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Innovative Assessments
I’m always seeing how ideas from different fields can be adapted for the academic context. This is a document that will be updated regularly. How Superheroes Can Bring Your Online Discussion Board to Life “—students adopt either hero or villain roles and earn points for their posts based on the performance within the assumed role. This allows students to compete with one another to reach a higher status on the leaderboard, fostering motivation and engagement.” Ask The Expert Hello @NiallOfficial fans 👋 Tweet your #HeartbreakWeather questions with #AskNiall and…
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About That Poster Presentation at AECT 2019
If you had read my previous post, you’d know I was heading to Las Vegas to meet up with my virtual friend and collaborator at AECT 2019. And we met! It was unreal and real, to us, and to those who had heard of our story in my previous post. At the poster gallery walk, some folks seemed more incredulous of our partnership across space and time (without having met at all in person) than they were of our poster. Of course, the poster received a lot of traction…
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Collaborating on an AECT Presentation Across Time and Space
This will be the first of a series of blogposts that I will be writing to document and reflect on my collaboration with a virtual friend from Sweden. We will be meeting in person for the first time at the 2019 AECT International Convention. This convention will also be my first trip back to an AECT conference since graduate school. So many firsts! I’m as thrilled as a puppy getting his favorite treat! Tanya O’Reilly (@TenaciousTan) and I have known each other since late 2014 or early 2015 (we both…
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How Do I Know My Students Are Actually Learning in an Online Class? [draft]
[This is a first draft of some of my preliminary thoughts] I was asked this question during a consultation with a new online instructor. Sounds simple but I was somewhat stumped. I recall recovering in time to furnish a response. In hindsight, I want to put together a more thoughtful response. Essentially, this concern confounds most first-time instructors of online courses. They fear that they can’t engage with their learners and will not know whether these learners are keeping up with the class. The gap in space and place, the asynchronous…
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Creating Online Assessments for the First Time
This is a post that needs to be written as it is a F.A.Q. — one that I often get. Even when I’m not directly asked to address this, many instructors would appreciate having this range of assessments upfront when they are creating online assessments for the first time. Some of the questions I get asked are: What type of assessment can I create? How should I create them? Why should I create this assessment and not that? How do I measure …? So, I’ve put together some information, especially for first-time online instructors,…
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Quick Tips to Writing Effective MCQ Items
Writing MCQs or Multiple Choice Question assessment items is a regular part of my professional life as an educator and learning designer. In working with many TAs (teaching assistants), instructors have asked me questions about writing MCQs, guidelines that could help these budding teachers write better MCQ items. I knew that there was a need for me to document some tips on writing effective MCQs. In February, a POD Network listserv subscriber asked for resources on writing effective MCQs. Several subscribers generously shared some very helpful resources. It’s the end of June, almost, I’ve finally found the…
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3 Recent Questions about Assessment
I don’t have to walk far from home to see “education centres” flourishing at almost every turn and corner in my neighborhood. The tuition industry in Singapore is a billion-dollar industry. I’ve been told that a certain tutor has become a millionaire without having to step out from his home, his tuition center. Why don’t I reap some of this rich harvest too, friends and family ask? No, not a snob, I’m just still thinking about how to reconcile this with my professional goals and educational philosophy. Are Singaporeans obsessed with standardized…
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Assessing Student Learning in Online Education Part 1
Assessment types. Besides learning engagement, assessing student learning is one of the top concerns (top 3?) of teachers. This burden is no less lighter for online teachers. Much as teachers might like to banish this bane of teaching from their jobs, assessment (evaluation, retention, accreditation, and all related concerns) won’t go away because “measuring” learning and giving a score/grade to course completion is a deeply embedded element of the institutional culture of formal education. How to give a grade meaningfully is a priority of mine. Recently, the role of rubrics…
