Assessing collaborative activities are best
assessed collaboratively (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, p.44). Siemans states,
“Assessment is a teaching based activity that provides an opportunity to give
feedback and evaluate us as educators” (Laureate Education Inc., 2008).
Assessing participation in a collaborative learning community can be a challenge.
According to Siemans, there are four models for assessing collaborative learning.
The first of the four models is “students assessing their peers”, which by using
a rating scheme. The second is “students receiving feedback and direct comments”
from online communities. The third of the four models is “educators assessing
based on student contributions”. These contributions include things such as the
amount of time spent online, or how many times students spend on task with group
activities like Wikis. The last of the four models is “educators assessing
based on metrics” (2008). The varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring
to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment"
of learning by broadening the concept of assessments beyond mark based, based
on how much the student grows and through authentic contexts (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2008).
There is a diverse group of students in online courses, some of which may believe that online courses are supposed to be independent (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, p.31). If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, the other members of the learning community should reach out to the student, to find out the reason for not wanting to participate to see if they can assist that student. The role that the instructor should play at that point is facilitator to guide the process. As an instructor, one cannot just set up the collaborative activity and leave the students to fend for themselves. (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, p.22) The impact on his or her assessment plan would not help to connect students to the course, the learning process, and each other (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, p.53). The more students are empowered in the online learning environment, the more likely they are to be successful.
Laureate Education, Inc. Executive Producer. (2008).
Assessment of Collaborative Learning. Baltimore, MD
Palloff, R. M.,
& Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for eloquently stating the four types of assessment approaches. If you were to set up online courses for students, what would you use? I do not think I will be using the metrics to determine how many a student has logged into class as a part of a grade. I say this because the current discussion board setup in our classroom does not register my views when I hit “collect” using Google Chrome. Meaning, I could read everyone’s work, but it would not count as a post that I was viewing. Microsoft Internet Explorer, on the other hand, makes each collection of posts count as though I viewed each one of them. Using metrics to assign grades is based on technicality of visiting the pages rather than producing quality work. Would you be using metrics as a grade? Why or why not?
On your second part that discusses how to reach out to students who do not participate, I recommend that the instructor weigh collaborative assignments with more points. Students who procrastinate with collaborative assignments need encouragement to comment, support from peers, and assistance with time management (Tervakari et al., 2012).
References
Tervakari, A., Silius, K., Tebest, T., Marttila, J., Kailanto, M., & Huhtamäki, J. (2012). Peer learning in social media enhanced learning environment. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 7(3), 35-42.
Sanjay Sharma
Sanjay,
DeleteAs in my regular 5th grade class, I use a variety of assessments, a lot of which are rubrics. There is no grade for time on task but this is not a f2f class where instructors can see what we are doing, so the time on task makes sense in an online community.
I do not know how much I truly agree with assessment being provided based on the amount of time spent online, or the number of times a student acted on a task. I say this because it has nothing to do with quality, which is more important than quantity. A person could spend very little time online, and only access a group link a few times a week. However, their contributions could rich in quality, supporting detail, and thought provoking. I do not think a number or time should be tracked. Do you think this part of the model will ever be replaced? Any idea what may come in its place?
ReplyDeleteMary,
DeleteI do not think this part of the model will be replaced. I am actually glad that it is a part of it. Who makes the decision of which contributions are rich in quality and thought provoking? What one may consider to be though provoking, another may not.
I would say the instructor would set those guidelines or provide examples of thought-provoking questions.
DeleteTheresa
ReplyDeleteI really enjoying reading your post and you did an excellent job of reviewing the types of assessment. I do agree with you when you mentioned that their was a diverse group of students in an online course and they come with a variety of experiences and expertise. I feel that when students participate in an online course that students shouldn't have to reach out to them when their peers don't participate. For me time is an issues and it's hard to contact other classmate about their lack of participation.
William