Assessment and Evaluation
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The Wikipedia Manifesto
By John Kleefeld This post has been updated to correct some initial errors. A spectre is haunting academia—the spectre of Wikipedia. And while there was a time when all the old powers would have entered into an alliance to exorcise this spectre, a worldwide community of educators is now taking a radically different approach: they’re assigning students the task of editing and writing Wikipedia’s sprawling content, and giving them academic credit for doing so. In the process, they’re turning students from indiscriminate knowledge consumers to savvy knowledge creators. At the same time, they’re building an open-access and up-to-date storehouse of knowledge that, in certain areas, already rivals traditional reference works.…
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Open Pedagogy: Using OER to change how we teach
[social_share/] [social-bio] There has been a considerable increase in the number of courses assigning open rather than commercial textbooks at the University of Saskatchewan. During the 2014-2015 academic year, there were approximately 300 students enrolled in three courses using open textbooks. This year more than 2,650 students are enrolled in the at least 20 courses that have open textbooks as the assigned resource. Since the university started promoting and tracking the use of open textbooks in 2014, this use has resulted in students at the U of S saving close to $400,000 on textbook costs. The benefits of using open textbooks and other open educational resources (OER) instead of commercial…
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Ideas about Assessing Student Participation
[social_share/] [social-bio] Recently we completed another Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) at our Centre. This an intensive and engaging 4-day workshop where faculty and instructors learn about and practice participatory learning strategies, and upon completion, receive a certificate of completion that is nationally recognized. As the workshop unfolds, important questions are brought forward by participants. Given our focus on student participation in the ISW, the question of how to (and whether to) give participation marks arises. While the answers depend on the context of the course, the teaching approach, and the design of the learning experiences and assessments, specific ideas from others can help us arrive at ways of doing this…
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First Day of Class: Providing students a relevant and engaging initial taste
[social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Sessions related to this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Why Teach With Top Hat? (Monday, August 22, 2016 from 10-10:25 AM) – Register Here Building Student Capacity for Effective Group Work (Monday, August 22, 2016 from 1-4 PM) – Register Here Preparing & Personalizing Your Syllabus (Tuesday, August 23, 2016 from 1-2:50 PM) – Register here Exploring Methods for Preventing & Detecting Plagiarism (Wednesday, August 24, 2016 from 10-11:30 AM) – Register Here Attention & Memory: Increasing Student’ Learning (Friday, August 26, 2016 from 9-10 AM) – Register Here Assignments, Rubrics, and Grading in Blackboard – It’s Easier Than You Think…
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ePortfolios and the Curious Case of the End-of-Term Journal
[social_share/] [social-bio] Sessions on this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Mahara ePortfolios (Short & Snappy session) (Monday August 22, 2016 from 11- 11:25 AM) – Register here Mahara ePortfolios (Expansion Pack session) (Tuesday August 23 from 10:30 – 11:50 PM) – Register here As an undergrad, I took a senior studio art class in which I had to contribute something, anything, daily (well, at least weekly) to a visual journal we would hand in at the end of term. I did nothing with that journal until a stressful and long two days before it was due. My prof loved the hastily complied and craftily “aged” journal I…
- Assessment and Evaluation, Curriculum Development, Educational Technology, General, Graduate Education, Inclusivity, Indigenization, Decolonization, Reconciliation, Instructional / Course Design, Instructional Strategies, Open
Gearing Up With Fall Fortnight 2016
[social_share/] [social-bio] “Happy New Year!!” That is how I think of September and the new school year. This often coincides with a strong pull to stationary stores, tidying my office, organizing my supplies, reading new books, and pulling out sweaters and warm socks. Gearing up for the Fall Term is exciting. There’s often anticipation, hope, renewed energy for trying new things and looking forward to tweaking things I tried last year. I think about taking a class. There are new “school” clothes, crisp mornings, and longer shadows when I head for home. All of that is bundled together as the new term starts. I think about the new faculty, staff,…
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Reflecting on Assessment and Feedback
[social_share/] [social-bio] At this time of year, faculty can see the learning that has occurred for students reflected back through the culminating assessments. Whether it’s the term project, the research paper, the reflective portfolio, the group presentation, or the final exam – this is a means to discover what has been learned by students and to what standard. Here are 10 questions gleaned from a 2004 article by Gibbs and Simpson on assessment that support students’ learning. Looking back at the term, an instructor may ask: Did the assessment require sufficient time and effort on the kind of learning intended? Did the assessment indicate the appropriate proportion of effort to…
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Reading Students Work With Them Present – A Different Take on Marking
[social_share/] [social-bio] Many years ago, while I was a student at a community college in California, I took two courses that fell under the very general subject banner “Humanities”. One was The Individual and Society and the other The Individual and The Arts. These classes met for three hours twice a week and were team taught by three instructors that almost always were on the stage together at the front of the lecture hall that held about 100 students. I took these courses early in my post-secondary education, but the teaching style has stayed with me as much as the content. One aspect, in particular, comes up frequently when instructors…
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Single-Point Rubrics: Exceeding Expectations
[social_share/] [social-bio] As an Instructional Designer, I often speak on the value of assessment rubrics. There are many reasons why creating a rubric for each assignment, providing students with the rubric, and using the rubric while grading can be advantageous. Many of these reasons are highlighted in the video below, including: You write the same comments on several assignments You decide how to assess after the assignments are handed in You realize after grading a few papers that your students didn’t understand the assignment expectations (Stevens & Levi, 2005) Knowing about these reasons for rubrics, I sat down last fall to create few rubrics for the assignments in an undergraduate…
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Talking with Students About Suspected Plagiarism: Ten Guiding Questions
[social_share/] [social-bio] As assignments start to come in, this can be the time in the term when faculty notice what may be inadvertent or intentional plagiarism by students. Hopefully, you rarely encounter this yourself. But, if you do suspect plagiarism, how can you best proceed? Here’s what I would do… First, become familiar with the institutional policy and any particular procedures with respect to this policy in your department or college. Next, I suggest that you discuss the matter with the student(s) you suspect. Here are ten guiding questions offered to help you to prepare for and to anticipate the potential directions of a discussion: Why am I asking to discuss…