When redesigning a course for a hybrid learning environment, where instruction and participation take place both online and in a traditional classroom, it is important to consider the possibility of assessing student learning in different ways.
Assessments should drive instruction, so it is important to recognize three primary roles of assessment.
- To establish a baseline of existing knowledge: Diagnostic or pre-assessments occur at the beginning of the learning cycle. They highlight prior knowledge, skills, strengths, and learning needs that guide planning and instruction.
- To diagnose and support learning: Formative assessments are on-going throughout the learning process and measure knowledge or progress in order to structure subsequent instruction. They should be frequent and low-stakes. Formative assessments can be thought of as assessments “FOR” learning. According to L. Dee FInk, feedback of any sort should be frequent, immediate, and discriminating. Whether in person or online, feedback can come in numerous forms:
- Self-reflection – blogging, portfolios, and online quizzes
- Peer feedback – blogging, discussion forums and applications, wiki tools, and Google documents
- Instructor feedback – specific feedback on assignments, helping students to know how they are correct in their understanding or performance as well as where they are falling short; suggest ways to improve
- To report on learning that has occurred: Summative assessments aid the instructor in determining students’ understanding at a particular point, usually at the end of a program, unit, or topic. Summative assessments can be thought of as assessments “OF” learning.
Visit the University of Central Florida’s BlendKit resources. Specifically, Chapter 3 of the BlendKit has many resources related to assessment of students learning.
Another great repository of resources is Stanford Teaching Commons: Feedback and Assessment. It contains a wealth of teaching and learning resources.
Anytime the objectives and assessments of your course reflect the larger goals of your program, you should leverage and document the intersection. Penn State’s Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research (OPAIR) has resources to assist, particularly on the Assessment page.
Online Assessments
By using your resources online and face-to-face, you are able to offer numerous modes of assessment. Traditional forms of assessment, such as tests, quizzes, projects, or discussion participation are all offered in Canvas or a similar learning management system (LMS).
Research supports that students learn from frequent testing. The Quizzes tool in Canvas allows for this, as students are able to demonstrate their understanding of course material in many ways in the online format. The instructor can control quiz/test parameters, such as number of times that the student can take it or types of questions available. Grading of assessments is also done automatically, saving valuable time. Online assessment, however, doesn’t have to mean assessment only of lower level knowledge. To assess higher levels of knowledge, use short-answer or essay questions that require students to apply knowledge in a way that shows individual thought and problem solving. To discourage cheating in higher stakes assessments, set time limits that discourage students from spending time looking in a book or within online resources. Alternatively, for lower-stakes formative assessments, consider unlimited attempts.
In addition to traditional assessments, you can incorporate other online assessments that require students to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios. Projects (group or individual), presentations, and discussion-based activities provide opportunities for assessment of deeper and, often, more authentic learning.
If you decide to incorporate group work, managing it within the online environment gives you the advantages of ease of documentation, tracking, and feedback as well as the ability to assess individual contributions through peer evaluations. This process ensures that the grading of the project is fair to all members of the group. Group work is also facilitated through online resources within the LMS and on the web.
Finally, the online learning environment allows you to use new forms of assessment. For example, students can collaborate within various web-based resources, compile documents, give and receive feedback, and build a community of learners. Additionally, students have access to many types of multimedia tools, such as those used in podcast and video creation. Take advantage of these tools and allow students to create learning artifacts for assessment.
Rubrics
Rubrics are scoring guides designed by the instructor (or sometimes created in conjunction with students). They are especially useful when they accompany assignments that are relatively easy to write/design but difficult to score, such as projects and performances. An effective rubric clearly defines performance expectations for the various dimensions of the assignment. Details are not vague and open to subjective interpretation but rather concrete performance indicators. The rubric should be given to the students prior to completion of an assignment, allowing them to clearly address the dimensions and levels as they prepare the assessment.
Clear expectations allow instructors to objectively assess performance benchmarks for each submission. Importantly, with rubrics, assessments can be scored quickly and can be generated easily through online resources. Above all, rubrics have been seen to improve student performance because students know the instructor’s expectations and are motivated to reach higher performance levels.
Creating a Rubric
It is important to start by identifying the specific performance objectives and elaborating from the top down. Points should be clearly understandable at each level of the rubric and match the criteria given. The rubric should also be given along with the assignment so students can work toward achieving the instructor’s highest expectations. But don’t be afraid to ask for feedback about your rubric. In order for it to be effective, students must be able to concretely understand the parameters of each level.
- Identify the specific performance objectives.
- Elaborate each objective separately at the highest level.
- Modify each objective to the next lower level until you reach the lowest performance level.
- Match the number of points awarded to each level of the rubric.
- Post the rubric along with the assignment so expectations are clear.
- Seek feedback about the rubric’s effectiveness and clarity and modify as needed.
To learn more about creating rubrics for assignments visit Rubric Basics, How to Develop a Rubric, and additional rubric resources from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Two great tools to create rubrics are RubiStar and iRubric. Rubrics can easily be added to any assignment or discussion in Canvas; for more information, see the Create Rubrics page of the Advanced Canvas Learning Path.