...]

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Student Assessment: The Importance of Written Feedback

March 3, 2009

I came across an interesting article on written feedback in The Teaching Professor (found on the TLC’s Resource page, scroll to the bottom click on the link and log in using your UCIT information).  This one-pager summarizes a couple of recent studies; the results make a lot of sense:

The overwhelming majority of students read the [...]

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