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Module 6: Achieving High Expectations

From Objectives to Feedback: Communicating Learning

How do we assess what our students have learned? Answering this question will require an examination of what you have established with the Learning Objectives you created for your students, how successfully your course assignments/activities accomplish those objectives, and lastly, how your students communicate via their assignments how successfully they have achieved the objectives.

There are four parts to this process:

• Learning Objectives: instructor communicates what students should be able to do as a result of the information learned in the unit/module.
• Assessment: students demonstrate how well they have mastered the Learning Objectives via assignments, tests, discussion forums, other course activities.
• Evaluation: instructor interprets the information gathered through assessment and determines how well each student has mastered the Learning Objectives.
• Feedback: instructor communicates the evaluations to students in the form of grades, check systems, periodic email updates, or other means.

As you consider assessment and evaluation in your own course, you may find yourself "tweaking" your learning objectives and course activities. Again, the key to guaranteeing the most successful outcome for student learning in online education is through effective communication. In this case, you are communicating what you want your students to learn, and how you will assess their learning.

The pages in this module will attempt to help you establish effective practices for communicating this process, to ensure the best possible learning outcomes for your students.

Supplemental Resources on Assessment and Evaluation

More online resources on assessment can be found on this Delicious page.

Photo on this page: Creative Commons licensed photo, Nice, by tifotter

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