According to Walvood’s (2010) definition: “Assessment is the systematic collection of information about student learning, using the time, knowledge, expertise, and resources available, to inform decisions that affect student learning.” As the most critical piece of the learning process, a good design of assessment would help address two crucial questions within education:
How well does the student learn?
How well is the course designed for learners?
Based on our week 2 Reading about “Assessing Learning” . An assessment is a way of communication between the learner and instructor. A successful assessment design should allow students to understand whether they met their learning outcomes and their level. The assessment result shall also inform the course designer(instructor) how efficient their course is: whether the class is too hard or too easy for students.
Since our goal is for the learner to be familiar with the origin and history of the Chinese festival and demonstrate their ability to analyze the relationship between culture and festival, specifically Chinese culture and Chinese festival, learners are required to finish a couple of formative and summative assessments throughout the learning.
Formative Assessment:
Within our learning resource, there are five topics for learners to learn. After each unit, learners are required to participate in a forum discussion, post their thoughts and ideas related to the topic they learned then share them with other learners. They are also encouraged to give peers feedback to exchange their understanding of Chinese Culture and the Chinese festival. Learners’ posts will be graded based on the Rubric attached at the end. These formative assessments will help learners get feedback and incorporate the feedback into future work. It is also a way for them to express their understanding of our topic.
Summative Assessment
Following each formative assessment, the learner will also be required to finish a summative activity – a quiz. Quizzes usually help them memorize and get familiar with the concept they learned through the module.
Non-grading Interactive Activity
During the learning process, we have also designed a non-grading activity to engage the learner in participating in this online class. Although it is worth 10% of a learner’s grade, he only evaluates based on whether they have shown up in the live session or showed effort to participate in the community discussion that happened during the live session. This design’s rationale is to create a more collaborative learning environment instead of pure independent learning.
Rubric:
| Grade | Definition |
| 90-100 | Considerable evidence of original thinking; demonstrated outstanding ability to analyze and synthesize; introduced and referenced external resources in posts. Proof of extensive knowledge base. Provide valuable feedback for other learners’ posts. |
| 75-89 | Evidence of grasp of subject matter, some evidence of critical capacity and analytical ability; reasonable understanding of relevant issues; and familiarity with the learning material. Comment on other learners’ posts with your thoughts |
| 60-74 | Evidence of some understanding of the subject matter and good feedback is provided on other’s ideas. |
| 50-59 | Complete all projects requirements, but no clear citations and ideas. There is also no clear point on the members’ comments, and it is uncareful to read the group members’ posts. |
| 0-49 | Barely finished the work, no explicit discussion of the assignment, and some discussion replies to others but no specific feedback. |
Reference:
Walvoord, B. E. (2010). Assessment clear and simple: A practical guide for institutions, departments, and general education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.