After having taken the "Test" to determine if I was a more teacher- or student-centered instructor, I learned that I am very student-centered. All but one of my responses to questions fell under the heading of student-centered. I am also bowled over by the Online Assessment Resources, which provide a wealth of assessment information, including authentic assessments and rubrics. As a composition instructor, I particularly liked Grant Wiggins's article "The Case for Authentic Assessment" and his assertion, "To improve student performance we must recognize that essential intellectual abilities are falling through the cracks of conventional testing" because he really hits the nail on the head in terms of the lack of purpose with current assessment tools. If we want to prepare students to be successful once they finish their classes, we must assess them in ways that are meaningful. I found a couple of interesting tools at the Learning Object Repository that I can see trying out in my classes. For my developmental composition courses, I can definitely see using the Identifying Incorrect Sentences lesson. It would allow students an opportunity to review run-ons, comma splices and fragments and move at their own pace while they work through the video. Likewise, the Summary Writing lesson would also be helpful in all levels of composition. As a way to solidify the importance of summary for developmental students and understand what they've read, summary plays a major role far beyond the composition classroom. Transfer-level students could also benefit from the activity as they review the significance of summary in presenting research and others' ideas to their readers.
The more I read, the more I realize how much great information is out there. I will always be a student since there is just so much to continually learn.
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The course started off with a bang the first week. There was so much great information about various types of assessments, and it was a great foundation for the coming weeks. Being able to differentiate between formative and summative assessments and also read about the "antiquated" nature of assessment in United States schools was very interesting. Beyond the reading, I feel as if the class is made up of amazing students. What an interesting array of people from classroom teachers (at various levels) to educational administrators, to those in other fields altogether. I love being able to gain feedback from such a broad spectrum of professionals. The ice-breaker activity was fun in that we had to interview a classmate, and I was thrilled to connect with Kate Carbaugh, who lives in McConnellsburg (Southern Pennsylvania) with her husband, son, daughter, and dog. Kate teaches at a middle school that is housed in a high school. She is just beginning the E-Learning certificate program, and Kate hopes that this class will help her improve and align assessments with best practices in her English, reading, and internet literacy classes. Like Kate, I, too, hope that this class will provide me with more meaningful assessment tools so that my composition students (both online and face-to-face) will gain the most from their time in my classes.
Here is a link to our class wiki, which we participated in the first week as well. It was a fun activity, and one that I could see using in a class too since it gives the students a feeling of being more actively involved in the class from the start. |
Lisa FitzgeraldHi, my name is Lisa, and I am an English professor at a community college in Southern California. This blog is my way of tracking my progress in my Assessment in E-Learning course (EDUC 762) for the University of Wisconsin, Stout's E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate program. Archives
December 2015
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