{"id":10628,"date":"2020-05-08T13:57:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T17:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/?page_id=10628"},"modified":"2020-07-02T17:03:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T21:03:48","slug":"assessment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cheating in online learning environments is not a given, and there are elements of course design and assessment that you control that can help minimize the pressure to cheat.\u00a0 Students are most tempted to act dishonestly when they are under pressure, or situations with high anxiety, such as the recent transition to online learning. Thomas J. Tobin proposes four easy ways you can help to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/blogs\/university-venus\/student-agency-uncertain-times\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">minimize anxiety for your students<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: <\/span><b>lowering time pressure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (e.g., remove timed assessments), <\/span><b>lowering due-date pressure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (e.g., allow late submission),<\/span><b> lower grade anxiety <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(e.g., redistributing your grades <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">or<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jessestommel.com\/how-to-ungrade\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ungrading<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/about\/Specifications_Grading.html?id=UrCpCwAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">specifications grading<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) and <\/span><b>lower communication anxiety<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (e.g., clearly and repeatedly explaining and discussion your course policies).\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are many ways to think about assessing learning that presently may be better options for your students than replicating high stakes summative assessments (exams, prelims, finals).\u00a0 When thinking of your choice, it is important to consider the welfare of your students, and who you may be privileging in your decision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<h3><b>How to write good assessment questions for online learning<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Did you \u201cGoogle\u201d it?<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once you have written your exam, take a few minutes to Google your question and see what kinds of responses may already exist.\u00a0 If your desired answers appear readily, you may want to revise the question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Can you tailor it to be for specific situations?<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Make the question specific to a scenario, place, or student experience that is anchored in a real-world authentic situation.\u00a0 This approach will make it much harder to find answers by digging into a textbook or search engine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Can anyone pass it?<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have a novice answer your questions, if they can &#8211; you may want to consider revising.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How to encourage original student work<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Limit time on assessments or assignments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Address academic integrity by asking students to commit to an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/provost.uoregon.edu\/content\/online-academic-integrity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Honor Declaration<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or other similar statement<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Randomize questions and use refreshed questions pools with a mix of objective and subjective questions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Create a question that only the individual can answer &#8211; like their ID number, or recalling part of the course syllabus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Encourage creation of information from their own situational experiences<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Constrain the pool of sources students can cite from to make it easier for you to detect plagiarism<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Constrain\/define the length of student responses<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-color: #000000;height: 1135px\" border=\"1\" width=\"804\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><b>Assessment Options<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\"><b>Potential Impact on Students<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\" colspan=\"2\"><strong>If you are able to give alternative assessments in your course other than high stakes summative exams:\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ongoing low-stakes online assignments: such as essays or reflections requiring synthesis of various topics and ideas. Written assignments can be submitted in Brightspace.<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">An equitable teaching approach that will likely have the least impact on student anxiety and\/or performance. The nature of these assessments reduce the opportunities or motive for academic dishonesty.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Open book short answer online assessment.\u00a0 Multiple choice quizzes and exams can be converted into a variety of assignment types to replace traditional exams such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Student video presentations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Case studies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Discussions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Group projects<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clarity of expectations will be really important in these types of open-book assessments.\u00a0 Students may need to learn a bit about this approach, but it is generally a lower stakes strategy that gets more to student knowledge and skills than test performance. Removing time pressure from your assessment is a great way to remove pressure.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ongoing low-stakes quizzes rather than one large exam requiring a small amount of cumulative material each week in combination with new materials<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A good strategy for any assessment approach is to redistribute the weight of your assessments into small ongoing opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge.\u00a0 This approach is more resilient to unexpected disturbances that may result during times of distress.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center\" colspan=\"2\"><strong>If you are required to use the same structure in your summative assessments (exams, finals):<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use an open book exam online, that is unproctored.\u00a0 You can choose to make these timed, but we would recommend a large window of time (a full day) to accommodate disruptive schedules (e.g., parenting, working etc\u2026)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This approach is a good middle ground if you are required to use summative assessments.\u00a0 Although your students may need to learn a new approach to testing, open book exams often generate additional learning opportunities<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Use a proctored online exam (Brightspace + Respondus).\u00a0 These too can be timed for a given period. Here, you can make taking the exam available for an entire day, but allow students a set amount of time to complete it after beginning.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Proctored online exams pose issues with equity, access, and reliability.\u00a0 They often also tend to be a huge source of anxiety for students.\u00a0 Students not used to learning online will have a steep learning curve performing in this environment. High stress in conjunction with a high stakes assessment may result in poor performance that may or may not be indicative of student learning or effort. Students may also refuse to use the tool, and you will need to be prepared to provide <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1ut3xSIJJkjIc-pLiCSIAx6b1EycuGqHSALjgBEBGdjA\/edit#\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">alternative solutions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cheating in online learning environments is not a given, and there are elements of course design and assessment that you control that can help minimize the pressure to cheat.\u00a0 Students are most tempted to act dishonestly when they are under pressure, or situations with high anxiety, such as the recent transition to online learning. Thomas [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10628","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/author\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10628"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11450,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10628\/revisions\/11450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/citl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}