A study of the n/a/r (narrative/analysis/research) rubric as an  (Page 2/7)

A large amount of investigation and development is currently underway at the university level regarding the possibilities for effective and efficient online assessment. There are numerous reasons for online assessments being studied.

Many academies are seeking to diversify assessment tasks, broaden the range of skills assessed and provide students with more timely and informative feedback on their progress. Others are wishing to meet student expectations for more flexible delivery and to generate efficiencies in assessment that can ease academic staff workloads. All staff involved in such initiatives are discovering they face a large number of educational issues ( Online assessment from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education , 2002).

In reviewing the literature, some studies have centered around the identification of key issues related to assessment of students’ performance in online education. In Dereshiwsky’s (2001) study, she stated that assessing student performance online is an admittedly challenging aspect of instruction. Often equal parts of art and science, it can cause anxiety for students and instructors alike. Are the assignments a valid reflection of the course curriculum? Is there an equitable and clearly understood evaluation and feedback system in place? Above all, it should be asked, is the assessment genuinely meaningful and useful to students in terms of their academic growth?

Research has shown that appropriately designed assessment helps to facilitate these positive learning opportunities and outcomes for students. Brown, Race, and Smith (1996) proposed that how we assess our students has a profound effect on what they learn, and on the ways in which they learn. If our choices of assessment provide systems under which students are goaded into activities that provide short-term memory, information recall and surface learning, we should not be surprised if the outcomes are exceedingly poor in terms of learning gains ( Assessment for learning , 2010).

According to Hemby et al (2004), the online instructor must evaluate current assessment tools to identify the most appropriate assessment for the learner outcomes. The assessment must match the project so that e-students are aware of the key components that will be evaluated in the assignments. With a review of current assessment techniques comes the demand for taking the time to adapt assessment so that appropriate and timely feedback may be provided to the online students.

When converting traditional classroom activities to the online learning environment, instructors should remember that these activities require assessment tools to be developed and/or modified from traditional classroom assessments. Discussion postings, projects, papers, and student-led discussions are important in the engaged learning environment but assessing students’ participation and work product necessitates the development of discussion analysis tools, team assessment tools, and reflective self-assessments (Conrad&Donaldson, 2004)