Online Assessments
The fact that this stage is being presented last should not in any way denote that it should be left until the end to develop, but they do require some final touches to get them ready for delivery. During the Course Design Plan stage you will have been putting assessment ideas together while aligning your objectives. Thinking about assessments should take place throughout the design and development of your online or remote course and should always relate back to the objectives you set out for students to achieve. That said, you’ll likely want to put some time aside once all the modules are complete to put the finishing touches on all the major mark-able milestones.
Formative Assessments
Provide Feedback During the Learning Stages
Formative or “check your learning along the way” assessments should be embedded throughout your course material in the form of quizzes, review questions and answers, opportunities for peer reviews and instructor feedback on drafts and activities. The overlap of Learning Activities and formative assessments is inevitable. They often fulfil both the active learning and formative assessment criteria of good teaching and learning. The module template includes space for review questions and answers as a minimum, but formative assessment can be achieved through well designed Learning Activities throughout your modules. When done exceptionally, learning activities and formative assessments often build into the larger more summative assessments as stepping stones.
Summative Assessments
Create Final Assessments that Showcase Learning
Summative Assessments evaluate a student’s mastery of the competencies defined in your weekly learning objectives and of the course outcomes as a whole. Although traditional quizzes and exams have their place in formal assessment, testing your students’ competencies and comprehension can go way beyond simple recognition and regurgitation.
For the purpose of this course development guide we’re going to focus on building assessments that allow your students to showcase their learning. A project, performance task, or portfolio of course work can easily substitute the final exam. Depending on the types of goals you have, different forms of final assessments are more appropriate. Looking back at the outcomes and objectives in your CDP. What is it you want your students to be able to DO now that they have learned from the course material?
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- “I want students to show me they understand and can link course concepts by writing about them” – read more on developing papers.
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- “I want students to apply course concepts or show their skills in more real world settings” – read more on developing projects.
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- “I want to see a range of smaller assignments or samples of work that show that students can apply or analyze or evaluate or even create something new using the course concepts and skills” – read more on developing portfolios.
Here are some more suggestions for assessment activities you can incorporate into a course.
Assignment Submissions and Grade Management
Make marking more efficient with LMS Tools
One of the great parts of a learning management system is how it helps you keep track of assignments, marks, and due dates and allows you to provide feedback efficiently and easily. The grade centres within an LMS can be a little intimidating for a first time online instructor, but there’s plenty of technical help available and it will be well worth your time to invest in getting to know how it works. Many face-to-face instructors now use the LMS assignment and grade features in all their classes as a way to stay organized when it comes time to mark.
Links to technical help for:
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