ePortfolio assignment #4: Assessment Tools

A Reflection of my ASSESSMENT assignment in MOODLE….

This learning activity has been a highly frustrating and challenging experience but has lead to significant learning and Moodle confidence. Considering that I am a self-admitting Moodle newbie I think I have managed a decent first assessment effort! I created this online assessment using True-False, Multiple Choice, Matching, Short Answer and Essay style questions for the first Module (Using Word Processors educationally) in my course on “Integrating ICT”.

See it here:  http://moodle.met.ubc.ca/mod/quiz/view.php?id=7099

Although sometimes I find it useful to create the assessment before the learning activities, in this case I did them simultaneously. This ensured that I had good coverage of what they would be learning. I also did my best to concurrently reflect on the list of conditions that Gibbs and Simpson describe in Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students’ Learning (2004). I will outline my efforts and rationale for how I will address these –particularly in Module 1 of my Moodle-conditions below:

• Sufficient assessed tasks are provided for students to capture sufficient study time

The MS Word Quiz in Module 1 of the “Integrating ICT” course takes into account all aspects of the Module and focuses on content and skills that they will have developed through participation in the course.

• These tasks are engaged with by students, orienting them to allocate appropriate amounts of time and effort to the most important aspects of the course.

The learners must engage with the assessment activity and the more detailed and skills based questions are weighted more heavily. Many of the questions are also designed to reactivate and merge prior skills and knowledge.

• Tackling the assessed task engages students in productive learning activity of an appropriate kind.

The assessment quiz enables the learners to recall information that they learned about MS Word but more importantly they have the opportunity to apply what they have learned to an authentic task. This quiz promotes active learning strategies by providing opportunities for practising thereby consolidating learning.

• Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail

Feedback is provided immediately to students to both guide them in the right direction if they were incorrect and to congratulate them (and provide additional information) on correct responses. In addition the instructor will provide formal feedback on the short answer and essay questions once the quiz is submitted.

• The feedback focuses on students’ performance, on their learning and on actions under the students’ control, rather than on the students themselves and on their characteristics

The feedback is directly related to the performance on the assessment activity. The instructor will provide a ‘feedback sandwich’ that includes (WWW) What went well, (MBI) Must be improved and (EBI) Even better if.

• The feedback is timely in that it is received by students while it still matters to them and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further assistance.

Feedback from the multiple choice, matching and true and false questions is immediate. The feedback for the short answer and essay questions will be a 24-48 hour turn-around- ideally.

• Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its criteria for success.

The immediate feedback will correct mistakes and expand understanding through clear explanations. The individual feedback will encourage further learning and reflection.

• Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students’ understanding of what they are supposed to be doing.

Because the assessment activities are directly related to the activities in the module the students will have experience in the context. They will know what to do because they have been set up to succeed (provided they completed all parts of the module).

• Feedback is received and attended to

Feedback must be read by the students in order to know what they need to do next time (feedback sandwich). Especially since the majority of the modules follow a similar format the instructor will remind students of this and encourage them to engage with their feedback. This can instill a sense of accomplishment for each individual student.

• Feedback is acted upon by the student

Since the students are aware of their next steps (from #9) they will be able to make necessary changes to improve on their next assessment activity. This promotes self-evaluation and encourages students to examine their progress.

Troubleshooting and Discoveries: Let me count the ways….

1. Learning by doing has become my motto. Because the interface is fairly intuitive I decided to give it a go and then seek assistance as needed. I accessed the online book and a variety of helpful online resources in my quest to create a valid assessment tool.

2. Although I asked a question in the Moodle forum, it was unanswered. I can appreciate that everyone is flat-out like me, or perhaps unable to answer the question. This left me not feeling that the forum was the best place to go to get questions answered when you need answers NOW!

3. I discovered that if I persevered I usually got it right. I explored all of the assessment tools in the LMS and am very excited about the potential uses this online platform has for my context in Abu Dhabi next school year.

4. I have had heaps of connectivity issues since I returned to Abu Dhabi. Since they put in the new fibre optic cabling we have had problems and have been without now over a week. I am ‘borrowing’ my neighbours connection (we all work for same company and have same access code in our building) but it gives out for no reason every so often- usually when I am in the middle of doing something!

5.Trying to do do 3 multiple choice, 3 matching, 2 short answer and 2 essay questions with a total of 10 questions for 15 marks was really a difficult task. I ended up with 3 multiple choice (3 marks), 2 short answer (4 marks), 2 essay (8 marks), 2 true-false (2 marks) and 1 matching question (worth 3 marks) for a total of 20 marks. I felt this was more suitable for this particular Quiz.

6. There I was, editing the quiz and all of a sudden, I no longer have editing rights because someone has attempted the quiz. What to do? Tweak, tweak, fiddle, fiddle and Presto- remove the attempt and rights returned. Sigh of relief!

7.It was infuriating me when I couldn’t remember where I selected 10 questions per page since I now wanted to change it to one per page (after perusing some of my classmates quizzes and deciding it looked better with one question per page). I finally discovered that by going back to the main page and selecting edit from there I could change 10 per page to 1 per page. However, when I preview it there are still 10 questions per page- what can I do?

8.I was concerned about the openness of my feedback as Jenkins (2004) articulated the importance of this and of communicating clearly for formative assessment. Also as Gibbs and Simpson (2004) discuss, I was concerned about the considerable time that good feedback can take and how important it is that the feedback is delivered in a timely fashion (including what went well and what needs to be improved) to be meaningful to the learner. I suppose each individual instructor decides how timely they will be in delivering their feedback, and I will endeavour to have a 48hour turn-around.

Overall, this process of developing an online assessment task in an LMS has been a highly rewarding experience with a great deal of problem solving involved. I look forward to developing my skills (and speed) on the future assessment tasks in my other modules. Wish me luck!

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2005). “Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.” Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Accessed online 11 March 2009 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. Accessed online 17 March 2009