Chapter 4: New Assessment Methods

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Towards the architecture of an instructional multimedia database

The applicability of multimedia databases in education may be extended if they can serve multiple target groups, leading to affordable costs per unit for the user. In this contribution, an approach is described to build generic multimedia databases to serve that purpose. This approach is elaborated within the ODB Project ('Instructional Design of an Optical DataBase'); the term optical refers to the use of optical storage media to hold the audiovisual components. The project aims at developing a database in which a hypermedia encyclopedia is combined with instructional multimedia applications for different target groups at different educational levels. The architecture of the Optical Database will allow for switching between application types while working (for instance from tutorial instruction via the encyclopedia to a simulation and back). For instruction, the content of the database is thereby organized around so-called standard instruction routes: one route per target group. In the project, the teacher is regarded as the manager of instruction.\ud \ud From that perspective, the database is primarily organized as a teaching facility. Central to the research is the condition that the architecture of the Optical Database has to enable teachers to select and tailor instruction routes to their needs in a way that is perceived as logical and easy to use

Scoping a vision for formative e-assessment: a project report for JISC

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. If the relationship between teaching and learning were causal, i. e. if students always mastered the intended learning outcomes of a particular sequence of instruction, assessment would be superfluous. Experience and research suggest this is not the case: what is learnt can often be quite different from what is taught. Formative assessment is motivated by a concern with the elicitation of relevant information about student understanding and / or achievement, its interpretation and an exploration of how it can lead to actions that result in better learning. In the context of a policy drive towards technology-enhanced approaches to teaching and learning, the question of the role of digital technologies is key and it is the latter on which this project particularly focuses. The project and its deliverables have been informed by recent and relevant literature, in particular recent work by Black andIn this work, they put forward a framework which suggests that assessment for learning their term for formative assessment can be conceptualised as consisting of a number of aspects and five keystrategies. The key aspects revolve around the where the learner is going, where the learner is right now and how she can get there and examines the role played by the teacher, peers and the learner. Language: English Keywords: assessments, case studies, design patterns, e-assessmen

Web-based Hypermedia Courseware in Higher Education: A Proposed Framework

This thesis is concerned with hypermedia and learning, and in particular with the design and development factors that need to be considered for the creation of hypermediabased courseware in higher education that uses the Web as a delivery platform. One of the most commonly cited problems with educational hypermedia is related to the design and structure of the educational material. It appears that Web-based instructional authors have not had access to an instructional model, which has been empirically tested. However, there is a large body of knowledge in the field of instructional design from which one can draw suitable conclusions for the design process of Web-based educational hypermedia. The current research recommends that a precondition for effective Web-based courseware design in higher education is careful consideration of the traditional body of knowledge in the field of instructional design which should act as a foundation for future developments in the design process. In addition, the end-users' input should be sought as it can confirm the above and enhance further our understanding toward the implementation of this new medium in higher education. Based on this recommendation, a framework is proposed in terms of its design, user input and evaluation for the development of Web-based courseware in higher education aimed at supporting the delivery of physical modules. The thesis describes how the different stages of the proposed framework were implemented through the develop moot of two Web-based courseware applications aimed at supporting the delivery of two higher education modules taught in De Montfort University, U.K. In order to test the validity of the proposed approach, that a Web-based courseware developed according to the experimental framework could effectively support the delivery of physical modules compared with conventional teaching methods, two empirical studies have been conducted. They were concerned with the summative evaluation of the two Web-based courseware applications, which were developed according to the proposed framework. The results from the evaluation of the two empirical studies indicated significant improvements in users' performance and satisfaction compared with conventional teaching methods. Thus, the proposed framework can indeed offer a solution for the development of Web-based courseware that aims to support the delivery of physical modules in higher education. Moreover, the experimental framework can also provide a detailed starting point and can be adapted for the design and development of Web-based courseware aimed at addressing distance learning or other forms of Web instruction.Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY

Chapter 5: Evaluation

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Nurse Educators\u27 Perspectives of Supplemental Computer-Assisted Formative Assessment in an Associate Degree Nursing Program

Despite the implementation of various strategies to improve outcomes, the pass rates for the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) for an associate degree nursing (ADN) program continue to decrease. This study examined the use of a supplemental computer-assisted formative assessment (SCAFA) as a strategy for NCLEX-RN success. A qualitative case study with a theoretical framework based on constructivism was designed to investigate nurse educators\u27 perspectives of this particular strategy for successful outcomes. To explore these perspectives, data were collected from face-to-face interviews with nurse educators and from program documents from 1 ADN program in the southeastern United States. Guiding research questions explored nurse educators\u27 perceptions of SCAFA and determined if and how data from these assessments were utilized. The data were analyzed using lean coding to determine emerging themes. The findings showed that a lack of consistency in the use of this tool diminishes the effectiveness of this supplemental strategy. Additional themes that emerged: educator and student attitudes, orientation and SCAFA process, resource allocation, training and preparation, and data-driven decision making. These findings were used to design a professional development project focused on the effective use of SCAFA throughout the nursing program. The study and project are expected to promote positive social change by contributing to the body of evidence on computer-assisted formative assessment, bolstering student and nurse educator learning, increasing the number of nursing students who are prepared to successfully pass the NCLEX-RN, improving program outcomes, and contributing to the professional nursing workforce

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)