online assessment

Reflecting on my own experience (and those of my students) of online assessments, I can present a number of thoughts:

Positive:
- they are good for giving simplified indicators of one's own progress
- they are simple to use
- they can offer feedback (if this is built in)
- they are useful as a 'testing' tool for students in their independent study time
- they free up lecture/seminar time that would otherwise have taken up 20 mins or so
- students like them (or so their evaluations tell me because they respond to 'quizzes' )
- it gives the tutors data on who did it, when they did it and how well they did.
- it can be useful to keep up study momentum
- you can set deadlines for completion
- it can be adapted to suit any need (e.g. as a way to find out if students have kept up with their reading lists, as an evaluation space for students to say what does and doesn't work for them, as a survey tool to find out a host of things that inform us as tutors)

Negative:
- they are prescriptive
- they are instructional in the main (unless you find clever ways to bring in reflective aspects that a computer can usefully 'test')
- they are quantitative rather than qualitative
- they provide student data about who has completed it, but there is uncertainty over potential collusion in student accommodation etc
- the answers can only be limited to words on a screen (that will always lack expression and passion)
- they don't take account of the student's state of mind or pursuits when s/he completes the test (e.g. alchohol or substance influence, peer pressure, last minute completion)
- it doesn't 'engage' because it isn't human

Possible solutions when building this as an assessment:
- understand the limitations of what, to the student, is an online 'quiz'
- decide whether the module legitimately supports an instructional tool that has no interaction
- think about the positive aspects this tool can bring in terms of formative learning/feedback
- allow sufficient time for a student to complete it, but not so long that they have too much time to prevaricate
- create a deadline to suit the week by week module guide content
- consider what feedback might be appropriate if you want to give students direction to more self-motivated learning
- consider other possibilities such as surveys, feedback and evaluation

I hope this helps if any of you are also considering using Questionmark. I recognise its limitations, but I also embrace its value in terms of teaching a module which requires students to ingest and retain a quantity of facts in readiness for their exam.

Claire