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Exploring Written Assessments

This article explores written assessments include why to use them in an online course, how to use them, and tips for designing them.

Table of Contents

What Are They?

One of the oldest and most widely used types of assessment, written assessments can be used in a variety of forms to assess student knowledge: traditional term papers; short, timed writings; and exploratory planning documents associated with projects or other assignments are a few examples.

Why Use Them?

Writing assessments can be effective for measuring student learning at all levels of cognitive skills from Bloom’s taxonomy — remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

The learning management system allows for essay and short answer questions in exams, although you may prefer to use the trackable assignment feature so that you can grade with a rubric (we’ll discuss grading criteria and rubrics later).

Best Ways to Use Them?

Writing is a solid choice for both formative, low-stakes assessments (e.g., 1-minute reflection papers that do not get turned in), as well as summative assessments (such as final papers). Do keep your course objectives in mind, though; if they involve the performance of any kind—say, being able to successfully intubate a patient—then writing may not be the best choice for a summative assessment.

As an online instructor, it is important to identify opportunities to build teacher-student and student-student interaction. Formative writing assessments provide an opportunity for students to interact with the instructor and/or fellow students in a way that other categories of assessment cannot. Consider the existing knowledge and beliefs of students: you can encourage learners to examine their ideas (misconceptions, perhaps) and compare them to accepted knowledge.  Through writing, you can get them to think about their learning and empower them to take primary responsibility to work through challenges. There is a place for writing in fact-based courses when you consider it in the context of online interaction.

OPTIONAL: If you wish, read this magazine article that presents ideas for types of writing assignments that are not an essay, by author and consultant Judith Boettcher:

Evidence of Learning Online: Assessment Beyond The Paper (Links to an external site.)

Designing Written Assessments

Designing a Writing Assignment/Assessment

In the online environment, you must write out the details that you communicate verbally in a traditional class. Four members of the Boise State English Department — Melissa Keith, Jen Black, Stephanie Cox, and Jill Heney— have developed a list of strategies for written assignments. While planning a writing assignment, you will need to make decisions about its content and structure:

  • Module learning objective(s)

  • Writing structure and formatting requirements - e.g., level of formality, format, number of pages, spacing, margins, citation style, etc.

  • Evaluation rubric or grading criteria (we will cover these topics later)

  • Topic scope - open-ended or well-defined

  • Formative vs. summative assessment

  • Time required to complete and spacing between assignments

  • Whether to break up a large assignment into smaller assignments (outline, draft, revisions)

  • Prerequisite/postrequisite course content or activity

  • Examples to provide to students

  • Strategies to prevent plagiarism (we will cover this and other related issues later)

The full, comprehensive list developed by the English faculty members is available as a printable PDF document:

Strategies and Tips for Effective Writing Assignments in Online Classes

PLEASE CHOOSE: Visit one or more of these resources for tips on designing writing assignments:

References

Boettcher, J. (2011). Evidence of learning online: Assessment beyond the paper (Links to an external site.). Campus Technology. Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2011/02/23/Assessment-Beyond-The-Paper.aspx?Page=1

Boise State University Writing Center. (2013). Writing Center handouts\exercises (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://writingcenter.boisestate.edu/resources/

Boise State English Support. (2018).  Supporting Writing Development (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://englishsupport.boisestate.edu/for-faculty-and-staff/supporting-writing-development/

Essid, J. (2006). Writing across the curriculum (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://writing2.richmond.edu/wac/binder/

Harvard University. (2013). Harvard Writing Project (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.writingprogram.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k24101&pageid=icb.page123041

Keith, M., Black, J., Cox, S., &  Heney, J. (2010). Strategies and tips for effective writing assignments in online classes. (Links to an external site.) [PDF]

Examples of Written Assessments

One-Page Essay (2 hr)

Activity Directions 

  1. Collect and review the notes that you took on your reading.

  2. Write a 1-page essay on one of the topic(s) listed below. 

  • Assume you are the Chief Commander of the Allied Forces. Draft an address to the public at the conclusion of the WWII.

    • Assume you are the Prime Minister of Japan in 1940. Would you issue the plan to attack Pearl Harbor against the United States? Why? List at least five reasons that support your decision.

Submitting Your Assignment

Use the assignment link in this folder to attach and submit your file by 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on Monday. Before you submit, make sure your assignment follows these guidelines:

  • Your document needs to be a Microsoft Word document (single-spaced text, double-spaced between paragraphs, 800-word limit).

  • When saving/downloading your document, make sure you use the following naming convention: LastnameFirstinitial_EC#

    • Example for Module 03: BeckieN_03.docx

Writing Guidelines

  • This essay should not be a repetition of the information found in your reading. Rather, it should show how ideas from your reading have influenced your own thinking about the topic.

  • Work independently on all steps so that you may develop your own knowledge and practices through the experience of writing and researching on your own.

  • Provide citations for readings you draw on so that I can understand which ideas and writing are your original work and what sources you used.

    • Note: When you quote from the assigned readings, you can simply state after the quote: (Author). You do not need to put a reference page in if you only use our texts. If you use quotes from other sources in the assigned reading, you can state after the quote: (Author as cited in Author). You do not need to add a reference page in this case, either. Please note that the above conventions are not MLA, but are modified to meet our class needs.

Assessment Criteria

  • This one-page essay constitutes 10% of your final grade. Review the criteria that will be used to grade your essay below.

Further Clarification

  • Please post questions about this assignment to the Course Questions discussion forum. You may email me at name@boisestate.edu should you need further clarification.

Questions

  • For technical assistance, please contact the Boise State Help Desk.

  • If you need assistance, email me using the contact information provided in both the syllabus and in the Faculty Information area of the course.

Feedback

You will receive feedback on this activity in three ways:

  • I will provide regular feedback to the entire class related to this activity.

  • The activity listed in Grades will confirm that your work has been reviewed and whether you have received credit.

  • You may also be given individual feedback on the assignment that you can access via Grades.

Additional Support

  • Students are encouraged to use the Boise State Writing Center. The Writing Center offers one-on-one consultations at any stage of the writing process.

Additional Support for Research Papers

  • Students are encouraged to make use of the full range of Boise State Albertsons Library resources and services including the use of scholarly research databases, library books, and online or face-to-face consultation with reference librarians. Librarians can help define topics, search for sources, and help assess the quality of your sources. 

Comments on Written Assessment Example

Specific directions accompany the essay prompt, providing details such as:

  • The average amount of time students will need to complete the activity. 

  • A description of tasks to complete before the writing activity.

  • How the learning activity should be completed (individually, in groups, etc.).

  • Due dates and/or deadlines for completion of various tasks.

  • The format of the activity (homework, paper, report, project, experiment, interview, etc.).

  • Resources needed and where to find them.

  • How to turn in the assignment/activity. Although you may have this outlined in your syllabus already, a quick reminder may relieve you of unnecessary emails from your students.

  • If student participation in the learning activity will be evaluated, including grading criteria or a rubric. If there is an assessment related to this activity, direct students on how and when to take the assessment. Students need to know how the learning activity is linked to their course grade.

  • How and when you will give feedback about their participation in the activity?

    • If there is an evaluation or assessment, students might not understand they need to go to the Grades area of their course or they may be waiting for you to send them an email. Explain how and when you will give feedback about their participation in the activity.

  • Where do they need to go if they need further clarification on how to complete the activity? For example, do you want them to go to their peers first or to you? Do you want an email or a call?

Research Paper

Students are required to complete a secondary research project in this course. In a secondary research project, researchers gather and evaluate peer-reviewed articles that have been conducted on the topic of interest.

In this course, your research will focus on the effects and/or changes in (the field of xxx) related to (xxx specific area).

Specific weekly goals are to be reached toward the development of this paper. You will work independently on your selected topic in order to become somewhat of an expert. A five-to-six-page summary of your research will be due in Week 07.

A goal of this assignment is to increase your exposure to multiple aspects of this topic. To best accomplish this, please avoid duplicating articles used by your classmates.

You will also present your findings and conclusions in a brief oral presentation to the instructor and your classmates in a group online video conference using Google Hangouts.

Learning Objectives 

  • Select, evaluate, and write effectively about resources that address the impact of (xxx) on the field of (xxx).

  • Explain one aspect of the impact of (xxx) on the field of (xxx) in a presentation.

Overview

A brief overview of the project is provided below. Detailed instructions will be provided each week. Refer to the course schedule for specific due dates.

  • Week 01: Select a topic from the list provided by the instructor and develop a research question. Submit it for instructor approval. Sign up for the group presentation of your findings that occurs in Week 07.

  • Week 02: Identify and propose four peer-reviewed articles that you will use to address your research question. Create a list of proposed articles with an explanation of what aspect of the topic each article will address. Submit the list of articles for instructor approval. 

  • Week 03: Prepare a written draft of an abstract for one of your approved articles and submit it for feedback from the instructor. 

  • Week 04: Review instructor feedback on your abstract, make your revisions and prepare abstracts for the three remaining articles. As a group, the four abstracts serve as the literature review for your written paper.

  • Week 05: Critically analyze the impact of (xxx) on the field of (xxx) in the context of your written articles. Prepare a written draft of a three to four-page summary addressing the main points in each article and how they relate to each other. Identify any themes and how the research addresses your research question or focus. Prior to submitting your work in Week 07, you may wish to have someone--a classmate, family member, or friend--read your rough draft and give you feedback on how to improve it.  

  • Week 06: Continue preparing your four abstracts and summary for submission in Week 07. Add to these a two to three-page opinion statement, which should address the following prompt: Using what you have learned during this research project and personal experience as the basis for your position, explain how you perceive (xxx) has impacted and will impact: a) you as a professional in the field of (xxx)  b) the (xxx) stakeholder community.  Speculate what other impacts specific to your research question that (xxx) may have in the future. (i.e.: systems changes, procedural and policy changes).

  • Week 07: Submit your abstracts, summary, and opinion paper for grading. Later in the week, small groups of five or six students will meet with the instructor in an online video conference. You will each share your research summary and conclusions in a five to ten-minute oral presentation. Each presentation will be followed by five minutes of question-and-answer and then a final group discussion lasting no more than fifteen minutes.

Sign-up for a presentation time slot in Week 01.   

Grading Criteria

To view the grading criteria used to evaluate the deliverables of this project, go to Grades. Prior to students submitting their final abstracts and summaries, papers will be checked by an anti-plagiarism service to ensure that no plagiarism is involved.

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