Assessing Online Learners Using Interactive and Engaging Strategies

 

Workshop Date to Be Determined

Students need specific feedback on their assessments to understand why they received the grade assigned by an instructor and how they could improve. This workshop challenges instructors to look at assessment strategies from the student perspective to make expectations transparent and assessments that are interactive and engaging.

How Can Learning Assessments Increase Student Satisfaction?

Student satisfaction in online courses is often associated with clear guidelines on learning assessments and constructive feedback. Learning assessments refer to the student performance during an online course and are fundamental to the learning experience. An effective assessment plan provides instructors with a detailed representation of a learners’ progress and achievement and whether they are meeting planned learning outcomes. 

What Strategies Should We Use to Assess Online Student Learning?

Assessing online learning is developmental and instructors can use strategies from the beginning of a course until the course is complete. Providing regular and varied opportunities to evaluate learning throughout the course can help keep students engaged, ease stress, and make it easier to identify where support is needed. Frequent, low-stakes assessments and alternative assessments can scaffold or replace some high-stakes assessments.

Students need specific feedback on their assessments to understand why they received the grade assigned by an instructor and how they could improve. Rubrics provide clear criteria regarding what is expected for an assignment and guide specific feedback on why a certain grade has been given. Instructor feedback plays an important role in keeping students aware of their performance, giving them a sense of accomplishment, and helping them stay motivated.

Focus of the Workshop

A variety of ways for students to demonstrate their learning will be shared along with time-saving ways to grade submissions. This workshop focuses on challenging instructors to look at assessment strategies from the student perspective to make expectations transparent. 

In this workshop, participants will:

• Distinguish among diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments.
• Identify a variety of assessment strategies and tools to administer effective, secure, and interactive assessments and activities.
• Discriminate between graded and non-graded assessment strategies.
• Explore feedback strategies and rubrics for improving learning.

For more information, contact us. To see all the workshops we have available, go to Professional Development for Instructors.

 

Engaging Online Students Through Design, Motivation, and Support

 

 

Workshop Date to Be Determined

Understanding student motivation and support strategies for online learning can help reduce online learner dropout. This workshop focuses on strategies to motivate, retain,  and engage students in online courses.

What are the Reasons Students Dropout of Online Courses?

Participation in online education continues to grow globally. However, online student retention and factors for student persistence can be alarming. Studies in the new millennium have confirmed that students often fail to complete online courses and as many as 50-70% drop out of their online courses. Reasons for student dropout include feelings of isolation, frustration, and disconnection; technology disruption; lack of contact with instructors; lack of student and technology support; lack of instructor participation during class discussion; lack of clarity in instructional direction or expectation; and lack of social interaction.

 

Why is it Important to Understand Student Persistence in Online Courses?

Understanding student persistence can help us identify external and internal factors involved in retaining students and reducing online learner dropout rates. Students face many barriers when taking online courses, including lack of preparation and skills plus external factors such as financial or child care needs. Also, internal factors, such as self-esteem, feeling of belonging to the course, social interaction, or access to support services, can be instrumental to retaining online students. There are a number of ways that instructors can find out who their students are and what factors could impact their learning and ability to complete an online course so that instructors can utilize strategies and provide the resources and support they need to be successful.

Focus of the Workshop

This workshop focuses on strategies for motivating and retaining students in online courses. 

 

In this workshop, participants will:

• Explore design strategies for retaining students in an online course.
• Discover student strategies for staying motivated and engaged during an online course.
• Identify support strategies for helping online students persist by managing their time and tasks.
• Adopt strategies to promote student success by helping them manage their workload.

For more information, contact us. To see all the workshops we have available, go to Professional Development for Instructors.

Why is It Important to Offer Instructors Professional Development?

Higher education instructors need to learn anew and rethink pedagogical strategies when designing and teaching online and blended delivery formats. Instructors crave opportunities to discuss and share their experiences with others. Yet there are few opportunities in their work to do so. This episode, part of the Adult Learning Exchange Virtual Community Podcast, under the Series “Professional Development for Instructors,” is for administrators, faculty developers, and instructors. This episode explains the importance of professional development for instructors and how instructors can benefit. Subscribe to or follow the online forum. If you are interested in the interactive workshops we offer, check our website.

 

Listen to Podcast

 

 Episode 1 Professional Development for Instructors Transcripts

 

References

Baran, E., & Correia, A. P. (2014). A professional development framework for online teaching. TechTrends, 58, 95-101.

Skibba, K. A. (2012). Adult learning influence on faculty learning cycle: Individual and shared reflections while learning to teach online lead to pedagogical transformations. In Virtual Mentoring for Teachers: Online Professional Development Practices.

Skibba, K. & Widmer, M. (2021). Blended Faculty Community of Inquiry Transforms Online Teaching Perceptions and Practices. In A. B. Picciano A.G., Dziuban, C., Graham, C. & Moskal, P. (Eds), Blended Learning Research Perspectives Volume 3. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Pelletier K, McCormack M, Reeves J, Robert J, Arbino N, Dickson-Deane C, Guevara C, Koster L, Sanchez-Mendiola M, Bessette LS, Stine J. (2022). [1] 2022 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report.