Students will provide a list of the assessments currently used in their system, school, or

classroom and the prescribed role of the assessment, and time frame for usage. The goal is to

understand the commonly used assessment for student/teacher evaluation and the prescribed role

of assessments.

Write about the similarities and differences between assessment systems utilized by institutions.

The following are some of the assessments that are currently used in Trevecca’s IDT program.

The assessments are broken down into three different outcome types as outlined by Morrison,

Ross, Kalman, and Kemp (2013). The outcome types are knowledge, skills and behavior, and

attitudes.

Knowledge: Constructed-Response Tests

Morrison, Ross, Kalman, and Kemp (2013) state that, “Constructed-response tests require the

learner to generate (“construct”) responses to questions. Thus, alternative answers and/or

solution strategies are usually possible” (p. 260).

Short essay: Trevecca’s online Instructional Design and Technology program uses short essays

in the form of discussion posts as well as reflections and devotions each week. These short essay

or discussion posts allow the learners to demonstrate their knowledge through responses to these

questions or prompts.

Long essay: Trevecca’s IDT program uses long essays or assignment papers quite often to allow

students to further elaborate on their knowledge of the course topic. These types of assignments

are usually done at least three or four times per course and especially as the final project for the

course.

Skills and Behavior

Authentic Tests: Morrison, Ross, Kalman, and Kemp (2013) emphasize that examples of

authentic tests are, “Portfolios or exhibitions that display students’ work in meaningful contexts”

(p. 261).

Weebly Portfolio: As part of Trevecca’s IDT program, each student is required to develop a

Weebly portfolio online to showcase artifacts from the program. Artifacts from each course are

added upon completion of each course so that a finished portfolio is established upon completion

of the IDT program. The portfolio demonstrates the students’ skills that were developed

throughout the IDT program.

Attitudes

Observation of instruction:

Attitude surveys: Morrison, Ross, Kalman, and Kemp (2013) refer to examples of attitude

surveys as, “Ratings of instructor preparedness, lesson difficulty, clarity, and organization, open-

ended evaluation by hospital patients of the bedside manner of the nurses who cared for them”

(p. 261). At the completion of each course in Trevecca’s IDT program, students are asked to

complete a course evaluation. Students are asked questions about the course materials, their

study habits, appropriateness of course assignments, and the preparedness of the instructor.

Open-ended questions allow for additional comments and recommendations for improving the

course.

Similarities and Differences

Other colleges and universities that I have attended use some of the same assessment tools as

Trevecca’s IDT program, but they also use other assessment tools for certain courses. For

example, I took some MBA courses at Patten University, and all courses required students to

pass a final exam, which consisted of at least one hundred questions pertaining to the course
material. At the beginning go each class, students were required to take a pre-test to gauge their

knowledge of the course material. Before students could take the final exam, they were required

to pass a preliminary or text exam. This allowed them to determine their readiness to take the

final. In other courses I have taken, problem-solving assessments were administered, such as in

statistics or algebra classes. I have found that the short essay and long essay types of

assessments that Trevecca uses have been more beneficial to me in demonstrating my knowledge

and application of the course material than just taking a multiple-choice exam. I believe this

format enhances the learning process and assists in knowledge retention.

References

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K. & Kemp, J. E. (2013). Designing effective

instruction (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.