Blog Posting: Assessing Collaborative Efforts

How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed? How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?

In distance education, the responsibility falls on the instructor and the student to have a valid assessment. A set of assessments tools have to be developed which uniquely apply to the topic and the group of students. In the video Assessment of collaborative learning, George Siemans (2008) suggests peer assessing, communities feedback from online communities and educators assessments based on student contribution. Palloff and Pratt (2005) suggest including a “reflective process” which should include student self assessment as well (pp.42-43). Furthermore, rubrics are an effective tool to have a “fair and equitable assessment” (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, pp.44). Through the rubrics, the students are aware of what is expected of them and they can self-assess their knowledge (Palloff and Pratt, 2005, pp.44).
The assessment of a student can never have clear guidelines as there are always external factors that might contribute or deduct from a student’s success, such as some technological issues, time and not having a clear understanding of the assignment. In a traditional class, any misunderstandings can be clarified during the lessons, unlike an online class, where the student might not even be aware that he misunderstood the assignment and only realizes it after the instructor’s assessment is completed. Through discussions, the instructor can assess not only the class level, but also the individual students.
With regards to assessing a student’s participation in my class, while it is not an online class but a traditional one, some aspects of it can be applied to an online class. For a quantitative measure, the students have to present their projects on time in class. I asses each presentation by evaluating if they adhered to the rubric and if their presentation promoted further class discussion. For the qualitative method, I asses the students’ presentations and group projects on how well the topic was presented by evaluating how well the group collaborated on the project and through their classmates’ feedback, questions and comments. Siemens (2008) suggests a rating scheme by rating an outside article by a class member, to encourage students to participate in open communities and to receive feedback from outside members for self evaluation. This can be done by posting a blog or writing a review of an article.

Second, if a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do?

Palloff and Pratt (2005) write that people who lead and work in “virtual teams need to have special skills” (pp.11) which means an understanding of cultures, human dynamics and the ability to use technology effectively. The instructor can empower the online community to encourage its member’s participation by generating clear guidelines through the rubrics and by building trust in the community. Through instructor’s encouragement, the community of students has to motivate itself to successfully contribute to the learning environment. Paloff and Pratt (2007) suggest “human contact” (pp.48) such as a phone call, Skype, e-mail, and Google video if there are no time zone limitations or other outside restrictions beyond the group’s control. Doing so can help to keep the community less silent, eliminate barriers and generates a sense of belonging and engagement with the other members of the community, the instructor or other students.
Moller at el. (2005) state that the social environment in an online class can motivate students by generating group ties and promoting communication through social interaction and peer-to -peer learning. According to the research’s conclusion, groups do have a motivational impact on learners and other studies also suggest that a “sense of community leads to greater motivation” (Moller at el., 2005, pp.140-141).

What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?

Achieving an effective learning community and a collaborative environment can be challenging in online class. Palloff and Pratt (2005) suggest for the instructor to create small groups, to present material to their peers, to post assignments for mutual feedback and to create social presence (pp.9). The instructors’ role is to act as the coach by making sure the collaboration is present in the community. The instructor’s assessment plan has to change from an individual-based model to a collaborative-assessment model.


Reference:
Moller, L., Huett, J., Holder, D., Young, J., Harvey, D., & Godshalk, V. (2005). Examining the impact of learning communities on motivation. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 6(2), 137-143. http://search.ebscohost.com.kbcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building Online Learning Communities effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating Online Learning Together in Community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Siemens, G. (Speaker). (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning (Transcript of Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

Siemens, G. (Speaker). (2008). Learning Communities (Transcript of Video Program). Laureate Education, Inc.

Swan, K. (2004). Relationships between interactions and learning in online environments.. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from The Sloan Consortium.: http://sloan-c.org/publications/books/interactions.pdf