Using Online Environments to Promote Assessment as a Learning Enhancement Process

Over the past few years, there has been increased attention paid to assessment in higher education institutions, due largely to changes in government expectations and in the diversity of the student cohorts.

Imperatives for systemic change in assessment practices have been articulated by a number of scholars including Gibbs (1992), Brown and Knight (1994), Morgan and O'Reilly (1999), Entwistle (2002), James, McKinnis and Devlin (2002) and Biggs (2003). Such authors have argued that university assessment has been too narrow and therefore has not adequately reflected the quality, breadth and depth of students' learning. In respect to this, Nightingale et al. (1996) emphasized the need to assess a broader 'cluster of abilities' that included critical thinking, judgement making, problem solving, development of plans, demonstration of techniques and procedures, finding and managing information, creative design and performance, and communication skills (p. 3).

A key problem that these authors identify in common is that while assessment requirements are central to the learning experience for students, what is not assessed is often not learnt well because students generally prioritize what they need to know for formal, graded assessments. They tend to disregard academic content seen as less relevant to those requirements, so much potential educational value of coursework is lost. Clearly, the predominance of essays and examinations in University assessment has potentially constrained learning, particularly when used for summative purposes only.

A second problem commonly identified is a lack of focus on the deeper understanding of underpinning principles and ideas and students' abilities and dispositions to employ these purposefully, critically and rationally across a range of situations. Norris and Ennis (Norris & Ennis, 1990), for instance, stressed the need for assessment tasks to involve a variety of types of critical thinking as well as opportunities to display commitment to their use in relevant contexts.

A third common element is the need for teaching and assessment to be seen as interactive throughout the pedagogical experience. Ramsden (2003), for example, made the point that "Assessment's educational value depends on our understanding of its multiple purposes and how these are related ... and on how successfully we integrate the process of making judgements into the job of teaching. ... Much assessment still proceeds from an ingenuous conception focused on methods of collecting information and comparing the relative worth of different students" (p.205).

We attempt to shed some light on what happened when academic staff reconsidered their assessment practices and implemented more innovative approaches in online contexts. These approaches aimed at encouraging deeper understandings by bringing assessment and teaching processes into the same realm of quality learning, by using assessment to inform plans for on-going teaching, and by assessing learning communities, contexts and products at the same time as assessing individual student performance. As well as identifying issues that arose in each case, the paper highlights key factors that appear to be necessary for change in assessment to occur.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

الأمين العام للعتبة العباسية المقدسة يتابع ميدانيًّا خدمات المواكب والأقسام المقدمة لزائري الأربعين

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تحدد موعد إعلان إحصائية زائري الأربعين

مجمع أبي الفضل العباس (عليه السلام) يختتم أعماله الخاصة بزيارة الأربعين بإقامة مجلس عزاء

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تنظم مجلس عزاء بذكرى أربعين الإمام الحسين (عليه السلام)

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

حجم جزء محدد من الجسم يعكس الصحة العامة ومخاطر الأمراض

تفشي عدوى بكتيرية بفرنسا يحتمل ارتباطها بنوع من الجبن الطري

دراسة حديثة تكشف ما تفعله الشاشات بـ"قلوب الأطفال" !

متلازمة المبنى المريض.. هكذا يتحول تكييف الهواء إلى خطر صحي ؟؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

كيف تتعامل مع حرارة الطقس أثناء القيادة؟

لماذا يجب عليك إيقاف تكييف السيارة قبل إطفاء المحرك؟

دراسة تكشف سببا محتملا وراء زيادة خطر إصابة الأطفال بالتوحد

تشيلي.. العثور على متحجرة حيوان ثديي صغير من زمن الديناصورات

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Case 2 Online portfolio and group multimedia project

Results, analysis and discussion Case 1 Online role play

Research methodology

The research context

Literature review Characteristics of good assessment practice

Utilizing an ICT Tool for Moderating, Marking and Managing Assessment in Large Tertiary Classes Conclusions

Response to feedback

Implications for teaching in large classes

Unit coordinator perspective

Tutor perspective

Findings Student perspective

Research methodology