Assessment is important both in measuring students' information literacy skills and in understanding how students perceive and value their learning. Online instruction assessment follows the same principles as in-person assessment but modifications are needed in the delivery and collection of assessment data. Below is a list of some best practices related to online assessment:
Tools and strategies used in online assessment often overlap with methods to encouraging students to engage or participate in an online class.
Follow instructional design principles (e.g. Backward Design) to first develop your learning objectives before deciding the assessment method.
Be mindful of the cognitive load an online assessment tool will add to students' learning experience when selecting an online assessment tool as often a simpler, lower tech option can be better than a high tech but complicated option.
The following guides may be helpful in developing an online instruction assessment strategy and putting it into practice.
Emory: Covers different assessment techniques and discusses indirect and direct assessment (called satisfaction and competency assessment elsewhere). Organizes direct assessment section into pre-assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment, and offers a variety of examples.
University of Iowa: Divides into satisfaction-based assessment, competency-based assessment, and instruction-based assessment, and provides examples of tools and strategies.
University of West Florida: Outlines and provides examples for different assessment activities such as minute papers, quizzes, in-class observation, etc.
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