Asessment Tools

The assessment tools each provide a way for students to demonstrate what they have learned. They all require a little more time to include in your course, but offer great benefits as well.

Select a tool to learn more about it's capabilities:

 

Assignment Tool

The Assignments tool allows you to set up multiple assignments with instructions and a method for online submission. For example, you might ask students to write a response paper about current events related to a course topic. You can include the details of the paper in an assignment, and then students can simply upload and submit the assignment by following the WebCT directions.

• Conclusions: This tool provides a alternate way for learners to submit their assignments. Flexibility is often very important for adult learners, and the Assignments tool allows you to be flexible about how you receive particular papers and documents.

• Seven Principles: Assignments may encourage active learning, communicate high expectations, and emphasize time on task. Of course, the more creative the assignment, the better!

Presentations Tool

The Presentations tool allows students to post HTML and other Web-based materials as individuals or as small groups. The Presentations area in WebCT is set up so that each student or group has their own Web space for sharing files, including electronic presentations, pictures, audio, and video. This tool does require the students to learn how to create HTML documents, either by coding or more often by using an authoring tool or publishing capability in a word processor. You may want to schedule some time in a computer lab so that students can work together to learn these skills.

• Conclusions: This tool may help your adult learners to overcome any fears or inhibitions they have about creating HTML documents. However, it is important to provide them with some assistance in doing this. Providing help sessions or documentation will ease this task.

• Seven Principles: Presentations encourage active learning, emphasize time on task, and communicate high expectations. This method of assessment may also respect diverse talents and ways of learning. Rather than a traditional paper, graphically-talented students may find a Web presentation exciting. If used for small group presentations, this tool also helps you to encourage cooperation among students.

Quiz Tool

The Quiz and Survey tool provides a method for traditional objective and subjective testing and surveys. Question types include multiple-choice, short-answer, calculated, matching, and paragraph styles. Though you may want to continue giving tests and exams in the classroom, this tool allows you to prepare your students with practice questions. You can also gather information about how students feel they are doing in the class by creating anonymous surveys.

• Conclusions: By using this tool for practice items, you will help lessen student anxiety before tests and exams. Using this tool for surveys will give learners the opportunity to share how they are feeling about the course. Mid-term evaluations may be particularly useful for you as the instructor to adapt instructional methods while there is still time to do so.

• Seven Principles: This tool may help you to give prompt feedback to students if you provide comments regarding quiz items. It may also help to communicate high expectations with practice quiz items. If surveys are used, you can encourage faculty-student contact as well.