BEST PRACTICES FOR
STUDENT LEARNING
ASSESSMENT IN ONLINE
COURSES
M. Bridget Nettleton, PhD (SUNY Empire State
College)
Patrick Jones, PhD (Excelsior College)
Jennifer Boisvert, MS (SUNY Empire State College)
November 9, 2011
17th Annual SloanC International
Conference on
Online Learning
“Pop Quiz – No big deal”
“Pop Quiz – OMG”
LEARNING ST YLES
Regardless of how you learn we as educators are being
held accountable to assess your learning and
achievement of learning outcomes
LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Should be specific
 Must be measurable
 A variety of assessments can be used to verify achievement of
learning outcomes
FORMATIVE VS. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
 Formative assessment: designed to provide faculty & students with
regular feedback on mastery of course module outcomes; faculty use
results to refine instruction & students rely on results to identify areas
for further study
 Summative assessment: results used to assign grades & make
summary conclusions about course outcome mastery; goal is not
diagnostic feedback but accountability
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT T YPES
 Discussion posts
 Quizzes
 Simulations
 Short answer questions
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT T YPES
 Midterm and final exams
 Papers
 Projects
 Portfolios
 Presentations
ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES SUMMARY
 Optimal strategy is to use a variety of assessment techniques to
measure student learning
 Reserve constructed response assessments & simulations to
measure higher-order skills & competencies
 Employ fixed-choice assessments to test knowledge & lower-order
skills
ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES SUMMARY
(CONTINUED)
 Fixed-choice assessments, constructed response measures, &
simulations may be used for formative & summative purposes
 Online discussions & brief fixed-choice assessments ideally suited for
formative assessment goals
 Constructed response exercises requiring integration of course content
appropriate for summative evaluation
DIGITAL TAXONOMIES
 Knowledge: recall/recognition of previously learned material
 Application: use learned material in a specific situation
 Analysis and higher order behaviors: break down material into
component parts (analysis), put parts together to form a coherent whole
(synthesis), and make judgments about value of material (evaluation)
ASSESSMENT FORMATS BY DIGITAL
TAXONOMY CLASSIFICATION
 Knowledge: multiple-choice, true/false, matching, fill in the blank, short
answer
 Application: multiple-choice, short answer, essay
 Analysis and higher order behaviors: multiple-choice, essay, project,
portfolio, simulation, presentation, paper
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
 At Excelsior College the nursing program uses a capstone clinical
examination that measures first day RN competencies
 May be used in a blended model of instruction
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
(CONTINUED)
 The clinical exam is structured as domains of knowledge and
practice called areas of care
 Faculty - student ratio is one-to-one and student must achieve
100% accuracy in the demonstrating the competencies
SIMULATION
 Simulation can be used for teaching and assessment
 When used for assessment nursing education considers this as a final
skills check which also must be achieved with 100% accuracy
 Measures skills that can't be left to chance
CASE STUDIES
 Assessment:
 Formative & Summative
 Example:
 SUNY Empire State College, NUR 302: Advanced Health Assessment
 Purpose:
 Foster Critical Thinking
 Clinical Decision Making
 Objective:
 “Collaborate with peers to create a complex patient case study using
advanced assessment data.”
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE
DISCUSSION BOARDS
 Assessment:
 Formative
 Example:
 SUNY Empire State College, NUR 301: Educational Planning:
Transitions to the Baccalaureate Nurse
 Purpose:
 Critically think
 Interact with classmates
 Objectives:
 “Utilize the historical framework of the nursing profession to examine
implications for current and future nursing practice.”
DISCUSSION BOARD EXAMPLE
SCHOLARLY PAPER
 Assessment:
 Summative
 Example:
 SUNY Empire State College, NUR 403: Pharmacology
 Purpose:
 Critically think
 Reflect on original ideas
 Tie in literature
 Objectives:
 “Apply concepts of pharmacology to clients across the lifespan.”
SCHOLARLY PAPER EXAMPLE
SELF ASSESSMENTS
 Assessment:
 Formative
 Examples:
 SUNY Empire State College, NUR 320: Multigenerational Nursing
 Purpose:
 Assess level and skills
 Reflection
 Objectives:
 “Discuss the challenges of multigenerational workforce issues across
four generations currently in the workplace.”
SELF ASSESSMENT EXAMPLE
REFLECTIVE JOURNALING
 Assessment:
 Formative
 Purpose:
 Reflect on experiences
 Critically think
 Apply newly learned content
 Example:
 SUNY Empire State College, Nursing 301: Educational Planning:
Transitions to the Baccalaureate Nurse
 Objectives:
 “Develop and philosophy of nursing and theoretical basis for
professional nursing practice.”
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL EXAMPLE
“So when there’s an assessment.. now you
will all do the happy dance”
QUESTIONS
CONTACT INFORMATION
 M. Bridget Nettleton, PhD (SUNY Empire State College )
[email protected]
 Patrick Jones, PhD (Excelsior College )
[email protected]
 Jennifer Boisvert, MS (SUNY Empire State College)
[email protected]