Course and Classroom Assessment | Pedagogy and Student Learning Assessment | Learning Styles Assessment | Annotated Bibliography of Online and Face-to-Face Class Comparison

Course and Classroom Assessment

Teaching Strategies: Classroom Assessment
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) allow instructors to monitor students’ progress throughout the term. CATs help answer the questions, "What are my students learning? How effectively am I teaching?"

FLAG - Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
Introduction to Classroom Assessment Techniques—CATs (Angelo and Cross, 1993) within the FLAG are succint, self-contained, self- instructional, web-based modules that introduce a broadly applicable technique for use in college or

Assessment and Evaluation Resources on the Internet
This site houses Assessment and Evaluation Resources on the Internet. Includes Everything About Assessment on the Internet and An index to just about every resource on the Internet that addresses assessment and evaluation.

Student Assessment in Online Courses
This site provides information on such topics as Quizzing, Testing, and Homework on the Internet (A PPT file), Assessing Learning Objectives, Sample Test Questions, Strategies to Minimize Cheating Online and Sample Rubrics.

An Introduction to Classroom Assessment Techniques
This Penn State article by Diane M. Enerson, Kathryn M. Plank, and R. Neill Johnson provides an introduction and General Recommendations for Use of Assessment Techniques. The authors said: "Unhappy indeed are the moments when we discover—often while grading the final exam—that what our students have learned is not at all what we thought we were teaching. Faculty, and for that matter students, need effective ways of monitoring learning throughout the semester."

How Can Teachers Become More Effective and Efficient at Classroom-Based Assessment?
The general principles of good assessment and the examples from Ms. Rodriguez’s class provide a starting place for thinking about how to implement a classroom-based assessment system.

Classroom Assessment Techniques
This site describes classroom assessment as both a teaching approach and a set of techniques - "techniques are mostly simple, non-graded, anonymous, in-class activities that give both you and your students useful feedback on the teaching-learning process. Answers the questions: Why should I use CATs? Discusses selected CATs for getting feedback on student learning and response to teaching.

Classroom Assessment Techniques: EXAMPLES
This site contains a few CATs examples by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross which are adapted from their book: Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, 2ndEd

Computer-Based Science Assessment : Implications for Students with Learning Disabilities
This academic paper by David D. Kumar of Florida Atlantic University (1994), discusses Computer-based assessment applications used in science, such as Computerized Adaptive Testing, Figural Response Item Testing, Computer Simulations, and Anchored Assessment that can be appropriated for assessing students with learning disabilities.

Student Portfolios: Classroom Uses
This site discusses Classroom Uses of Student Portfolios and answers such questions as: What is it? How does it work? What does the research say? and What are the drawbacks?

Pedagogy and Student Learning Assessment

Pedagogy & Student Learning
This site reviews student learning styles and teaching methods tailored for those different styles. From The Knowledge Network.

Assessment Links
This web page provides different links to abstracts concerning methods of assessment. From The Knowledge Network.

Learning Styles Assessment

A process to find out how best an individual learns.

Interactive Learning Styles
This site provides an overview of different learning styles and multiple intelligences. It also includes a test to discover your dominant intelligence and particular learning style. There are also links to related web sites.

Tests for Learning Styles
This is an overview of the seven learning styles.

Learning to Learn: Resources: Tests and Learning Styles Inventories on the Web
Provides links to various inventories of learning styles and tests provided on line.  

Learning Styles Modality Preference Inventory
A survey to indicate individual preferences for learning modalities. 

New Students - New Learning Styles
by Charles C. Schroeder. This is an article published in Change magazine (September/October 1993) describing the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a widely used instrument based on Jungian typology, at University of Missouri-Columbia in an effort to understand the role of individual differences in the learning process.

Annotated Bibliography of Online and Face-to-face Class Comparison

Aragon, D. R., Johnson, S.D., & Shaik, N. (2000, October 30-November 4). The influence of learning style preferences on student success in online vs. face-to-face environments. Paper presented at the WebNet World Conference on the WWW and the Internet, San Antonio, TX.
This study compared the relationship between learning style preferences and learner success of students in an online graduate level instructional design course with an equivalent face-to-face course. Comparisons included motivation maintenance, task relationships between preferences and course success on five constructs for the face-to-face students and no significant relationships for the online students. Overall the findings suggest that students can be equally successfully in face-to-face and online environments regardless of learning style preferences. ERIC

Dozier, K. (2001). Affecting education in the on-line 'classroom': The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Interactive Instruction Development, 13(4), 17-20.
"The author cautions educators "not to forget what makes us teachers and what makes us learners. We must not forget the limitations of technology and we must not assume that an on-line course duplicates a traditional course." One of the aspects of learning that she fears may be missing in some online learning experiences is self-reflection as students are "simply responding to a specified task and moving on to the next one."

Kekkonen-Moneta, S., & Moneta, G.B. (2000, May 1-15). Online learning in Hong Kong: A preliminary comparison of the lecture and online versions of a computing fundamentals course. Paper presented at the Tenth International World Wide Web Conference, Hong Kong. Retrieved October 29, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www10.org/cdrom/posters/p1081/
"This case study compares students’ learning experience and outcomes in the lecture and online versions of a first-year introductory computing course offered at the Department of Computer Science of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In spring 2000, 105 mostly first year biology majors completed the lecture-based course. In fall 2000, the online version of the course was offered to 180 mostly first year chemistry majors. The study found no marked differences in overall student learning and satisfaction across the two course versions. However, students of the online course obtained lower results in conceptual learning, but perceived the course as less difficult and slower-pace than the students of the lecture-based course. These differences are interpreted in the context of the Hong Kong educational system."

Maisie, E. (2001). Does the classroom have a self-concept problem? Maisie Learning Center.
Presents several situations in which the classroom can be a more appropriate setting.

Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. (2000). Quality on the line: Benchmarks for success in Internet-based distance education (Study ED444407). District of Columbia.
This study identifies 24 benchmarks considered essential to ensuring excellence in Internet-based distance learning, as used by the following six institutions which are leaders in distance education: Brevard Community College (Florida); Regents College (New York); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Maryland University College; Utah State University; and Weber State University (Utah). The benchmarks are divided into seven categories: (1) institutional support; (2) course development; (3) teaching/learning; (4) course structure; (5) student support; (6) faculty support; and (7) evaluation and assessment. The study seeks to ascertain the degree to which the benchmarks are actually incorporated in the policies and practices of the institutions, and how important the benchmarks are to faculty, administrators, and students. Quantitative information for the study was derived from a Likert-scale survey, and qualitative information was derived from in-depth interviews. The report concludes that, for the most part, the benchmarks are considered important and that the institutions strive to incorporate them into their policies, practices, and procedures. Appendixes contain institutional profiles and detailed survey results. (Contains 26 references.) (RH) ERIC

Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. (1999). What's the difference: A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education (Study ). Washington DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy. Retrieved October 29, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ihep.com/Publications.php?parm=Pubs/PubLookup.php
"What's the difference between distance learning and traditional classroom-based instruction? This question has become increasingly prominent as technology has made distance learning much more common. This report reviews a broad array of research and articles published in the last decade to determine the overall quality of the analysis, the gaps in the research, and the implications of the research for the future. The report finds that the overall quality of the research is questionable and thereby renders many of the findings inconclusive. Numerous gaps in the research require more investigation and information. These gaps include the fact that the research: emphasizes student outcomes for individual courses rather than for a total academic program; does not adequately explain why the dropout rates of distance learners are higher; does not address the quality of digital "libraries;" and does not take into account differences among students in how they learn. Implications of the research findings on college access and the "human factor" in learning also are included."

Quilter, S. M., Chester, C. (2001). The relationship between Web-based conferencing and instructional outcomes. International Journal of Instructional Media, 28(1), 13-22. Retrieved October 26, 2001 from Wilson Select Plus database.
Thirty-five graduate students in education and the health professions used a web-based conferencing system during a six-week, two credit hour course in introductory statistics. The conferencing system was used to enhance interpersonal communications among students and the instructor, resolve problems related to course content and procedures -- outside of scheduled class time, and provide the instructor with feedback on the course. Using a single-group pretest-posttest design, there were significant gains in achievement (statistical knowledge and understanding) and attitudes toward statistics. A comparison of education students with health professions students indicated that there was a difference between the groups in terms of computer attitudes. Education students were more positive about computers than their health professions counterparts. Most importantly, the health professions students showed significant gains in attitudes toward computers, which lends credence to the usefulness of the conferencing system. Results are considered within the context of improving student learning.

Redding, T. R., & Rotzein, J. (2001). Comparative analysis of online learning versus classroom analysis. Journal of Interactive Instruction Development, 13(4), 3-12.
"The authors compare the learning outcomes associated with three classroom groups and an online community college group in pre-licensing insurance training. They conclude that "online instruction could be highly effective" and that a "higher level of cognitive learning was associated with the online group." They also note that higher achievements of the online group can be attributed to the self-selected nature of the students, the instructional design of the online course, and the motivation associated with adult learners. Redding and Rotzein recommend that further studies be conducted in other fields of study to see if their results can be replicated in other professions or disciplines."