CEP 812 I Michigan State University
Research Topics
Below are several topics that we found relevent to our question of "How do you assess in the 21st century with the internet?"
TPACK
"Mishra, Koehler, and Henriksen (2011) have argued that the best uses of educational technology must be grounded in a creative mindset that embraces openness for the new and intellectual risk-taking." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"Since technologies emerge and shift continuously, a tool-based focus is akin to a moving target. Creative real-world approaches to teaching might allow us to also consider how technology helps us view and learn content in original or compelling ways. It allows us to create content, rather than summarize and repeat it." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"We suggest there are two key aspects to the role of technology and creativity in the classroom. The first is that educators must be creative in devising new ways of thinking about technology, particularly for teaching specific content. Most digital tools (be it Facebook or a smart-phone or any other tool) have usually not been designed for educational purposes. It becomes an opportunity for the teacher to creatively repurpose existing tools for educational purposes (Koehler et al., 2011). Second, it is also clear that technologies afford new ways of constructing, representing, communicating, and sharing knowledge, providing opportunities for creative output by and between students that were not possible before." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
Best Practices
"Innovative test delivery models are adopted to collect, analyze, and report student-level data. Among these models, computerized adaptive testing (CAT) based on item response theory (IRT) has been attracting more and more attention. The basic idea of CAT is that test items are selected by the computer to individually match the ability level of each student...CAT is becoming more and more common in high-stake assessment. For instance, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the nursing licensing exam, and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), are all now primarily offered in CAT...The tests tailor each question to the knowledge and abilities of the students, thereby theoretically keeping them appropriately challenged and more likely to stay engaged...By using more precise and efficient assessments that take less time to complete, teachers and students will get test results that are either just as accurate as traditional tests or more accurate" (Lu et al., 2016).
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"One advantage that comes along with this broad shift is that all of the students' observable test-taking behaviors are stored in computer-generated log files and can be accessed to provide additional information beyond students' overall performance...the potential of this almost infinite amount of information has been extensively praised... For example, they might open up new avenues for understanding how test performance evolves from a research perspective, they might explain how differences between countries are grounded in behavioral differences from an educational policy perspective, and they might integrate assessment and learning through direct feedback and dedicated interventions from an instructional science perspective" (Greiff et al., 2016).
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"A product is concrete and more amenable to evaluation, but process may be more important to teachers since its respects the whole learner (process may be idiosyncratic and playful, which also brings up another challenge). For example, an ICT approach tends to focus on the final output or product, compared to the art teacher concerned with process. In considering both creativity and technology, assessment has to consider how to navigate between and consider both product and process, for effective, creative uses of classroom technology." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"It is important that we not focus on just one approach towards assessment but explore a range of alternative assessment formats that consider how creativity and technology intersect. These allow for the dynamic, flexible, application of idea across learning contexts." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"The outcomes of formative assessments should enable teachers to make instructional decisions and enable students to set goals, allow students to evaluate their performance and change their approaches to learning, while actively engaging the students in their learning; improving their skills and knowledge; motivating and allowing students to become independent learners (Crookall, 2010; Eccelestone, 2010; Slavich, & Zimbardo, 2012)." (Spector et al., 2016)
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Personalized Assessment
"Innovative test delivery models are adopted to collect, analyze, and report student-level data. Among these models, computerized adaptive testing (CAT) based on item response theory (IRT) has been attracting more and more attention. The basic idea of CAT is that test items are selected by the computer to individually match the ability level of each student...CAT is becoming more and more common in high-stake assessment. For instance, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the nursing licensing exam, and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), are all now primarily offered in CAT...The tests tailor each question to the knowledge and abilities of the students, thereby theoretically keeping them appropriately challenged and more likely to stay engaged...By using more precise and efficient assessments that take less time to complete, teachers and students will get test results that are either just as accurate as traditional tests or more accurate" (Lu et al., 2016).
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"One advantage that comes along with this broad shift is that all of the students' observable test-taking behaviors are stored in computer-generated log files and can be accessed to provide additional information beyond students' overall performance...the potential of this almost infinite amount of information has been extensively praised... For example, they might open up new avenues for understanding how test performance evolves from a research perspective, they might explain how differences between countries are grounded in behavioral differences from an educational policy perspective, and they might integrate assessment and learning through direct feedback and dedicated interventions from an instructional science perspective" (Greiff et al., 2016).
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"However, in the 21st century and with new technologies, there are multiple opportunities to capture both performance and assessment data and analyse them to understand how students are progressing with various forms of activities and then determine what adjustments might be made to help different learners (Bichsel, 2012)." (Spector et al., 2016)
Education Policy
For decades, the multiple choice test was the most efficent and dependable way to assess students. (Stiggins, 1995) "While the assessment community may not have intended it, the assessment message that practitioners heard was "translate all of your achievement targets into multiple-choice test items for assessment. Any targets that cannot be so translated are not worth teaching, because they cannot be dependably and scientifically assessed." (Stiggins, 1995) Educators are constantly attending new professional developments and looking into new technologies to enhance assessments to meet the needs of their students. But policy makers are continuing to struggle to develop appropraite state tests to meet the needs of the 21st century learner."Leaders must make public a clear expectation of competence in assessment and must allocate the necessary resources." (Stiggins, 1995)
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"So essential challenges invovle convincing policy makers, who often prefer clear answers and objectivity that is important to infuse curricula with creativty, an area that does not have one "right" answer. Along these lines, policy must also begin to consider the intersection of technology with creativity, and offer guidelines for how these ideas can intersect in the classroom." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"Creativity is also not a skill that is limited to few individuals. Similarly, technology is not something that is limited to a few individuals or in a few select domains. In policy and curricular documents these issues related to creativty and technology should be part for all learners, not just for the "special" or "talented" ones." (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisher, 2016)
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"Sometimes, overemphasis on summative assessments such as grades, standardized test scores, comparative rankings and annual performance ratings have resulted in too little emphasis on and support for formative assessment providing individualized and constructive feedback during learning (Baker, 2007; Ecclestone, 2010; Harlen & Deakin Crick, 2002; Sadler & Good, 2006)." (Spector et al., 2016)
"Two forms of change are required: (a) more emphasis on formative assessment (and less on summative assessment) as formative assessment is linked directly to improved learning, and (b) formative assessment practices to address learning situations that present difficult challenges (e.g., large and multigrade classrooms, inquiry- and problem-based learning). New technologies and technology enhanced delivery modes such as MOOCs, serious games, and gamification will be unable to realize their full potential and impact on learning if new methods, tools and resources are not used effectively to encourage students to gain knowledge and learn the necessary skills." (-)
"Learning in the 21st century includes digital literacy (skills associated with searching, evaluating, using, modifying and creating digital artifacts) and reasoning literacy (critical thinking skills) among the other basic skills to be developed in primary and secondary education that need to be enhanced through formative assessment for learning." (Spector et al., 2016)
"In order to move assessment into the 21st century, educational institutions need to invest in professional development and use of new tools and technologies especially well-suited for complex problem-solving domains, personalized learning and massive online learning situations. In addition, new assessment tools and technologies could be used for meaningful diagnostic and cross-cultural purposes to form the basis for informing and improving educational systems to enhance students learning. This type of supported learning environment can assist life-long learning, including developing effective problem solving and critical thinking skills." (Spector et al., 2016)
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Resource Availability During Testing
Using the Internet
​"Administering exams via internet software would allow lecturers to create tests that were aligned with course content rather than "trivia" quizzes. 'What you want to test is problem-solving and analytical skills, and ... students' ability to reflect and discuss one particular topic'" (Cunnane, 2011).
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"On the issue of plagiarism and cheating, Ms Petersen said that while there would always be legitimate concerns, online assessment presented a novel solution to the problem.'One way of preventing cheating is by saying nothing is allowed and giving students a piece of paper and a pen,' she said. 'The other way is to say everything is allowed except plagiarism. "So if you allow communication, discussions, searches and so on, you eliminate cheating because it's not cheating any more. That is the way we should think' (Cunnane, 2011).
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"The head of a British exam board has said that students should be allowed Internet access – including the ability to carry out Google searches – during exams. The head of the OCR school examinations board Mark Dawe told the BBC’s Today program that this would accurately reflect the way they would work after leaving school...He argued that exams would need to change, asking for less regurgitation of facts and more interpretation and analysis" (Lovejoy, 2015).
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"The teachers also think the nature of the questions make it harder to cheat in exams. Students are no longer required to regurgitate facts and figures. Instead the emphasis is on their ability to sift through and analyze the information" (Michaelsen, 2012).
Using Tools
Teaching kids real math with computers. (Wolfram, 2010)
"Picasso was onto this truth fifty years ago when he commented, 'Computers are useless -- they only give you answers.' On the other hand, technology can serve up amazing, innovative, life-changing answers -- if we know how to ask for them...Clearly, technology will have the answers covered -- so we will no longer need to fill our heads with those answers as much as we once did.... In the current era of Google and Watson, with databases doing much of the 'knowing' for us, many critics today question the wisdom of an education system that still revolves around teaching students to memorize facts" (Berger, 2014, p. 26).