I agree Gwen. As a business instructor, bringing real-world cases to class offers the student yet another avenue in which to grasp concepts, managerial practices, and even create better ways of getting the job done.
Like you stated so nicely, "it does provide relevancy to the industry, and places the student at the heartbeat of the example being discussed.
In today’s learning environment, particularly given the student demographics of my online courses, authentic assessment appeals to the students’ learning objectives. I have used a variety of scenario-based assessments that have the intent of relating student learning (as well as previous knowledge and experience) to today’s work environment. As I teach business, I have found the scenarios effective. There are also group projects that assess individual effort in a group or team environment as well as collaborative skills. While I will admit that students dread the group assignment, the reason for that is also a learning experience if the instructor highlights the learning points. For example, team building is important in the performance of groups. Although the group membership and contact information are posted at least two weeks in advance, students tend to focus only on immediate due dates of those weekly projects. I stress in announcements that initial coordination should be accomplished as soon as possible to facilitate the group process. When it is not accomplished, I point out some of the issues that occurred and probably could have been avoided had advanced coordination been made. Students can expect to work in teams at least occasionally in the work environment and these mini laboratories allow them to pick up some observations and tips for effective group formation and performance.
Erin,
Is that restriction something you feel or that is imposed upon you due to the environment?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I have not but would like to incorporate it. I teach a general education humanities course and constantly encourage students to incorporate their own experiences. I would like to incorporate alternative assessments minimally but with a strictly online format I feel I am restricted with my assessment options.
Gwendolyn,
You are right! This includes allowing for creativity! Good answer
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I use alternative assessment to focus on the indivudal student's needs, strengths, learning styles in order to build topics and issues to keep them interested so they can produce the quality results for success
Kendra,
Great Idea! With the new LMS options the journal is a great electronic tool.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The class I teach has a weekly reflective journal assignment. It is designed to allow students an opportunity to analyze the concepts covered during the week and apply their own personal experiences to these concepts and to discuss why the topic is important. I utilize a rubric which is provided to students at the beginning of the quarter and I use to grade and provide feedback with.
Michael,
That is great! I have the same discussion with my students! That is great about knowing the skills of an assistant. ( May a quote you on that?)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Michael,
So there is "more than one way to skin a cat" regarding answers? That is a great way for students to think for themselves. Don't you think that students are uncomfortable when they have more than one answer that is right?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dania,
Great! You do know that a definition for learning includes feeling uncomfortable!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dania, I often have the same problem in teaching English composition. Many of my technical students tell me that they won't be writing reports, proposals, or even letters because their field is more hands-on. I ask them whether or not they want to be promoted or remain a technician all their lives with others making the decisions. When they say no, that they would want promotions, I remind them of the many written projects an administer is responsible for. That usually causes them to think differently.
I have had students also tell me that their writing abilities won't count as an administrator, that they will have a secretary for that! When that happens, I ask how they will know if their secretary is good at grammar and punctuation, and remind them that they will be signing the document without knowing it's correct.
I am constantly amazed at the naivete students can have.
In my course of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, I provide them with real-life situations, many of them centered around student life, and ask them to identify the problem, list the alternative solutions, discuss the pros and cons of each possible solution, choose the best solution, and then evaluate the solution. Their evaluation of the solution is based on how other students approached the problem/situation and whether or not they would go in a different direction themselves after threaded discussions and evaluations by their peers (first) and me (last). I save mine for last so that I can see and evaluate all students' reactions.
Because my course is a gen ed course, I feel like students struggle a bit to find application to their real life experiences. To answer the question, observations have been used in my course. We often will challenge the students in a discussion board forum to find a link to their major or career and some of the links are quite creative.
Christopher,
YES! Wouldn't it be great if students actually used the information and/or skills in one course as a foundation to learn more an another. (I have some frustration in this area).
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christopher,
So do your students have to determine what goes into their portfolios? You really need something like a portfolio to assess.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree with your comment "Students often realize that they either have learned more than they thought or learned less than they thought."...this is the primary advantage to discussion in my opinion, it keeps the knowledge from being shelved in whatever form it was assimilated and makes it an active part of their thought process.
Because I teach visual art and design courses, the portfolio is an essential tool in assessing student performance. By building a visual record that shows progression students are involved in their own learning at a higher level, and also are able to see the relationship between assessments much better, and draw conclusions about the work.
Stacy,
Great technique! That is a great way to make that connection with textbook learning and real-life application.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I use Authentic assessment techniques primarily in weekly discussion threads. The students are encouraged to include real-life applications to the discussion to assist the entire class in learning the topics.
