Assessment of Student Performance in Online Interaction

Stephen TschudiNFLRC Summer Institute 2008

Assessment of Student Performance What role does assessment play for each group in the exchange? Or for the project overall?

To help the designers reflect on and improve the exchange itself (formative)

e.g., poor performance might point to “bad” task design

As data for research on the exchange

looking ahead to next year’s Symposium…?

As data for grading student achievement

…but not for non-academic participants

Assessment of Student Performance What to assess?

Data in the Café

Student postings, on and off task

Interview / reflective dataH

ow do they think they did?

How well do they think the exchange worked?

Consultation with your project partner

What are your observations?

Assessment of Student Performance How to assess?

Data in the Café

Assign point values to tasks, design task rubrics

Interview / reflective dataCh

eck your hypotheses about why students performed

the way they did

Consultation with your project partner

Compare your assessments

Assessment of Student Performance

Sample speaking task rubric – could adapt to online voice-enabled forum task?

Task Completion1 Minimal completion of the task and/or responses frequently inappropriate.2 Partial completion of the task; responses mostly appropriate yet undeveloped.3 Completion of the task; responses appropriate and adequately developed.4 Superior completion of the task; responses appropriate and with elaboration.Comprehensibility1 Responses barely comprehensible.2 Responses mostly comprehensible, requiring interpretation on the part of the listener.3 Responses comprehensible, requiring minimal interpretation on the part of the listener.4 Responses readily comprehensible, requiring no interpretation on the part of the listener.Fluency1 Speech halting and uneven with long pauses… etc.

(find entire rubric doc in Upload Folio, Unit: Discussion Area, Type: Public)

Assessment of Student Performance What’s different about online assessment?

CMC may require distinct forms of assessment

Kol & Schcolnik (2008) cite a variety of options

Make your rubric match your task goal

It helps if you mention the goal in the instructions!

Use “signs”and “markers”?Word counts, connectors – match to

task and rubric

Kol, S., & Schcolnik, M. (2008). Asynchronous forums in EAP: Assessment issues. Language Learning & Technology, 12(2), 49-70. http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num2/kolschcolnik/

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bibliography

Aloha!