Summative Assessment
The summative assessment assignment is used by instructors when it is necessary to grade the students’ work at the end of the course in order to conclude about the outcomes of the learning and completion of the previously set objectives. The proposed summative assessment assignment should be presented in the form of the online lesson that includes such activities and assessment approaches as the online examination with the help of the Blackboard resources (Gayton & McEwan, 2007, p. 118). From this point the summative assessment in the form of a lesson is expected to include the following elements:
- Topic: Types of Assessments in Elementary Education
- Objectives: Students will use their knowledge on different types of assessments in elementary education while answering the examination questions and resolving the proposed tasks.
- Materials: Blackboard tools for examination; rubrics.
- Introductory Part: The instructor provides online guidelines for completing the examination and rubrics according to which the examination will be assessed.
- Main Assessment Activity: Students complete the online examination including tests, short answer questions, and essay questions with the help of Blackboard. The examination can be taken only once (90 minutes).
- Assessment: Having checked the examination, the instructor sends the filled in rubrics and the attached feedback on the students’ progress and final grade to the students.
The proposed description of the short lesson plan is typical and basic to use in the online environments in order to assess the students’ progress and achievements with the help of the summative assessment. The assignment is summative in nature because it is the online complex examination including tests, short answer questions, and essay questions that aims to assess the students’ learning related to the whole course, and the final grade for the course is determined basing on the grade received for this assignment (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004). Furthermore, the proposed lesson is expected to be beneficial to students because the online assessment with the help of Blackboard tools allows students to demonstrate their knowledge in terms of answering different types of questions, without having an opportunity to use outside sources because of the limited time.
The assignment can measure the students’ progress in applying the knowledge on assessment types to resolving the proposed tasks and answering different test questions as well as essay and short answer questions. As a result, the students can demonstrate how they select types of assessments for using them in different situations. The proposed rubrics include the information on the number of points assigned for each task and on the expected quality of the proposed answers (ranging from “Excellent” – 100 points to “Fail” – 20 points). The rubrics with the attached instructor’s feedback on the students’ progress and rationale for stated points are also an effective assessment tool to provide the students with the information on their strengths and weaknesses in completing the unit of the course.
Focusing on the overall effectiveness of the proposed assessment, it is possible to state that the benefits to students are in opportunities to apply their knowledge while addressing different questions and resolving various tasks during one assessment session. As a result, the instructor and the faculty can conclude about the overall progress of the student in achieving the set goals (Boud & Falchikov, 2007, p. 400). Challenges associated with creating the lesson include the development of clear instructions for navigating the assessment by students. To predict further challenges in completing the examination, the instructor should develop and provide instructions for the students in advance to check their understanding of the assessment. In this context, such online technologies as additional video instructions and displayed guidelines can be used in order to overcome these challenges.
Assessment Planning
Theory
In their work, Palloff and Pratt (2009) propose several principles and concepts to determine and develop the effective online assessment. According to the authors, the effective online assessments are learner-centered, and they include the element of the self-reflection in comparison with the traditional assessments. Furthermore, the instructor is expected to propose the grading rubrics for all types of assignments and projects. Online assessments can also be collaborative in the nature to promote the students’ interactions through posting ideas and commenting on them (Palloff & Pratt, 2009, p. 102). In addition, assessments should be effective to help students in providing feedback. Such basic principles as alignment of assessments with learning objectives and clarity of assessments are also important along with the focus on the students’ input in developing the assessments (Palloff & Pratt, 2009, p. 102). These concepts are important to be implemented and followed while designing the online assessments because of the effectiveness of the proposed principles for motivating students and stimulating their achievements.
Thus, the focus on self-reflection is necessary to make the online learning meaningful for the student. Grading rubrics are important to set clear goals for students when they plan completing certain tasks. Collaboration is an important element of the traditional learning, and this factor needs to be addressed with the help of online assessments. Students should also be stimulated to provide feedback regarding the work of each other (Palloff & Pratt, 2009, p. 102). As a result, the proposed concepts are critical to make the assessment effective and stimulating the students’ further learning.
Practice
Table 1 demonstrates the assessment plan for the 100-level undergraduate course in English Writing.
Table 1. Assessment Plan for the English Writing Course (1 semester).
Such assessment types as wikis are selected because of their importance to promote collaboration in the online class. The course in English writing also requires the online submission of written assignments that can be checked by the instructor with the help of the rubrics that should be provided to the students in advance (Oosterhof, Conrad, & Ely, 2008). The online knowledge survey is important to be used during the first weeks of the course in order to determine the level of the students’ confidence regarding their preparation to start the course. The similar survey should also be provided during the latest weeks of the semester (Palloff & Pratt, 2009). Self-Assessment is important for students to monitor their everyday progress. These data are also important to for the faculty to propose possible corrections for the plan depending on the students’ posts. Peer Assessment should also be used during the online courses in order to guarantee that students promote their communication to learn from each other. Online opinion polls are important to be also integrated in the assessment strategy in order to guarantee that students have the opportunity to share their ideas on the character of assignments and comment on the other students’ positions.
Formative Assessment and Section VIII: Technology
Modern online technologies used for the assessment assignments are effective enough to align objectives and assessments in order to control the students’ learning. Different types of technologies are usually used for creating a formative assessment. These technologies include blogs, wikis, rubrics, and collaborative learning techniques (Herrington, Oliver, & Reeves, 2003, p. 60). The selection of the appropriate technology for the development of the assessment assignment significantly depends on the objective and purpose of the online lesson. From this point, such technologies as wikis are more appropriate to be used for assessing the students’ personal progress, when such online technologies as rubrics are actively used by instructors in order to assess assignments (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004; Palloff & Pratt, 2009). In order to control the progress of students within the online environments, formative assessments are of the great importance because they help students to control their progress in learning systematically.
Before starting the development of the assessment using the online technology, it is necessary to formulate the learning objective and focus on the performance that needs to be assessed with the help of the proposed assignment. In order to develop the formative assessment for the undergraduate course in English Writing, it is necessary to state the learning objective, determine the outcome, and select the assessment strategy among the available variants. Thus, if the expected outcome is the increase in the students’ awareness of their writing successes, it is reasonable to use blogging as the assessment of the students’ personal progress. The use of the blog allows focusing on the self-reflection regarding the success in completing specific assignments during the course (Gayton, & McEwan, 2007, p. 118). In the blog posts, a student is expected to discuss his or her progress in achieving the leaning outcomes.
While working at the blog, students receive the opportunity to integrate more materials in their work and to demonstrate their creativity. This form of the assessment is rather motivating for students because they often discuss the process of developing the blog as the creative experience, rather than the assessment (Palloff & Pratt, 2009). As a result, the level of stress for students decreases, when their motivation and focus on completing the high-quality work can increase.
Online blogs as a type of the formative assessment are important to help students reflect on their knowledge and skills and improve the English writing skills while writing informal blogs. One of the main advantages of using blogs for self-reflection is the possibility to upload new posts and thoughts at any time while using available devices with the Internet connection. These posts can be immediately viewed by peers, and they can comment on the read material (Herrington et al., 2003, p. 61). As a result, blogs are also important to promote the peer reflection in the online class.
The appropriate formative assessment to be used in the online English class should include the following components:
The Learning Objective
Students will demonstrate the effective use of blogging for reflecting on their progress in completing regular assignments in English writing.
Assessment
Blogs (online learning journals).
The Used Technology
WordPress.com
Description of the Assessment
WordPress.com is a web platform that can be used for creating blogs and websites by students and instructors for free. The instructor asks students from the online English writing class to register on the website and create their own blogs (Oosterhof et al., 2008). The instructor provides the link to the blog on WordPress.com including the step-by-step instructions and guidelines for the students on how to create their own blogs or online leaning journals (Palloff & Pratt, 2009). The blog created by the instructor also includes the rubrics for the students to evaluate their learning progress and self-reflection activities.
Students are required to follow the instructor’s guidelines and create their first blog posts on the topic indicated by the instructor in the guidelines. When the first blog posts are created, students post the links to them in the comments to the instructor’s introductory blog post. Once the links are provided, students from the class can comment on the posts of their peers. According to the rubrics and guidelines, students are required to create a post once a week, after receiving the grade on the previous week assignment. In these 500-word blogs, students are expected to reflect on their progress, received knowledge, and skills application. Students are expected to write on all thoughts that are associated with their work at the course assignments. Much attention should be paid to the personal reflection on strengths and weaknesses in completing the week assignment. Students can also add to their posts while responding to the other students’ postings.
Students’ blogs are evaluated according to the limited number of criteria because their purpose is to contribute to the students’ self-reflection activities. Thus, the instructor will assess the students’ blogging according to the following criteria:
- 10 points – The blog post demonstrates the student’s awareness of his or her strengths and weaknesses in completing the task as well as the complete analysis of the received grade and demonstrated success. The student responds to the comments provided by the other students to the post.
- 8 points – The blog post demonstrates the student’s awareness of his or her strengths and weaknesses in completing the task, but it lacks the analysis of the received grade and progress in learning the topic. The student responds only to few comments provided by the other students to the post.
- 0 points – The blog post is not written.
Example
References
Boud, D., & Falchikov, N. (2007) Aligning assessment with long-term learning. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(4), 399-413.
Gayton, J., & McEwan, B. (2007). Effective online instructional and assessment strategies. The American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 117–132.
Hanna, G. S., & Dettmer, P. A. (2004). Assessment for effective teaching: Using context-adaptive planning. Boston, MA: Pearson A&B.
Herrington, J., Oliver, R., & Reeves, T. (2003). Patterns of engagement in authentic online learning environments. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19(1), 59-71.
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R., & Ely., D. (2008). Assessing learners online. New York, NY: Pearson.
Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2009). Assessing the online learner: resources and strategies for faculty. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.