Post on 28-Dec-2015
The Feedback Issue
• Students participating in online activities look for feedback to know:– A. the instructor is reading their contributions– B. their participation is valued– C. their participation is adequate, in terms of quality and
quantity
• Feedback need not be individualized to be effective– Whole class commentary provided on a regular basis was
found to be just as satisfactory from the student point of view (Dennen, 2001)
The Assessment Issue
• Often, online activities go unassessed–“Add-on” syndrome: Adding an
online activity to a previously designed class because it sounds like a good idea
The Assessment Issue
• Students are more likely to participate when then know there is impact on their grade– Direct impact: graded on participation
(quality, quantity or both)– Indirect impact: participation should bolster
performance on other assessments– Students quickly become aware if an online
activity is not related to assessed learning objectives
The Assessment Issue, Cont.
• Sometimes the wrong things are assessed• Examples:
– Assessing students’ online moderation skills when the course topic/learning objectives have nothing to do with online moderation
– Assessing quantity of participation, but not quality
• which, granted, is easier, but encourages sloppy message posting rather than thoughtful learning dialogues
1. Social Ice Breakers
• Feedback:– Critical because it sets the tone for instructor
attentiveness and interactions
• Assessment:– Not really necessary or appropriate
• What you might do:– Participate in the ice breaker alongside students
– Compile a list of “who’s who” from student responses and distribute to class
2. Learner-Content Interactions
• Feedback:– Should be built into the activity– Computer-automated
• Assessment:– Generally, these activities help prepare students for
formal assessment
• What you might do:– Make explicit to students the value of completing
these activities and their relationship to success on graded activities
3. Scenario-based Simulations
• Feedback:– Should be built into the activity– If not automated, instructor must provide or monitor to
ensure peers provide it
• Assessment:– Simulation can be assessed directly themselves or used to
prepare students for authentic assessments
• What you might do:– If objectives are process oriented, assess student
performance in simulation– Encourage learner reflection on the process and their
performance
4. Anonymous Suggestion Box
• Feedback:– Important to respond to students
• Assessment:– Neither necessary nor appropriate
• What you might do:– Compile a list of suggestions with
corresponding actions taken or reasons why action is not possible/feasible/desirable
5. Student Formative Surveys• Feedback:
– Instructor should reference student responses in aggregate form
– Individual responses may receive feedback, but students should not be singled out
• Assessment:– Neither necessary nor appropriate
• What you might do:– Use topic-based surveys as a lead-in to a learning unit– Use course feedback surveys to make changes to the
class
6. Role Play
• Feedback:– Students want/need to know if they are adequately
playing their roles
• Assessment:– Based on participation (to ensure the roles get played)– Following the role play, based on subject matter
• What you might do:– Post a general message to the class, filling in missing /
misrepresented roles and noting exemplary contributions– Have learners write a reflection paper on the topic, highlighting
the various perspectives and defending the perspective of their choice
7. Case-based Labs/Experiments
• Feedback:– Should be built into the activity
• Assessment:– Generally, these activities help prepare students for
formal assessment
• What you might do:– Make explicit to students the value of completing
these activities and their relationship to success on graded activities
8. Authentic Data Analysis• Feedback:
– Should focus on helping students analyze the data
• Assessment:
– Based on results of the analysis OR on the process (depending on learning objectives)
• What you might do:
– Have students respond to the activity’s questions, either individually or collaboratively
9. Just-in-time Teaching/Syllabus• Feedback:
– Responsiveness to student contributions must be explicit and frequent
• Assessment:– Appropriate assessments should be developed based on the student
contributions in conjunction with the pre-planned course material– If participation might be a problem, students should get points for
completing quizzes/surveys (Small participation grade, or bonus points on tests)
• What you might do:– Have students write a reflection on how their point-of-view is similar
to/different from their peers– Post results of student quizzes in aggregate form for class review– Update regular tests to incorporate the just-in-time materials
10. Perspective Taking
• Feedback:– Focus on how well students are representing
different perspectives
• Assessment:– Perspective-based role-play will likely be assessed
• What you might do:– Fill in missing perspectives — or have students
review their work and identify missing perspectives
Learning Conversations
• Includes Webinar, chats (regular, expert, guest)• Feedback:
– Instructor can debrief the chat afterwards, providing a summary and commenting on contributions
• Assessment: – Not really fair to assess students on basis of synchronous chat
contribution due to limited airspace– Content/experience should be assessed through another means
such as reflection, essay, test or project
Group Work• Includes Team Meeting and Collaborative Online
Writing• Feedback:
– Focus on group’s process and how to improve it
• Assessment: – Based on product (collaborative writing, other project)– Based on process (Was work distributed equally?
Completed on time? What would be changed the next time?)
• Peer ratings• Assessment of contributions in group’s online work space
(archives)
Advisory Activities
• Includes Online Mentoring, Secret Coaches and Protégées
• Feedback:– Such activities are all about feedback– Should focus on learner performance on past class
activities– Should look forward to future activities
• Assessment:– Assessment would be neither appropriate nor
desired, although participation might be required