Open AccessStudent Assessment in Online Courses: Research and Practice, 1993–2004
Author(s) -
John A. Ross,
Maura Ross
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
canadian journal of university continuing education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0318-9090
DOI - 10.21225/d5tp4z
Subject(s) - online assessment , medical education , quality assessment , quality (philosophy) , psychology , online research methods , reliability (semiconductor) , face validity , online discussion , face (sociological concept) , online learning , educational assessment , evaluation methods , computer science , mathematics education , formative assessment , medicine , psychometrics , multimedia , sociology , world wide web , engineering , social science , philosophy , power (physics) , epistemology , quantum mechanics , reliability engineering , clinical psychology , physics
Research on student assessment in online environments has not been extensive, although manuals for instructors provide broad guidelines and specific procedures. In this article we review the most frequently reported approaches to online assessment in postsecondary settings, giving particular attention to systems for assessing the quality of student participation. We also extrapolate from research on assessment in face-to-face courses to identify strategies that could be usefully adapted to online assessment. Research on the reliability and validity of online assessment methods is mixed and there is not much of it. We suggest to online instructors that there appears to be a disjunction between assessment methods and instructional ideologies and suggest to researchers that there is an urgent need to investigate the consequential validity of online assessment.