Goal 6.1: Assessment in the online course

Assessment

Evaluation is a process that develops throughout a course as a whole. Part of this final evaluation consists in smaller and specific chunks of revision known as assessment. When taking a course, we are always assessed in different ways: speaking, writing, listening, reading, speaking and grammar are the most common features of a language that  are assessed during the language course, and each one of them can be broken down into even smaller parts to deliver detailed feedback to the student. The reason why sometimes this is not clear to the student is because “assessment is instructor directed. It depends on the knowledge and professional experience of the instructor to determine who and what needs to be assessed” (Dooley, 2003) Therefore, only the teacher has overall control over this.

 The duty of assessing and developing the assessment tools as well as criteria depends on the person in charge of the class been given. Nevertheless, the result of this evaluation, on the other hand, is of use to both this person and the student since “feedback can also be provided to the learners on how they can improve learning” (Dooley, 2003) and this feedback is a tool that tells the student his flaws and virtues in the topic regarded. Added to this, “assessment builds on existing best practices by making it more systematic and more effective” (Dooley, 2003) this is seen the picture in a less ambiguous way, being able to organize and give a value to a series of items presented within each topic. Of course, this “assessment must be tailored to meet the needs of the learners” (Dooley, 2003) and not what the teacher expects. The assessment tools must be developed for each course individually because the context varies from one moment to the other. If it is expected for the assessment frame of one semester to work in another, we would most likely also find that the class is having difficulties with the way they are been graded.

Difficulties to assess an online course

Assessing a course where there is little to no face to face interaction is complicated. Knowing the teacher or the students results almost impossible because there is no time to have a friendly conversation with the classmates or instructor.  Therefore, with whichever resources available, the online course must be developed under a regimen of strict organization. Commonly, the best known feature of an online course are its deadlines, perhaps not always liked, but effective. One thing to remember as an instructor is “if you set a deadline for an assignment, make sure you respect that deadline” (Porter, 2004) Not allowing the last suggestion to become naturalized in the students will result in the class not turning in assignments in due time, which will lead to other circumstances: delayed assessment, and therefore, delayed feedback and delayed improvement in future tasks.

The main goal of assessing the online course is to “provide feedback and post grades within the time frame (…) established” (Porter, 2004) The student must feel the instructor of such class is also engaged with the learning process. Often, students saying the teacher is never there, or that he grades as he pleases regardless of their effort is commonly heard in the school isles, and such fame makes the online course undesirable. Therefore “you should post your grading criteria, preferably in the syllabus or course description” [sic] (Porter, 2004) This way both teacher an learner have relay on at the moment feedback is given/received.

Another thing is that “no matter what type of assignment, comment on the overall effectiveness of the learner’s performance, highlight the most successful areas, and guide the learner toward improving weak areas” [sic] (Porter, 2004) To some students, even the tiniest task can be significant. It all depends on each person’s capabilities. If the teacher is absent, the student can feel his effort is meaningless.

Added to this, “because more online learners tend to work at least one job, have family responsibilities, and take one or more online courses at a time, their time is limited” (Porter, 2004) and this is where some flexibility in the system can take place. The online course cannot be assessed blind-folded to the students’ reality, which sometimes does happen. Regardless of the learners coming from, some instructors believe in an “all or nothing” philosophy, becoming poorly accessible. Beyond the personal problems this may cause, the final evaluation will also be unreliable because it did not suffice the students’ needs.

Suggestion to assess an online course

            I believe that to develop an assessment-friendly environment both teacher and students must be engaged with the class, and of course, show that engagement. Like mentioned before, the syllabus and assessment guidelines must be presented from the beginning of the course, and not only that, but also be discussed between learners and instructor to reach an agreement about the evaluation process. Additionally, this assessment tool, preferably a rubric, must be detailed. It should not only display something like the following:

Essay 1: 20%

Essay 2: 20%

Essay 3: 20%

Essay 4: 20%

Reflection: 20%

            This kind of rubric is far too ambiguous and meaningless. If the student is not comfortable with his grade, this kind of “rubric” will be useless. In its place, a chart containing specifics to each essay should be placed. For example:

Essay 1: 20%

            Grammar: 2.5%

            Coherence: 2.5%

            Cohesion: 2.5%

            Format: 2.5%

Focus on topic: 5%

Development of personal ideas: 5%

Handing out a detailed assessment tool says a lot about the teacher because this tool must be consistent with the feedback given, this is each item presented above should have its individual grade and feedback. Perhaps this is the reason why many instructors prefer to give a tool like the first one instead; they avoid having to grade in a detailed way for each student, and this is something that should be avoided.

Overall, the online instructor should be someone who likes to work on a platform and is willing to fulfill their role. Deadlines and assessment tools should be respected, and through communication, there should be flexibility if any problems occur during the course.

Bibliografía

Dooley, L. D. (2003). Advanced Methods in Distance Education: Applications and practices for educators, administrators and learners. Texas: INFOSCI.

Porter. (2004). Developing an Online Curriculum. London: Information science publishing.