Why Assessments are Essential to Online Instruction
To understand the necessity of assessments in online learning, it’s important to contrast how assessments are used in an online environment versus how they’re used in a traditional brick-and mortar classroom. In general, online assessments should include a wider range of tasks than assessments in a traditional classroom. Since online teachers are not present with students during the assessment, they cannot observe students as they work and verify that they’re grasping the material and progressing at an acceptable pace.
In asynchronous online courses, students complete work on their own time frame, which is a great benefit, but because of this teacher interaction occurs less regularly than in the traditional classroom. Instruction is primarily conducted through the learning management system, and while teachers and students interact regularly through messaging and video chat, most learning activities and assessments are experienced individually. Again, this places a greater importance on having a diversity of assessment activities within online courses, so that students’ grasp on the material may be properly assessed.
The advantage for the online student is that each student’s progress is monitored individually rather than depending on the readiness of the whole class.
Variety and Sequence
In a live classroom, a group discussion might be held after the completion of a lesson or unit. This in-class discussion offers the teacher insight into each student’s level of understanding. On the other hand, in an online course this type of monitoring may not be possible. Therefore, it’s critical that varied types of assessments are utilized frequently to monitor student progress. For example, students may read a short text then answer some practice questions, before moving on to the next chunk of content. Frequent knowledge checks in the form of various graded and ungraded formative assessments provide feedback to both the student and teacher regarding the student’s progress.
The advantage for the online student is that each student’s progress is monitored individually, and he/she can move forward when appropriate, rather than depending on the readiness of the whole class. An example of this can be seen in a vocabulary test. Students learning new vocabulary in a class like Biology need to be familiar with specific technical words before they can use them in concept development. In an online course, a vocabulary assessment may be strategically placed to ensure that those prerequisite concepts are in place before the student moves forward.
There is also a great variety of learning activities and assessments available to online students because they are always online. Research resources, simulations, WebQuests, interactive discussions, interviews with experts, presentations, and similar activities are always at the online student’s fingertips. This vast toolbox of resources allows for personalized educational opportunities. In addition, assessments can take the form of standard multiple-choice quizzes or creative projects that may be individualized for a particular student.
Flexibility
Another advantage to online learning is that the timing of assessments is more flexible. If a student needs to see a video again or reconnect with a primary source, they can do it. Once they have completed the lesson and feel they have adequately prepared, they can proceed with the assessment. Some students may find that they perform better in the morning or afternoon, or right after they’ve had the opportunity to review the material. For some assessments, they may even have the option of an additional attempt, depending on the setup. The focus of formative assessments in asynchronous courses is to ensure that students have the opportunity to learn the material at their own pace. The amount of time the actual assessment takes is usually flexible as well. In a brick-and-mortar class, there are often limits for how long a student may have to complete a quiz or test. This is usually quite adaptable in an online environment.
To be effective, feedback must be timely, specific, and consistent.
Feedback
One of the most effective tools in the teaching and learning process is feedback. From research on what most improves student achievement, feedback tops the list! To be effective, feedback must be timely, specific, and consistently provided throughout the learning process (Marzano, 2003). Online instruction excels in this area. The combination of self-graded and auto-graded activities, in addition to specific, individualized feedback from teachers on more in-depth material, provide consistent and varied feedback for students. This is one of the most powerful teaching tools in online instruction.
Motivation
Assessments give students an accurate sense of where they are in the course, providing the motivation to accomplish their goals for the week, unit, month, and semester. By seeing the course and unit goals up front, students clearly understand what they are supposed to learn in the course and are more likely to focus on the essential elements of the material. Since they are learning at their own pace, they are less likely to feel that learning is a function of putting in time in a classroom. The goal of engaging with the material is to learn what is required so that they can grasp necessary skills and concepts and be able to pass the upcoming assessment.
Since they are learning at their own pace, students are less likely to feel that learning is a function of putting time in a classroom.
Authenticity
Administrators and parents often ask “what if” questions regarding the authenticity of students’ work in the online environment: What if the student cheats? What if the student has someone else do their work? Quality online programs can prevent this from happening in several ways.
1) The course provides opportunities for the teacher to get to know the student. Through various types of assignments and assessments, the teacher should soon be able to identify the content and quality of an individual student’s work.
2) By making it known early on that the student will have their final exam or project proctored by a parent or teacher, it should be clear that they cannot skip through formative assessments with lower point values and still pass the higher stakes summative assessments when proctored.
3) Teachers reserve the right to spot-check any work. If there is any concern that a student received inappropriate assistance, either from a person or AI tools on the computer, the teacher will request an interview with the student and evaluate their knowledge during a virtual meeting. If the student fails to express their learning adequately, they will be graded accordingly and concerns about plagiarism may be raised.
Reference
Marzano, Robert, J. What works in schools: Translating research into action. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 2003.
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