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Education Distance Education & Learning

Assessment Strategies for Online Learning

Engagement and Authenticity

by (author) Dianne Conrad & Jason Openo

Publisher
Athabasca University Press
Initial publish date
Jul 2018
Category
Distance Education & Learning
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781771992343
    Publish Date
    Jul 2018
    List Price
    $32.99

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Description

For many learners assessment conjures up visions of red pens scrawling percentages in the top right-hand corner of exams and feelings of stress, inadequacy, and failure. Although negative student reactions to evaluation have been noted, assessment has provided educational institutions with important information about learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But how accurate is this data and has it informed practice or been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Open argue that the potential in many of the new learning environments to alter and improve assesment has yet to be explored by educators and students.

In their investigation of assessment methods and learning approaches, Conrad and Openo aim to explore assessment that engages learners and authentically evaluates education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford educators opportunities to embrace only the most effective face-to-face assessment methods and to realize the potential of delivering education in the digital age. In this volume practitioners will find not only an indispensable introduction to new forms of assessment but also a number of best practices as described by experienced educators.

About the authors

Dianne Conrad spent thirty-three years teaching and researching, most recently at Athabasca University in the Centre for Distance Education. She is the co-editor of the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning and is an editorial board member of several international journals. Her research interests include adult and distance education, online learning, and prior learning assessment and recognition.

Dianne Conrad's profile page

Jason Openo is the director of the Centre for Innovation and Teaching Excellence at Medicine Hat College in Alberta and a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. His research interests include the professional development of online contingent faculty and the convergence of quality assurance and the assessment of student learning outcomes.

Jason Openo's profile page

Excerpt: Assessment Strategies for Online Learning: Engagement and Authenticity (by (author) Dianne Conrad & Jason Openo)

From Chapter One: A book on online assessment theory and practice, in particular, has never been more in need. According to the annual Sloan Online Survey, the proportion of chief academic leaders who consider online education to be a critical component of their long-term strategy stands at 63.3 percent in 2015, with 2.8 million students taking all of their higher education instruction at a distance in the fall of 2014 (p. 10), and with more than one in four students (28%) taking some of their courses at a distance, an all-time high in the United States. Distance courses “seem to have become a common part of the course delivery modality for many students." The growth of online education provides the opportunity to migrate the worst aspects of traditional assessment into a new form, or to take an entirely fresh look at the purposes, approaches, and opportunities in assessment in order to keep the “best of” traditional approaches and expand and improve upon them with innovative pedagogical approaches supported by advances in technology.

Editorial Reviews

"A practical, helpful and insightful book full of advice and support for the faculty member seeking to develop meaningful, authentic, formative and summative assessments for and of learning. Written by two of the most experienced professionals in ODFL in North America, the authors' experiences shine through on every page – making this an immensely readable, useful, and practical collection of insights, practices, and suggestions."

". . . challenges readers to consider their own understanding of online learning and the role of assessment versus a more traditional use of evaluation."

Tamara Leary