Creating a computer assisted assessment in Moodle required some thought and planning. I quickly noticed I would have to:
- Learn how to create the assessment in Moodle
- Learn the affordances of the assessment tool in Moodle
- Construct a formative assessment which would be useful to students
- Keep Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles
- Pay attention to Gibbs & Simpson (2005) Conditions
- Pay attention to Jenkins (2004) Unfulfilled Promises
Creating the Assessment and Learning the Affordances
Learning how to create the assessment, and then taking a look at what the assessment tool afforded took the least amount of the time in this task. I got into my Moodle site, added a quiz activity to my module, read all the options, and got to work, finding it not difficult at all. Moodle’s assessment tool allows immediate feedback, which fits Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) fourth principle: Gives prompt feedback; allows multiple attempts, which fits Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) third principle: Uses active learning techniques, and sixth principle: communicated high expectations; and contains a variety of question types, somewhat fitting Chickering & Gamson’s (1987) seventh principle: Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
A Formative Assessment
Gibbs & Simpson (2005, pp 11-12) list the following effects of formative assessment:
- Reactivating or consolidating prerequisite skills or knowledge prior to introducing the new material
- Focusing attention on important aspects of the subject
- Encouraging active learning strategies
- Giving students opportunities to practice skills and consolidate learning
- Providing knowledge of results and corrective feedback
- Helping students to monitor their own progress and develop skills of self-evaluation
- Guiding the choice of further instructional or learning activities to increase mastery
- Helping students to feel a sense of accomplishment.
The modules I have started to construct are for Computer Aided Drafting and Design 11, a skills and knowledge based course which is primarily problem based and with students’ learning traditionally measured by the quality and accuracy of their CAD drawing. As I need students to be sure they have developed the skills and built the knowledge of the unit before they start to apply them by tackling the Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) problems in the unit assignment, I decided a formative assessment would be the best use of Moodle’s quiz tool. Gibbs & Simpson’s (2005) list shows a formative assessment should provide exactly what I need! As well, Jenkins (2004) warns that computer aided assessment (CAA) is not the panacea it was once seen, but using CAA as a formative assessment has resulted in improved student performance.
The quiz is an attempt to ensure the students have constructed the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the unit assignment. I spend a lot of time with students who have not mastered the vocabulary or the knowledge needed to solve the CAD problems but are attempting the assignment anyway. An activity which has the affordance for students to self measure their capabilities and is required before the assignment is released to them should result in more quality time on task for students, and fewer questions on using the software from the students.
Maurice
Oct 2012
References
Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39 (7), 3-7. Retrieved from wwwtemp.lonestar.edu/multimedia/SevenPrinciples.pdf
Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Retrieved from 2012 http://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf
Jenkins, M. (2004). Unfulfilled Promise: formative assessment using computer-aided assessment. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, i, 67-80. Retrieved from http://www.glos.ac.uk/shareddata/dms/2B72C8E5BCD42A03907A9E170D68CE25.pdf