1 online assessment dr. joan d. mcmahon professor of human resource development towson university,...

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Online Assessment

Dr. Joan D. McMahonProfessor of Human Resource Development

Towson University, Towson, MD 21252

mcmahon@towson.edu

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By the end of this session, you should

• Distinguish between grading and assessment.

• Discern which Characteristics of Assessment can apply to your course(s).

• Apply assessment methods to online teaching.

• Decide which tools work best in your course to measure learning.

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Operational Definitions

Grading Required Standards - reliable,

valid, free of bias Consider anxiety,

cheating, fairness issues

AssessmentNot gradedCan be anonymousWhat, how much, how

well students are learningPreparing them to

succeed

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“My goal is not to fail you.”

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7 Characteristics of Classroom Assessment

Angelo and Cross

Learner Centered Teacher-Directed Mutually Beneficial Formative Context-Specific Ongoing Rooted in Good Teaching Practice

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1. Learner Centered

Concept Focus on learning,

rather than teaching Develop meta-

cognition skills: thinking about learning

Online Discussion Reflections on online

learning thread. Transferability thread

(how does online learning help you become a lifelong learner?).

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Learner Centered

What did you learn about your own learning process by taking this course?

I learned that I much prefer to work on assignments in pieces...I found that keeping a log made the writing of thecase study much easier, but, I also found that I have problems being precise in my writing. I tend to be wordy and often deviate from the APA style. It's hard to change the way you write to accommodate the APA requirements.

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Learner Centered

To a large degree, I am an aural learner so that I missed that element of interaction. I also respond better to f2f situations as opposed to the solitude of the on-line set-up so that maintaining motivation was an ongoing issue for me.

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2. Teacher-Directed

Concepts Depends on faculty skill,

experience, professional knowledge and insight.

Decides on what to assess, how to assess, and how to respond to the information gained through the assessment.

Not obliged to share the results with anyone outside the classroom.

Midcourse assessment

How am I helping you learn?

What am I doing that is hindering your learning?

What course corrections should be made?

PQP’s

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PQP

Praise What should the planners keep in this workshop?

Question

Polish

What are you re-thinking about your own teaching?

What recommendations would you make about future workshop designs?

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3. Mutually Beneficial

Concept What are the essential

skills and knowledge I am trying to teach?

Online Surveys

How can I help students learn better?

How can I find out whether students are learning them?

Organizational charts Graphic organizers

Writing marathons Debates

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Mutually BeneficialWriting Marathon Example

How are students learning the subject matter?

Example of a threaded discussionBuilding Teams in Cyberspace

Clarifier view of main pointsDevil’s Advocate View

Story about cyberspace teams illustrating the point(s)Summary

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What experiences have you had with in-class

marathons?

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Mutually BeneficialGraphic organizer example

How can I help them learn better? Sources of information

Ask them on a survey which ones they added of their own-A,B,C

A

B

C

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4. Formative

Concept Improve the quality of

teaching, not evaluating or grading students

What, how much, and how well students are learning.

Online

Questions for online learning– Early– Mid-semester– End

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What three questions from the handout would you use?

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5. Context-Specific

Concept What works well in

one classroom won’t work well in another.

Culture Chemistry of the class Past experiences

Online

They just don’t get it! They’re so confused.

I’m confusing them!

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6. Ongoing

Concept The creation and

maintenance of the classroom

The feedback loop

Online Tips for next

semester Layers of the

course recyled

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Layers of the course

3/4 through the semesterwhat are you learning about...

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7. Rooted in Good Teaching Practice

• Assessment builds on good practice by

• Making it more systematic

• More flexible

• More effective

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Good Practiceexamples

Muddiest Point about... Postings around a

thread

Writing Marathon

What would you do if you were {Bill}?

Assessing their own values

One “Minute” Paper

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Thanks!

Dr. Joan D. McMahonhttp://www.towson.edu/~mcmahon

mcmahon@towson.edu

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References

Angelo, T.A., Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques. San Francisco. Jossey Bass.

Walvoord, B.E., Anderson, V.J. (1998). Effective grading: a tool for learning and assessment. San Francisco. Jossey Bass.

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