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Editor's Note: Assessment is a flash point and catalyst for controversy - focused not only on Distance Learning versus Face to Face classes but also acceptance of materials by which student mastery is judged. Dr. Muirhead provides us with insightful research in assessment of assessment.

Relevant Assessment Strategies for
Online Colleges & Universities

Brent Muirhead D.Min., Ph.D.

Introduction

It is important for teachers to have a clear vision of their roles and responsibilities to provide the best teaching strategies for their students. The instructor’s role is a dynamic one that requires having individuals who are able to create a virtual climate that encourages meaningful individual and collaborative learning. Assessment is an important element in the teaching and learning process that challenges instructors to consider evaluation techniques that meet the learning needs of today’s adult learners.

Importance of Assessment

The teacher’s assessment strategies are significant because they provide a relational prompt for students and insights into the educational process. Evaluating the teaching and learning process involves a host of activities such as creating course objectives, gathering data from a variety of sources and often assigning grades for student work. Hopefully, relevant assessment methodology should accurately inform both the teacher and student about the quality of the learning experiences.

A holistic view of evaluation will consider it as a vital part of the entire teaching and learning process. Adult learning should be evaluated to help individuals learn of their strengths and academic deficiencies that can be corrected during and after a course or seminar. The student should be given information on the quality of their work to have accurate view of their learning. Additionally, the student should be given specific suggestions on how to improve their academic performance.

The process of assessment involves gathering information from a variety of sources to cultivate a rich and meaningful understanding of student learning. A primary aim of assessment is provide the necessary information to improve future educational experiences. Yet, it is vital that the assessment data be accurate and relevant to effectively make informed decisions about the curriculum. It requires taking the time to ask relevant questions that help evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategies and curriculum plans (Huba & Freed 2000).

Vella, Berardinelli & Burrow (1998) relate that an important purpose of evaluation is “to determine if all of the learners developed important knowledge, skills, and attitudes as a result of the program (p. 16).” This highlights that the evaluation of adult learning has a variety of instructional purposes and impacts various stakeholders who are interested in the educational process. Appropriate assessment instruments can offer valuable information to teachers, students and administrators. Ultimately, evaluation is important to the educational process because it provides feedback on whether the course and learning objectives have been achieved to satisfactory level.

Student-Centered Assessment Philosophy

A relevant approach to assessing adult learners supports a student centered educational philosophy. The focus involves helping individuals become more self-directed in their learning plans and activities. This is a situational goal that requires assessment procedures that acknowledges their needs, gifts and talents. Teachers must recognize that adults are autonomous learners who have varying degrees of independence in their study habits and desire relevance in the evaluation of their assignments (Caffarella, 1993).

The student-centered model of learning encourages teachers to view their students as academic partners who work together to produce relevant and meaningful learning experiences. It requires professors who are willing to change their standard teaching methods. Boud (1995) related “they will need to become researchers of student perceptions, designers of multifaceted assessment strategies, managers of assessment processes and consultants assisting students in the interpretation of rich information about their learning” (p. 42).

Huba & Freed (2000, p. 33) have noted eight features that are considered the hallmark of learner-centered teaching: 

• Learners are actively involved and receive feedback.
• Learners apply knowledge to enduring and emerging issues and problems.
• Learners integrate discipline-based knowledge and general skills.
• Learners understand the characteristics of excellent work.
• Learners become increasingly sophisticated learners and knowers.
• Professors coach and facilitate, intertwining teaching and assessing.
• Professors reveal they are learners, too.
• Learning is interpersonal, and all learners---students and professors ---are respected and valued.

Assessment philosophy and practices must affirm that adult learners do vary in their needs due to such factors as having different cognitive experiences and educational backgrounds. Therefore, it is important that learning should be more individualized and offer significant connections to their personal and professional lives. Assessment procedures need to foster a meaningful bridge between academic knowledge, skills and experiences of the classroom to the student’s daily job. Teachers are challenged to create evaluations that reflect respect for adult learners’ experiences while promoting growth (Collison, Elbaum, Haavind & Tinker, 2000).

The advent of alternative assessments has come as the result of various educators who have been frustrated with the limitations of the conventional evaluation methods (Sanders, 2001). It is interesting that more traditional educators are using alternative assessment methods. There are two major differences between the traditional educator and those who use alternative assessment. The first is that the traditional educator is more dependent upon on fewer assignments to evaluate student performance. The traditional teacher will stress tests and term papers as their main resources for assessing student work. In contrast, teachers who use alternative assessment procedures will use a variety of assignments that might include portfolios, Power Point presentations, book reviews and interviews of study participants (Travis, 1996).

Alternative Assessments

Alternative assessment methods are promoted as a way to encourage authentic learning. Students are given a diversity of learning opportunities to display critical thinking skills, greater depth of knowledge, connect learning to their daily lives, develop a deeper dialog over the course material and foster both individual and group oriented learning activities. Alternative assessments offer teachers new perspectives on student learning such as insights to their individual learning styles. Yet, teachers have reported that alternative evaluation methods require large amounts of time to develop and integrate into the curriculum. It is wise to create a plan that alleviates the grading of student work by limiting the number and size of projects (Robinson, 1995).

Alternative assessment projects can encourage reflective thinking and self-directed learning activities involving the personal construction of knowledge. Students are taught to be knowledge creator’s not just receivers of information. Teachers can promote higher order thinking skills by having evaluation procedures that allow students to vary their responses to questions (Davies, 1999). It is important that teachers communicate their evaluation criteria to their students to eliminate confusion over project expectations. It is essential that teachers provide clear criteria that supports high academic standards and brings consistency to the grading process. For instance, history teachers will need to create a rubric that will assess student knowledge and skills within that academic discipline (Drake, 2001).

Grading Rubric

The grading rubric represents an affirmation of learner-centered education. It is a public statement that strives to establish a greater level of trust between the teacher and student. It rejects the notion that grading is a special secret activity that only some of the learners can understand the instructor’s actual grading procedures. Secondly, it is designed to establish a set of instructional expectations and standards for the course. A rubric provides an instrument for student feedback that promotes assessment of learning. A good rubric will reveal valuable data on how the student’s work compares to the course standards. Rubrics are significant because of their capacity to clearly reveal vital information to students that enable them to improve their knowledge and skill levels (Huba & Freed 2000).

Rubrics have the potential to be excellent assessment tools because they offer students a vision of what the teacher is seeking to accomplish in the class and why it is important. A rubric can indicate whether students will be expected to explore knowledge beyond the assigned textbooks. Students need to know the skills and knowledge expertise that are expected within a course. Therefore, students want to have an accurate understanding what is considered good performance. Teachers can use a rubric to demonstrate how a particular set of skills and knowledge will compare with class objectives, educated individuals and even within a professional field or academic discipline. Students appreciate that the information they are learning are truly valued in their field of work and not just a preference of an individual teacher. In fact, some teachers will invite students to provide their thoughts on a rubric before it is finalized to insure that the rubric is relevant to their students (Huba & Freed 2000).

The use of rubrics is one way to help promote effective evaluation procedures that reduces subjective grading procedures and offer student relevant information on their academic performance. Huba & Freed (2000) have outlined five key elements for creating a rubric: 

1. levels of mastery- achievement is described according to terms such as excellent, good, needs improvement and unacceptable.
2. dimensions of quality- assessment can address a variety of intellectual or knowledge competencies that target a specific academic discipline or involve multiple disciplines.
3. organizational groupings- students are assessed for multidimensional skills such as teamwork that involves problem solving techniques and various aspects of group dynamics.
4. commentaries- this element of the rubric provides a detailed description of the defining features that should be found in the work. The instructor creates the categories for what is considered as being excellent, sophisticated or exemplary.
5. descriptions of consequences-this is a unique rubric feature that offers students insight into various lessons of their work in a real life setting (i.e. professionalism).

The five rubric elements offer trainers and educators rich categories to develop their evaluation procedures to fit their student population and various academic disciplines.

Alternative Assessment Methods: Journal Writing

Reflective journals are an excellent way to evaluate student learning.  Journal writing can be an effective way to gather insights into student attitudes and a practical format to enhance student-teacher communication (Robinson, 1995). The journal writing assignments can be structured to address the primary course learning objectives. At the University of Phoenix, online doctoral students integrate journal writing in their Doctor of Management degree program. The students can use their journals to meet a variety of learning needs such as reflecting on research studies that are important to their dissertation. Muirhead (2001) shares seven major advantages to journal writing:

• Provides an aid to our memory- researchers and writers have learned the value of recording their ideas for future use.
• Provide a basis for creating new perspectives- it creates a framework to explore relationships and arguments between ideas.
• Enhances critical thinking skills- learning to analyze the underlying assumptions of our actions and those of others is a very liberating process.
• Provides psychological/emotional advantages- it enables individuals to work through difficult work or personal situations that can promote healing and growth.
• Offers opportunities to increase empathy for others- individuals can address social issues and enhance their understanding of our society and world.
• Provides a way to practical way to understand books/articles- writing creates a format to regularly examine reading materials and improve our ability to comprehend and recall knowledge.
• Provides support for self-directed learning activities- journal writing requires personal discipline and establishing individual learning goals to complete journaling assignments.

Teachers can use journal writing in a variety of academic disciplines as a creative way to enrich their instructional activities. It is essential that teachers provide timely and constructive feedback to help students have the time to make the necessary changes in their work before turning in their next assignment.

Conclusion

The student-centered learning model challenges teachers to carefully use descriptive language in their written and verbal comments to their students. Teachers must develop dialogues with their students that foster personal and professional growth. Obviously, the language of assessment must be caring and honest while providing constructive feedback that helps the learner have a clear picture of their academic work.

Critics of alternative assessments raise legitimate concerns about excessive administrative time to prepare and grade assignments. Yet, alternative assessments offer teachers unique opportunities to create relevant work that promotes academic achievement and individualizes the educational process. It is important to help new and veteran teachers become more familiar with alternative assessments through classes, workshops and other professional development activities (Liebers, 1999).

References

Boud, D. (1995). Assessment and learning: Contradictory or complimentary? In P. Knight (Ed.) Assessment for learning in higher education (pp. 35-48). London: Kogan Page.

Caffarella, R. S. (1993). Self-directed learning. In S. B. Merriam (Ed. ). An update on adult learning theory. New directions for adult and continuing education, 57, 25-35. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Campbell, D. (2000). Authentic assessment and authentic standards. Phi Delta Kappan, 81 (5). 405-408.

Collison, G. Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning:
Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

Davies, M., Wavering, M. (1999). Alternative assessment: New directions in teaching and learning. Contemporary Education, 71 (1), 39-45.

Drake, Frederick (2001). Eric digest: Improving the teaching and learning of history through alternative assessments. Teacher Librarian, 28 (3), 32-35.

Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Liebers, C. S., (1999). Journals and portfolios: Alternative assessment for preservice teachers. Teaching Children Mathematics, 6 (3), 164-169.

Muirhead, B. (2001). Learning leadership journal: Handout. Doctor of Management Class, DOC 791. University of Phoenix Online, Phoenix, Arizona.

Palloff, R. N. & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realities of online teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Robinson, M. (1995). Alternative assessment techniques for teachers. Music Education Journal, 81 (5), 28-34.

Sanders, L. R. (2001). Improving assessment in university classrooms. College Teaching, 49 (2), 62-64.

Travis, J. E. (1996). Meaningful assessment. Clearing House, 69 (5), 308-312.

Vella, Berardinelli & Burrow (1998). How do they know they know: Evaluating adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

About the Author:

  Brent Muirhead has a BA in social work, master's degrees in religious education, history, and administration, and doctoral degrees in Education (D.Min. and Ph.D.). His Ph.D. degree is from Capella University, a distance education school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr. Muirhead is area chair and teaches a variety of courses for the MAED program in curriculum and technology for the University of Phoenix Online (UOP). He also trains and mentors faculty candidates, conducts peer reviews of veteran faculty members, and teaches graduate research courses in the new UOP Doctor of Management program. He may be reached via email: bmuirhead@email.uophx.edu