I won't take credit for writing this blog entry. I found this information while creating an online faculty training workshop on how to create and manage assessments. This is an excerpt from the Assessments Part 1 training manual we have licensed from Blackboard. We all know the role of assessment in education and the unique role that it plays in online classes. It is worth a quick read.
In online teaching, the role of the instructor often shifts toward guide and mentor. By using online assessments, you have the opportunity to use a test as a teaching tool, rather than purely as an evaluation mechanism.
Looking at Tests in a New Way
Traditionally, assessments measure knowledge at a specific point in time. However, assessments can be used as tools to improve subsequent learning.
· Pre-tests provide a snapshot of students’ current understanding of a topic and prime them for receiving new knowledge. Students can derive personal satisfaction by comparing their pre-test scores with a post-test score.
· Tests that allow students more than one attempt provide opportunities for relearning and reassessment. Instructions can improve retention and comprehension by providing students with answer feedback and special assignments between test attempts.
Frequent Testing and Motivation
Frequent tests not only assess what students know, but also enhance later retention, a phenomenon known as the testing effect. In an experiment, students either took repeated quizzes or were permitted to study the material repeatedly. Students in the former group performed better on a delayed test of their knowledge. The study-only group had read the passage about 14 times, but recalled less than the repeated testing group, which had read the passage only 3.4 times.
“Clearly, testing enhances long-term retention through some mechanism that both different from and more effective than restudy alone.”[1]
Many studies show similar results, including one that shows frequent testing resulted in higher examination grades, especially for students with low GPAs and high levels of procrastination behavior.[2] Frequent tests give students the motivation to study at regular intervals during the semester, which results in better long-term retention than cramming.
Frequent opportunities for students to test their knowledge can be especially effective in an online course. Inform students they will be tested often with less emphasis placed on the grades obtained and more emphasis on the learning process.
Feedback
Students often state they need timely and high-quality interaction with their instructors. In “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” Chickering and Gamson (1987) identify prompt feedback as one of the principles. One efficient way to accomplish this interaction is by creating feedback for online test questions. While the score itself is feedback, students will find your comments valuable. In Blackboard Learn, you can provide automatic feedback for each answer, such as:
· Praise for correct answers
· Reasons why an answer is incorrect—a teachable moment
· References to textbook pages or online course content to help students learn the material for incorrect answers
· Appropriate humor
By developing a testing strategy that uses frequent opportunities for students to test themselves, feedback for learning, and an emphasis on long-term retention, you may see improved student outcomes.
Sources:
Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association of Higher Education Bulletin, 3-7.
Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, issue 3.
Runyon, D. & Von Holzen, R. (2003). Effective assessment techniques for online courses. Educause Conference Presentation. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=EDU03150.
Tuckman, B. (2000). Using frequent testing to increase students’ motivation to achieve. Paper presented at the 7th biannual International Conference on Motivation, Leuven, Belgium. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/belgium-paper/BWT-belgium-paper.htm.
[1]Roediger, H. L. & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17, issue 3.
[2]Tuckman, B. (2000). Using frequent testing to increase students’ motivation to achieve. Paper presented at the 7th biannual International Conference on Motivation, Leuven, Belgium. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from http://dennislearningcenter.osu.edu/belgium-paper/BWT-belgium-paper.htm.
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