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EDTC 590 - e-education capstone

Week 4

Performance-based Objectives

  • Describe the content of the instruction.
  • Write performance-based objectives for an instructional/training action plan.

Performance-based Objectives

Performance-based objectives are clear, precise statements that describe observable student performance(s) or behavior(s), and the performance conditions and criteria attached to that performance/behavior(s).

To write performance-based objectives, the developer must perform the following tasks:

  1. Review the instructional goal of the unit
  2. Specify the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for the student to acquire in order to reach the instructional goal of the unit
  3. Determine the strategy for instruction
  4. Describe the performance conditions that will prevail while a learner carries out the task
  5. Establish criteria for evaluating student performance when instruction ends
Why assess students?
  1. Reveals and/or evaluates how well students can perform each objective
  2. Identifies students who need additional instruction
  3. Evaluates instruction and can be used to improve instructional effectiveness
  4. To be able to give a grade when required

Good assessment

A good assessment is specifically aligned with the objectives, the test items should correspond one-to-one with the performance-based objectives. It should require the student to perform the exact task specified in the objective. It should contain the conditions or givens, if any, specified in the objective, as well as the criteria or mastery level, if any, specified in the objective. It should be conducted in a realistic setting/environment. The more realistic the testing setting is, the more valid the students’ responses are.

A good assessment should be clearly written and free of prompts, contain test directions that are clear, simple, and easy to follow. Appropriate response methods need to be clear to the students. You may want to include several items or questions so that the student cannot easily guess the correct answer, and should be written at the vocabulary level of the target learners.

Assessment of learning in distance education

Embedded, or ongoing, assessment is particularly effective in distance education. More frequent, smaller assessments that require regular participation keep students involved in the learning community and give both the learner and the instructor better feedback on the effectiveness of the learning.

Use of Internet tools for auto-graded assessments can be a tremendous tool for many distance education subject areas. The computer can grade simple, objective assignments and instructors can sort student results to create groups requiring remediation.

Alternative assessment techniques such as authentic assessment, performance- based assessment, and portfolio assessment can all be implemented effectively in distance education environments. Due to the difficulty of delivering proctored, traditional assessments in some distance education environments, these techniques may be the best alternative, but they may require significantly greater time commitment to design and to grade once they are completed.

The type of assessment you choose to incorporate into a distance course will depend on a number of variables; age of student, content, level of student, technology, etc. For instance, for this program in Adult Education and e-education, it was appropriate NOT to include multiple choice types of quizzes and tests, but rather use project-based assessment in combination with discussion participation.

Formative evaluation

Remember that evaluation is one of the foundation of good design and must be included in the systematic approaches to instructional planning and design. The overall purposes of educational and program evaluation is to set the stage for the learning experience.

There are a few assumptions about formative evaluation that should be considered:

  • Could be iterative, that is, may become a continuous "performance-improvement" process.
  • Involves collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to make decisions

Develop a formative evaluation plan:

  • Expert reviews
  • Management or executive rehearsals
  • Individualized pretests and pilot tests
  • Group pretests and pilot tests

Determine data to be collected:

  • Learning/performance data. Based on objectives (e.g., using assessment measures, but sometimes other additional measures, including measures of job transfer)
  • Attitude data. Measures attitudes of learners and instructors toward the instruction, and possibly topic/content. May also assess attitudes of other constituents, such as managers and administrators.
  • Implementation data. Usually considers other types of data, such as instructional time, problems that occur, delivery issues
  • Consider measuring impact on the organization. Determine who will participate in the formative evaluation and secure their participation.
  • Representative sample of learners (e.g., ages/career levels, across aptitudes, across motivational levels)
  • Representative instructor (if not self)
  • Any other constituents

Week 4 Projects

Review this week's individual project and check the calendar for due dates.

Week Four Discussion Questions:

There is one individual question and one Learning Team Question.

Individual DQ

Post on Thursday:
  1. In your current or intended work setting, choose an instructional program, course, or materials for which a formative evaluation could (even hypothetically) be conducted. Briefly describe the goal/purpose of this evaluation, the type of decision you hope could be made after the evaluation, and the data that could be collected as part of this formative evaluation.

Would this same process work in an e-Education environment?

Why or why not? If not, what adaptations would you make?

Post under WK4 DQ1

Learning Team

Post on Sunday:

2.    How might alternative assessments be used in an undergraduate writing course delivered via e-Education? In a business management training course?

Justify your choice of assessment based on learner characteristics and learning theory.

Post under WK4 DQ2
© 2004-5 Eli Collins-Brown