Create an Assessment Strategy
The bulls eye diagram (right, from Fink, 2011) reflects research findings that creating skill and understanding that endures requires performance tasks and projects. These force students to use and practice knowledge in new ways.
Traditional tests and quizzes are fine for helping students recall immediate facts and concepts. However, they generally don't, in themselves, lead to long term retention.
As discussed in module 2, a solid strategy for assessments includes formative assignments (give students feedback on work in progress) that lead up to summative assignments (work at the end of a process, module, or course). Scaffolding refers to the structure of building practice and support so that students can succeed on your assessments.
Almost any assignment you can imagine for an in-person course can be replicated online.
Browse here for ideas on how to assess and support your course learning objectives.
Individual Projects
- Oral-Presentation: An individual project which allows students to choose a course topic and explore it in depth and from multiple viewpoints. Students present their findings in a five- to seven-minute oral presentation via a Collaborate session or uploading a video to Blackboard.
- Performance-Task: Students are presented with an authentic scenario and are asked to produce a report highlighting strengths and weaknesses of an argument..
Group Projects
- Application Project #1 : This group project asks students to identify and solve a problem that can be addressed with course-developed ideas and tools. Students create a proposal and an infographic.
- Application Project #2 : Groups of students are asked to solve a problem and create a report summarizing their approach, reasoning, and solutions.
- Application Project #3 : This group project puts students in the role of an ethics committee and involves synthesis of course material, decision making, group presentation, and personal reflection.
- Digital Media Project : Groups of students create three- to five-minute movies which creatively explore course-related content.
- Discussion Project : Small groups of students locate, analyze, and lead fellow classmates in a 20-minute discussion on a topic relevant to the course themes.
- Multidimensional Project : This project has small groups of students create a series of authentic products focused on making course content “real.” Students produce a short paper, a presentation, a poster, and a website.
- Research Presentation : Students create digital stories which may be “true” or fictionalized but must be based on research. These can be delivered via VoiceThread or any other presentation tool in Blackboard.
More Ideas:
-
Online Teaching Activity Index
In Barkley and Major (2016), Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (ebook available through GW Libraries). For each type of assignment, there is an explanation of how to adapt it for online.
