Palloff and Pratt (2004) stated, “In order to assess student performance in collaborative actively effectively, the instructor needs to understand basic principles of student assessment” (p. 41). To avoid confusion, Palloff and Pratt recommended that the instructor should allow the learners themselves to complete an assessment on how they felt like the completed the assignment. The learners should also be able to grade one another on how they think their group member performed. Palloff and Pratt also explained that the instructors should remember that with all collaborative activities the learner complete, that their activity should be graded as a whole and not on an individual bases.
Engstrom (2010) explained that problems can occur when the learners do not know what to expect from the beginning. Engstrom explained the importance of giving the learners a rubric by stating that rubrics, “Communicate expectations up front, serve as guide or model. Used for measuring success, but also provide ways for students to consider how to improve. Are not recipes; they specify the traits of performance rather than providing checklists for completion” (p. 19).
Another problem the instructors may face is not knowing how to grade the learners. This may be due to not knowing who played a role in actually completing the assignment and exactly how much work the learner completed in the collaborative assignment. The learners may be able to assist the instructors with this. The learners can have documentation for the group members that provided little or no help throughout the collaborative assignment. The instructor may be faced with having to answer questions about why there is a big difference in the learner’s grades for the assignment. The instructors may also be faced with the learners saying that they don’t want certain group members in their group. One way the instructors can avoid this is by letting the learners select their own collaborative groups.
References
Engstrom, M. (2010). Creating collaborative activities in online courses.
Retrieved http://www.umt.edu/xli/presentation/Creating%
20Collaborative%20Activities%20in%20Online%20Courses.pdf.
Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2004). Collaborating online: Learning together
in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass, Inc.
You have met the requirements of the module.
ReplyDeleteGood introduction to the topic of rubrics. One of my favorite resources for rubrics and general assessment practices for online learning are found on Kathy Schrock's website at http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html
Please take a look at this site and let me know in another comment how you could use the resources that you find there.