Online Assessment Design and Grading

Types of Online Assessments

The world of online learning offers many ways of assessing learner knowledge. The digital revolution gave rise to wikis, blogs, textual, audio and video discussion boards, chats, group spaces, and a myriad of other tools suitable for student communication, learning, and evaluation. It is needless to say that you can convert your face-to-face assessment to online format effortlessly and expand on them as well.

The first decision is what type of assessment you would like to implement. While there are several types of assessments, the most popular models are formative and summative.

Formative assessment requires that the instructor monitors student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. In contrast, summative assessment focuses on evaluating student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Both approaches to assessment have their place in your online course, and it is an excellent approach to practice a mix of both.

Examples of formative assessments include:

• Discussion boards, blogs, wikis, chat
• Quizzes
• Case studies

Examples of summative assessments include:

• Midterms/Final examinations
• Portfolios
• Presentations

Examples of both formative and summative assessments include:

• Case studies
• Papers
• Projects
• Simulation/Animation/Virtual Lab/Game
• Reflective journals

Learn more about each example and how to implement it in your online classroom.

Sources: Types of Online Assessments, Guidelines For Developing Good Online Assessments

Open-Note/Open-Book Exam Strategies

Open-note/open-book exams are recommended for a number of reasons. In an online learning environment, it is difficult to ensure that students do not consult outside materials while taking an exam. Often this leads to the use of inconvenient and costly proctoring services.

Learn more about Open-Note/Open-Book Exam Strategies.

Alternatives to Exams and Exam Proctoring

One of the common questions for faculty making the move to remote learning is how to uphold academic integrity on student assessments. While online proctoring services do exist, such services are often expensive, controversial, and inconvenient for students.

Learn more about Alternatives to Exams and Exam Proctoring to Encourage Student Learning

Assessment Design

Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)

The TILT is an award-winning national educational development and research project that helps faculty to implement a transparent teaching framework that promotes college students' success. The TILT model was designed and developed at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and has been applied and adapted at a variety of campuses to fit teaching and learning goals. Why should you consider TILT a priority in your teaching (face-to-face, online, or hybrid)? 

• Transparent teaching methods help students understand how and why they are learning course content in particular ways.
• TILT is a small and easy teaching strategy that has a big impact on student learning.
• TILT promotes equitable pathways for learning among diverse students, often based on the use of lived experiences and cultural knowledge to frame instruction.
• TILT promotes empathy and critical thinking skills as students learn to value different perspectives.

The following examples can serve as a starting point for faculty interested in making their assignments more transparent:

• Sample Assignment - Dr. Clint Pinion
• Sample Assignment & Rubric - Dr. Travis Martin
• Sample Assignments & Rubrics Dr. Shirley O’Brien
  • OTS 863
  • OTS 865
  • OTS 895
• Please email noelstudio@eku.edu for access to
  • The Transparent Assignment Checklist
  • Step-by-Step Guide, and 
  • Additional samples from EKU’s TILT PLCs and workshops.

Grading 

Grading student work in an online environment almost always includes providing timely and meaningful feedback using clear and concise language.

Because online learners must budget their time carefully, your timely feedback is especially valuable to them. Without it, they are often unable to make further progress on their work, and it may hamper their academic success. We recommend that you always provide feedback within a previously determined period because this will directly impact their next assignment. For example, a good rule of thumb for providing feedback on the discussion boards is three days, and up to seven days for written assignments.

Meaningful feedback is more than simply telling your students "great job" or "needs improvement." This does not give them the information they need to succeed in your course, and they almost always need more specifics. What was it that made the work good? What needs more work, and how can they improve the quality of their work?

One tool that can help with providing concise and meaningful feedback is a rubric. Rubrics are essential components of your online course and will help you with feedback that students can use to improve their work and encourage critical thinking. To help you with the construction of your rubrics, please review the provided resources below:

• Designing rubrics in Blackboard (interactive), IDC
• Utilizing Rubrics (video), Chris Daniel, IDC
• Introduction to Rubrics, (video), Dr. Nedim Slijepcevic, IDC
• The Benefits of Rubrics in Online Classes, Wiley Education Services

Adapted from John A. Dutton e-Education Institute's Best Practices and Expectations for Online Teaching.