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Choosing Appropriate Assessments

How Do I Approach Assessment?

Approaching assessment begins during the course design process, and requires careful consideration of student learning progression and outcome attainment in the course and the program. Creating assessments that both engage and measure the right outcomes is one of the fundamental tools you have to communicate and emphasize the key knowledge and skills being developed in your course.

Please review the Approaching Assessment Design section of this guide, for more information about embedding assessment design into your course. That section outlines:

As has been discussed in the previous section, assessments should be meaningful and signal what is most important in the course, and so building strong alignment between student learning outcomes and the assessment tools used to measure them is critical to keeping students engaged. 

While chunking down larger assessments into smaller pieces can lessen the “all-or-nothing” nature of large assignments, having 2-3 small tests or assignments per week (possibly in each of their courses) quickly leads to burnout in students because the constant small deadlines make it impossible to focus on drawing deeper connections between material and overall course learning. So while it is important to provide students opportunities to grow their learning throughout the course by allowing early formative feedback to check learning and progress, this should be balanced with considerations of workload, the relevance of these smaller assessed pieces to student learning outcomes, and their connection to more significant pieces of assessment in the course.

The Opportunity for Assessment Redesign

Integrating assessments that appropriately measure student learning outcomes provides students clarity and understanding about how their skills and knowledge will develop throughout the course, and how the assessments in the course allow them opportunities to build and demonstrate that learning to you as the instructor, but also serve as tools for them to reflect on their own learning.

When engaging with assessment redesign you could consider the following questions:

  • What learning am I trying to measure?
  • What are the essential and enduring knowledge, skills and values that are of highest priority and value in this course?
  • How can this learning best be displayed and measured?
  • What supports and information are needed for students to be adequately prepared?
  • How can academic integrity be integrated into the process?
  • What environment needs to be created to support student performance?
  • How can student development through formative feedback be supported?
  • How does class size impact my choices?

The above questions will help define your choices for assessment and how this can be integrated into your course. When reflecting on the above questions, consider if your assessment choices allow you to:

  • Clearly measure what needs to be measured;
  • Provide students with the environment and supports to display necessary performance;
  • Design assessment so that academic integrity is supported throughout the assessment process; and
  • Balance the assessment workload so that it is sustainable for both you and your students.

Assessments that are rooted in course and program learning outcomes and encourage students to draw connections between course concepts and their own lives support students in reflecting in order to display their learning and achievement of those outcomes. These assessments provide a richer learning experience with academic integrity infused at its core (such as in assessments that are scaffolded throughout the course, come from deep personal reflection, and assessment that allow learning to be demonstrated in multiple ways).

The list of assessments within this guide is offered as a starting place for reconsidering your assessment, all offer opportunities to measure learning in different ways with processes for ensuring academic integrity. To receive more focused support for your course, and its context, you are encouraged to reach out to wluteaching@wlu.ca.

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Assessment Examples

Assessments align the outcome being assessed with the appropriate measure by which to assess it and provide clarity to students and instructors about the clear achievement of learning outcomes. Assessments that allow students to see themselves and the wider world provide deeper meaning, connection, and significance. The following non-exhaustive list of assessments is meant to provide some ideas about a broad range of assessment types and when they may be used:

Laurier instructors can download PDFs versions of all of these assessment strategies on Connect. 

Annotated Bibliographies

A bibliography is an alphabetized list of sources, such as books, journal articles, websites, newspaper databases and other documents that are relevant to a course or project. An annotation is a brief description or comment on a piece of text. An annotated bibliography, then, is a list of sources that includes a brief descriptive or evaluative paragraph (approx. 150 words) that informs the reader why the source is relevant or accurate to the proposed project and/or learning outcomes.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess the breadth of, and engagement with, course materials. Short summaries for each entry provide breadth. Longer, essay style questions developed out of the summaries asking students to respond to critical issues in the course can add depth to the assessment of course learning outcomes.

When Would You Use It?

  • In courses where understanding relevant material from a variety of sources is essential.
  • As part of a broader assessment package where students develop multiple connected products (individual/collaborative essay, voice over PowerPoint presentation, report on team functioning, if a collaborative project) to build both breadth and depth in assessment of course learning outcomes.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Choose the number of sources (minimum/maximum) to be annotated, and determine what kinds of sources students must choose. Examples include primary sources, secondary sources, websites, or peer-reviewed journals. Students will write their annotations in a paragraph format under the alphabetized citation entry.
  • Rubric: A grading rubric can be used in MyLS to outline expectations and assessment approach to students.
  • Explain the purpose of the Annotated bibliography, how it connects to learning outcomes and other assessment activities.
    • Asynchronously: create or upload a file on MyLS that outlines the guidelines for the annotated bibliography, such as document type for submission (Word or Google Docs), the number of sources to be annotated, length and type of annotations (descriptive v. evaluative), citation style (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago).
    • Synchronously: discuss the purpose of an annotated bibliography with students and consider sharing examples of proper citations, annotated sources, and discussing what makes for an acceptable source (e.g. peer-review journals
Laurier Resources and Guides
  • The Library provides an instructional video, template, and worksheet that instructors can integrate into their courses to support students in planning, formatting, and writing an annotated bibliography.
  • Writing Skills services can develop in-class workshops on annotated bibliographies. Further information on staff supports for courses on either campus can be found on Connect.
Resource

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Case Studies

Case studies provide an opportunity for instructors to prepare a real-world problem or simulated scenario for students to problem solve. Case study assignments can be short-structured (“mini”) cases for single-lesson activities or long-structured with scaffolded tasks that lead towards a final case report.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess both breadth and depth of student learning through the analysis, or development of a particular case, or multiple cases, with guided questioning.
  • To assess students' research, problem solving, or argumentation skills. To prioritize close reading skills, analysis, and written communication skills.

When Would You Use It?

  • In courses where case analysis is part of the course learning process.
  • In situations where course learning outcomes promote problem solving and analytical skill development.
  • In courses where student understanding of the real-world application of course material is prioritized in course learning outcomes.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Assignment submissions can be either written responses to proposed questions about a case study or the development of a case study based on research material.
  • Instructors can integrate case information, research materials, and guided questions to support student learning through active problem solving in three parts:
    • Analyze issues and identify problems: have students identify and define the problem, evaluate what information they have and what information they need, and consider a hypothesis on how to resolve the problem
    • Strategize to examine and solve the problem. Students in this part can construct an inquiry plan and define what the possible options are to solve the problem.
    • Present research findings and the approach they took in a written format.
  • At each stage, it is important to designate time for students to share their ideas and collaborate on strategies and solutions.
    • Synchronously: explain guidelines, opportunities to answer questions, and review examples of case studies. Create dedicated time and spaces for case study discussion and group work using Zoom’s breakout room features. Student presentations of case study approaches and findings can also be shared during synchronous classes.
    • Asynchronously: use MyLS to provide assignment guidelines, set up release dates for staged-tasks and information for the case study, and examples of case studies. Discussion Boards on MyLS can be created to share information, tasks or questions on either parts or sections of the case to allow students to share their responses and thinking with each other.
  • Rubrics can also be used to either evaluate individual work and provide instructor feedback or for any group work so students can evaluate themselves and their peers. 


Examples and Resources 

 

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Classroom Assessment Techniques

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are simple, synchronous, non-graded, anonymous activities, such as muddiest point or one-minute papers. These assessments provide instructors and students with formative feedback on the teaching and learning process as it occurs. Sharing and discussing feedback from CATs with the class enhances understanding of approaches and student engagement in ongoing CATs throughout the course.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Helpful for checking skill development with less work than traditional assignments (exams, papers), assess prior knowledge, recall or skill development.
  • Can be used to ascertain the values, attitudes and self-awareness of students prior to engaging in sensitive content.
  • Helps students feel more seen in large classes, and to monitor their own learning.

When Would You Use It?

  • Any point during the learning process to check in with your learning community to ensure benchmark learning has been achieved.
  • At specific points to ensure key components are comprehended.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Decide what you want formative feedback on:
    • Assessing prior knowledge, recall, and understanding;
    • Assessing skills in analysis and critical thinking; or
    • Assessing skills in synthesis and creative thinking.
  • Choose a CAT that will best provide you with the desired formative feedback. Angelo and Cross (1993) offer 50 different strategies for gathering meaningful feedback. Some examples are listed here:
    • Background Knowledge Probe: short, simple questionnaires prepared by instructors for use at the beginning of a course or at the start of new units or topics. Implement by creating a survey using the Survey Tool in MyLS (asynchronous) or the polling option in Zoom (synchronous).
    • Pro and Con Grid: students list the pros/cons, costs/benefits, or advantages/disadvantages of either an issue, a question or the value of a competing claim. To implement, create a grid template that students can fill in and submit to MyLS Dropbox. Synchronously, develop a list using online collaborative sharing tools such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Padlet to facilitate the activity in class time. Instructors can share both the link to the tool and share the screen for the class to see the emergence of responses. Students can also work together in Zoom breakout rooms to complete the task with collaborative technology.
    • Muddiest Point: short student feedback on the most unclear material in a class. Well-suited for large classes, where students are asked “What was the muddiest point in this class/unit/etc.” Can do conducted synchronously or asynchronously through the use of surveys.
    • One-Minute Paper: short student feedback on the most important learning from a class or resources. Either asynchronously or through synchronous sessions, ask students to anonymously answer 2 questions: “What is the most important think you learned during this class/unit” and “What important questions remain unanswered.”
    • Everyday Ethical Dilemma: Students respond to a case study that poses a discipline-related ethical dilemma.
    • Goal Ranking and Matching: Students list and prioritize 3 to 5 goals they have for their own learning in the course.
    • Self-Assessment Ways of Learning: Students compare themselves with several different “learning styles” profiles to find the most likely match.
    • Electronic Survey Feedback: Students respond to a question or short series of questions about the effectiveness of the course or particular class activities, assignments or materials.
  • Explain the purpose of the CAT, how it connects to learning outcomes and other aspects of assessment in your course, and consider what tools will be used for submission (MyLS dropbox or survey tools or Zoom polling for example).
  • Review the results and discuss the results with your students, taking into consideration how the results will be used to inform teaching and learning moving forward.

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Classroom Response Systems (e.g. iClicker)

Classroom Response System (CRS) is technology that promotes and implements active learning by allowing students to participate in quick polling and low-stakes assessment during synchronous sessions. As polling is conducted synchronously, results can be viewed in real time and can follow a question period for review. iClicker is Laurier’s chosen CRS. With the software, such as iClicker Cloud, instructors can access study guides that are generated from class polls, and students can use the devices they already have access too. If you choose to engage with iClicker at Laurier, email myls@wlu.ca.

If grading isn’t required, Zoom’s polling option can be used for check-ins and quick, informal responses. Zoom polling reports aren’t linked to the MyLS gradebook, but instructors can still use them to receive immediate, ungraded formative feedback.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To increase student engagement and learning in your classes.
  • Makes students active participants in the learning process.
  • Creates a more dynamic, interactive classroom experience which can be enjoyable and fun for both the instructor and students.

When Would You Use It?

  • Any time! Can be integrated into PPT or as a stand-alone program with questions either created and saved before class or created spontaneously in class.
  • iClickers are not just for large classes, they can be equally but differently effective in small classes.
  • Determining the pedagogical approach and understanding the technical implementation are keys to successful use of clickers.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Register software: iClicker software can be integrated directly with MyLS for both iClicker registration and synchronization with grading data. Student registration ensures that data from students’ iClickers sync easily with MyLS so instructors know to which student the iClicker response belongs to. Integration also allows for iClicker responses to be easily uploaded to the gradebook in MyLS. If you choose to engage with iClicker at Laurier, email myls@wlu.ca.
  • Synchronously: iClickers are best suited for multiple choice or true/false questions. Questions can be designed to quiz students on an assigned reading or to recall a lecture point, to survey students for background or opinions, to elicit pre-existing thinking, or to test conceptual understanding.
  • The following steps can be used to increase student engagement and learning, especially for higher-order questions:
    1. Poll: Post a question to the class and provide time for students to respond individually to the question with their iClicker/app. Don’t reveal the results just yet!
    2. Group Discussion: Using Zoom break-out groups, have students discuss the question in small groups to enable peer discussion, and have them agree on what they think the correct answer is.
    3. Poll Again: Post the question again and have students respond using the iClicker.
    4. Class Discussion: Share results from both responses. Compare and discuss results with the class. 
  • Alternatively, instructors can use Zoom’s built-in polling options for ungraded formative feedback during synchronous sessions. Polling questions can be uploaded prior to the session or made during a synchronous class.
Resources

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Close Reading with Questions

Close readings of a chosen text (articles, chapters, books, etc.) prioritize active reading skills. Along with the chosen text, instructors provide a list of associated questions so students can either answer content specific questions or practice active reading: analyzing, interpreting, or evaluating a text and understanding the purpose of the text within the course and learning objectives.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To encourage students to read and re-read a text with a more analytical and methodological approach .
  • To allow you the opportunity to offer more complex texts that require students to reflect on meaning of specific words or sentences in detail.
  • To develop more independence in student thinking.

When Would You Use It?

  • In situations where you have a variety of sections of text that can be distribute throughout the student population.
  • In seminar-style classes where mastery of research is paramount.
  • As a formative preparation for more summative research papers.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Reading selection: Instructor selects a text that is both challenging and suitable for the learning outcomes.
  • Establish guiding questions: the instructor reads through the text and identifies potential challenges of the text and writes a list of questions that will engage students. The questions asked should encourage students to refer to the text itself when providing their responses. Though the questions asked will vary from discipline to discipline and from one text to the next, some guiding questions can include:
    • What was the thesis/hypothesis/argument?
    • Is the author’s evidence well-supported?
    • What primary or secondary sources does the author use to support the argument? And what seems to be missing?
    • Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
    • What are the study’s broader implications?
    • What patterns are in the text?
    • What aspects of the reading are confusing and why?
    • What literary devices or elements are used by the author (i.e. plot, narrator/speaker, conflict, language). See Laurier’s Reading Strategies: Close Reading for literature-related questions.
  • Explain the purpose of the assessment and how it connects to learning outcomes. Asynchronously create or upload a file on MyLS that outlines the guidelines for the assignment, including the due date, format for submission, rubric, style guide, and connection to learning outcomes. Assessment expectations can also be discussed during synchronous sessions
  • Synchronously: Close or Critical Reading learning activities can be built into synchronous class activities on Zoom in either the main room or in breakout rooms (See Teaching with Zoom). Collaborative online tools (such as Google docs or Padlet) can also be used at this time to collect, share, and compare answers or reading strategies, which gives students a task to focus on during breakout rooms.
  • Asynchronously: Close or Critical Reading learning activities can be submitted as a Q&A style document, or students can be asked to provide a summary of their findings by either uploading a long-form write-up or a recorded presentation. 
Resources

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Collaborative Essays / Assignments

Collaborative written assignments foster teamwork skills and promote advanced cooperative and collaborative learning. These assignments are also an opportunity for students to collaboratively work on research and writing skills. Either working on a shared document with real-time editing capabilities (Google docs) or through blending individual writing, collaborative written assignments enable groups to work together to develop a response to a complex research question outside of scheduled class hours.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Collaborative writing tools (Google Docs, MS Word Collaboration) allow simultaneous writing and editing by multiple users, including comments and discussion tools. Students can collaborate without needing to physically be together.
  • To assess students’ research, collaboration or argumentation skills. In situations where breadth is necessary, the use of multiple smaller literature reviews can allow for a broader assessment of learning.

When Would You Use It?

  • To demonstrate learning from and through group active learning activities as a part of the formal evaluation of outcomes.
  • Including peer grades using a rubric specifically on the collaborative process of developing the final essay or assignment is important to the overall final assessment to ensure that workload, teamwork skills, and quality of contribution to the final written work can be evaluated fairly.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Choose the parameters of the assignment:
    • The size of groups, and whether to pre-determine groups or have students self-select.
    • Whether roles linked to the tasks and final assignment are pre-assigned by the instructor or self-selected by students.
    • Timelines and assessments for any scaffolded tasks leading to the final assignment submission.
    • A rubric for group members to evaluate themselves and their peers, as tied to learning outcomes.
    • The length of the essay (page length or word count) and whether sections or subheadings are required.
  • Group contracts: Consider developing group contracts to facilitate communication, responsibilities, and roles among student groups.
  • Asynchronously: Instructors may choose to make collaborative essays entirely asynchronous, allowing students to use collaborative online tools (Google Docs or MS Word Collaboration) in their own time. On MyLS, create or upload a file that outlines the guidelines for the collaborative essay, including due dates for scaffolded assignments, the preferred collaborative tools, the purpose of the assignment, the relationship between the collaborative assignment and the learning outcomes, preferred citation guide (MLA, APA, Chicago), formatting expectations, etc. 
  • Synchronously: Discuss expectations and allocated time for collaborative activities (e.g. 1hr of synchronous class time each week). Time could also be provided during synchronous sessions with Zoom’s breakout rooms for student meetings and working on assignment-related tasks. Breakout rooms can be pre-assigned or students can self-select to join the same group every week (e.g. Group 1 joins Breakout Room 1). 
Laurier Resources 

 

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Concept Mapping

Concept maps are tools that help visually represent and organize information and interrelationships through the use of diagramming (for instance, using circles or boxes) to illustrate concepts, lines to connect the concepts, and words to describe the relationships of and between concepts.

They may be used as either summative or formative assessments and are useful to check for student understanding or misunderstanding. Instructors can create a map as a tool to demonstrate the course structure, comments, etc. and use to guide grading of student work. Students can also be asked to create a concept map of their own at the end of learning to demonstrate their understanding of concepts (summative).

Why Would You Use It?

  • Instructors: To reflect on teaching activities, approaches, and strategies (what you do) to learn how to improve instruction to help clarify student understanding.
  • Students: To identify core or critical concepts and the relationships between them, to help students to see connections and relationships between information, to integrate new knowledge with prior learning, and to aid in information recall for long-term memory and assessments.

When Would You Use It?

  • At critical junctures throughout the learning process, including midpoint (formative) or endpoint (summative) of learning activity e.g. module, unit or course.
  • From a course design perspective, as a formative feedback strategy, consider structuring your course to deliver feedback earlier and more frequently to help learners know how they are faring, and how to improve.
  • As a pre-assessment tool, use as an activity for students to make links to what they already know.
  • Instructor feedback needs to occur in a timely fashion and be discussed with learners as soon as possible to improve student learning (formative).

How Would You Use It? 

  • Concept maps can be used either individually or collaboratively for assessment, and they can be regularly used throughout the course to represent ideas and information being covered in a particular week(s) or units of instruction.
  • Topic and Structure: Instructors choose the main theme or topic(s) for the assignment, organizing the assignment around a focus question that the concept maps respond to.
    • Instructors decide what format students can use to create their maps: hand-written (with a picture or scan uploaded to MyLS), Word Document, or PPT slide. If working in groups, students can use collaborative writing tools like Google Docs or MS Word Collaboration to create and submit their assignments.
  • Asynchronously: on MyLS, create or upload a file that provides students with guidelines on what the assignment is and how it connects to learning outcomes, the format for creation and submission, how the assignment will be graded, and due dates. Key phrases and concepts for students to map could also be included.
  • Synchronously: Zoom breakout rooms can be used during synchronous sessions for students to develop concept maps collaboratively and/or to discuss their maps to share their maps and identify gaps in their learning.
  • Rubric: Grading criteria can be made available through a rubric and could include identifying critical concepts, identifying valid relationships between concepts, ability to branch concepts, and use of representative examples for each idea, concept or theme and evidence of understanding of each knowledge domain. 
Examples and Resources

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Content Summaries

Content summaries, or content analysis, ask students to summarize course materials and synthesize the most important components. This assessment can be used to replace final exams with summaries of concepts or course materials that can be completed online (asynchronously). A peer review component can be included for students to collaboratively grade their peers online.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess cognitive engagement with specific course content.
  • To ascertain learning across a course through alternative means to examinations.

When Would You Use It?

  • In courses where lower order thinking skills such as describing and explaining are prioritized over higher order thinking and cognitive skills  involving more complex levels of application, analysis or creation (See Bloom’s Taxonomy).

How Would You Use It? 

  • Determine whether you want students to demonstrate knowledge acquired (Bloom’s lower order thinking) or the application of knowledge (Bloom’s higher order thinking).
    • Consider having students use their work and course materials to discuss their learning, such as how their thoughts have developed since the beginning of the course.
    • Another option is to ask students, either individually or in small groups, to provide a summary of the class content and/or course materials. Instructors can pose one question asking students to identify the main topics covered or can provide students with a longer list of questions that requires students to identify the knowledge or skills they have developed in the course, which areas of learning have developed the most, what most interested them and why, or even to identify ongoing challenges.
    • Will students be required to submit regular summaries, i.e. after every set of class lectures and readings, at the end of a unit, or after a set number of weeks?
  • Consider how the summaries will be evaluated. Will a rubric with clear expectations and grading criteria be provided?
  • Asynchronously: post assignment guidelines that clearly describe the purpose of the assessment, due date(s), format, expected materials or sources to be used, and the relationship to the learning outcomes on MyLS, and create a submission dropbox.
  • Synchronously: discuss assessment expectations and review any examples of summaries. Time can be provided during synchronous sessions for students to write and submit their summaries. Zoom breakout groups can be used for any group summaries. Alternatively, students can write and submit asynchronously in their own time. 
Resources

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Fact Sheets and Policy Briefs

Fact Sheets allow students to identify and communicate relevant evidence to frame a particular issue, problem, or need. Policy Briefs typically have an additional step of making a recommendation to a policymaker to take a particular action. Both formats are short 2-4 page written assignments that are intended to identify problems and solutions using evidence to inform public audiences.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess skills of research, evaluation and selection of relevant evidence.
  • To assess critical analysis of problems or issues, presentation of information to support the identification of problems.
  • To assess creation of an evidence-based document to inform diverse audiences.

When Would You Use It?

  • When representation of information is intended to be succinct, persuasive, and in jargon-free or plain language.
  • In courses where creative formatting and writing for non-academic audiences is a learning outcome.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Instructors can develop a format or template as an (adaptable) model for the class assignment to illustrate the purpose, data, and features they are expected to consider in their own choices. Students should organize information with subtitles, textboxes, and bullet points.
  • Students can roleplay as a researcher or policy analyst working for either an advocacy organization or the public service sector to help them to understand their audience and approach to their communication and content. Allowing students to be creative in formatting (Textboxes, Sidebars, Graphics, Data Visuals) can enhance engagement and ownership in developing their submissions.
  • Asynchronously: on MyLS, post assignment guidelines that clearly describes the purpose, the format, the student’s role, the audience, the characteristics of the evidence, values, and/or voices to include in the fact sheet or brief, and effective communication style. Other guideline considerations include citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago), acceptable sources, examples of Fact Sheets or Policy Briefs, and the relationship of the assignment to the learning outcomes. Students can complete the assignment asynchronously, uploading their final submission through an instructor-created Dropbox on MyLS. 
  • Synchronously: compare and contrast policy writing and academic writing in order to support concise, jargon-free communication skills required for non-academic and persuasive writing. Explain assignment guidelines and review examples of fact sheets or briefs from authentic contexts. Synchronous class time can be provided for students to work on their fact sheets or briefs. Zoom break out groups can be used to allow students to share and develop ideas with their peers.
  • Laurier Librarians who specialize in government and policy research can develop a workshop for the class to support effective research strategies using online tools and databases. 

Examples
Resources

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Individual Research Essays

Assessment of deep learning based on the development of a response to a complex research question(s) in a written format. Research essays are generally the culmination of research centered on a research topic or question, critical thinking, analyzing primary and secondary sources, organization of information, and the final composition.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To examine the depth of student knowledge around a particular issue or topic.
  • To assess students’ research, collaboration or argumentation skills. In situations where breadth is necessary the use of multiple smaller literature reviews can allow for a broader assessment of learning.

When Would You Use It?

  • In Arts based disciplines, where the ability to construct coherent arguments and knowledge building on topics is prioritized.
  • In courses where course learning outcomes promote research and analytical skill development.
  • As part of a broader assessment package where students develop multiple connected products (annotated bibliography, voice over PowerPoint presentation, report on team functioning if a collaborative project) to build both breadth and depth in assessment of course learning outcomes.
  • In active learning environments where students’ cognitive engagement with course content is an important part of the course learning outcomes.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Essay Topics: students either choose their own topic or select from a range of topics or themes provided for them to research.
  • Structure: Once students have chosen a topic and conducted the relevant research, the formal write-up should include an introductory paragraph that identifies the main argument or research question of the essay, supporting paragraphs with clear examples and sources that analytical or critically answer the research question, and a concluding paragraph.
  • Asynchronously: post assignment guidelines to MyLS that clearly describes the purpose, length of the essay, and effective communication style. Include the intended learning objectives and formatting guidelines such as word count, number of sources, citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago). Turnitin can be enabled for a Dropbox folder to monitor submissions and check for potential cases of plagiarism.
  • Synchronously: compare and contrast examples of effective and ineffective writing and formatting. Explain assignment guidelines and discuss expectations on data, evidence and sources. Writing Services can also develop in-class workshops to support writing skills development specific for your assignment. Information on different workshop themes and skills related to research essays can be found on the Writing Support page.
  • Rubric: A grading rubric can be used in MyLS to outline expectations and assessment approach to students.
Laurier writing resources 

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Infographics

Infographics are visual representations of ideas, information, and data. Using infographics as an assessment strategy allows students to think about data choices as well as information design – that is thinking about how to communicate information visually to a specific reader or audience. Building the skills to develop an effective infographic means supporting students in understanding the intended audience and how to communicate information or data in a meaningful way. Infographics are also an alternative assessment to “posters” or “presentations” that support students in using an increasingly common approach to information communication.

Why Would You Use It?

  • When evidence of information, visual and technological literacies are essential student learning outcomes.
  • When research, integration, organization and communication of information, content or ideas are warranted.

When Would You Use It?

  • When visual representation of data is warranted as a way of showing evidence of concepts and explanation of processes.
  • In capstone projects to assist with presentation of data.
  • In situations where you are looking for a creative collaborative learning activity.
  • In asynchronous online discussions, or synchronously by sharing their screen, facilitating a group/class discussion using Teams, Zoom, or other web-based collaborative tools.

How Would You Use It? 

  • In building this assignment, instructors decide on:
    • The purpose and goal of the infographic in this assignment and the connected learning outcome(s).
    • The role of the student and the intended audience, identifying the difference between communicating to the public, communities of interest, and academic audiences.
    • What is an acceptable topic, content, data or sources of information (statistical data, government, academic, think-tanks, advocacy organizations) to interpret in a visual format.
    • Providing a template or choice of templates to support student learning on organizing and communicating the information: Microsoft PowerPoint has Infographic Templates that Laurier students have access to on MS Office Suite. There are also free online Infographic Builders on sites such as Piktochart and Canva.
    • Guiding students in their strategies to collect and organize information and expectations on what to include or think about, for example: number of graphs, sections, data explanations, number of facts, sources, visual flow of information, design choices (colour, font, text boxes).
    • Guidelines on thinking about diversity and inclusion in visual graphics.
  • Asynchronously: provide assignment guidelines and examples of infographics on MyLS. Consider creating opportunities for scaffolded submissions to share initial drafts of visual plans to allow for peer or instructor formative feedback (perhaps using a rubric). Set-up a dropbox folder for student submission.
  • Synchronously: Through Zoom, instructors can dedicate class time (and/or record) to develop a “how to lesson” in order to model to students how to take data or information and represent it graphically. Zoom break-out groups can also be used for students to share initial drafts, outline, or visual plans to receive peer or instructor formative feedback. 
Examples & Resources 

 

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Just-in-Time Teaching Exercises

Just-in-Time Teaching was developed by Gregor Novak (1999) as an active learning strategy that has been used in large classes. With this assessment, students prepare a reading and begin an assignment that involves a complex answer. Students submit their initial work to the instructor prior to the class. The instructor then adapts the upcoming class with feedback on initial submissions, areas to address particular difficulties, and other questions to encourage cooperative and further learning to complete the assignment in class.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Provides opportunities for active learning and the construction of new knowledge from prior knowledge.
  • Prompts formative assessment and feedback to students.

When Would You Use It?

  • When a "flipped classroom" model is adopted as a teaching strategy to support student learning.
  • When learning outcomes include building team or collaboration skills, applying concepts in practice, and/or problem-solving skills.

How Would You Use It? 

  • This approach is best implemented in 2 stages:
    • Stage One | Asynchronously: An instructor shares an activity, reading and questions or a problem in the Content on MyLS with students to complete on their own time and submit to the Dropbox in the hours before class. This is called the “warm-up”. These warm-up questions are designed without “pre-defined answers” and instead allow students to engage in Bloom’s higher-order thinking and prepare for engagement in the upcoming class.
      • Asynchronously post assignment guidelines to MyLS. The guidelines should specify the purpose and process of the JiTT activities, and the relationship of the assignment to learning outcomes, course materials, and other assessments. Include any formatting or grading rubric criteria. 
    • Stage Two | Synchronously: The instructor examines the student submissions for common misconceptions, challenges, and questions to share or address. The input is used to guide the upcoming class when students will continue to work on elaborating their thinking and ideas as well as working collaboratively on the activity, questions, or problem.
      • Zoom's built-in features can be used to enhance student engagement on this task. Students can be sent to breakout rooms and collaborative tools such as the Zoom whiteboard, Padlet, or Google suite (Docs, Slides) can be used for students to engage in second stage tasks. 
Discipline Specific Examples and Approaches 

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Literature Reviews

Students research, collect, evaluate, select and integrate scholarly work on a particular topic, concept, or theory. Using literature reviews from existing academic articles as examples supports students in understanding the purpose as well as the format of the assessment activity.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess research and evaluation skills of key debates, conceptual or theoretical genealogy, or developments in research from academic work.
  • To assess the development of commonly used academic writing skills.
  • To assess student cognitive engagement with a particular scholarly topic or how they are situating their own work within an existing literature set.

When Would You Use It?

  • Literature reviews can be created as a first step of a learning activity in a scaffolded assignment such as a research-based argumentative essay.
  • When looking for alternative summative assessments, they can be adapted as a take home exam based on using course literature and materials.
  • In a course where the development of academic writing skills is a key student learning outcome and/or program goal.

How Would You Use It? 

  • Literature Reviews can be scaffolded into research essays or poster presentations as a way to give feedback to students on the quality of their research and their ability to synthesize key scholarly ideas from which to build their own arguments or research projects. Students will use research skills to get a sense of all the literature on a given topic, and critically assess the relevant materials as it pertains to their chosen topic or area of research.
  • Decide whether students will have a choice on the guiding topic of their literature review, whether there will be a minimum number of sources to be looked at and discussed, and the expected length of the review, which should be written as a critical essay and not as a string of summarized paragraphs. 
  • Asynchronously: provide assignment guidelines on MyLS, including the format, purpose of the literature review and how it connects to the learning outcome(s), course materials, and other course assessments. Previous examples of scholarly literature reviews from discipline-specific journals can be used. Indicate formatting expectations and any grading criteria to outline expectations and the assessment approach. A Dropbox can be created on MyLS for submission.
  • Synchronously: spend class time to explain guidelines, discuss examples, and expectations of literature reviews, such as the types of sources to be consulted.
Laurier Resources

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Open Book Take Home Exams or Tests

The current exam assessment is moved into a new, asynchronous delivery mode where students receive the exam through MyLS and submit completed exam into the course Dropbox. Students will have access to the course materials, but will be required to apply, analyze, and evaluate the materials in creating their responses. Open book assessments allow for a greater integration of course learning.

Note: This is distinct from moving your final exam online through the eLearning team, which utilizes a Lockdown Browser to maintain the “closed book” integrity of the exam.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To ensure the attainment of the same learning outcomes as the in-class exam would have assessed.
  • Offers consistency across semesters in terms of assessment design.
  • Allows for the development of summative evaluation drawing in both breadth and depth of course content.

When Would You Use It?

  • When alternative forms of assessment cannot address all the necessary course learning outcomes.
  • Most relevant in situations where student access to material during exams, through open book and research potential, does not hinder assessment of student learning.
  • Particularly important in situations of accreditation where evidence of student attainment is needed across years.

How Would You Use It?

  • Develop questions using the adapted Bloom’s Taxonomy for higher-order thinking skills and abilities (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001), which include Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. Higher-order thinking questions require students to demonstrate their learning beyond Remembering and Understanding and they give students the opportunity to uniquely use course materials to demonstrate what they have learned in the module or class.
  • Sample Higher-Order Thinking Question Stems include:
    • Applying: How would you solve ______ using what you’ve learned?
    • Analyzing: Compare and Contrast....
    • Evaluating: Which is the strongest argument?
    • Creating: What alternatives are there to...?
  • Asynchronously: on MyLS, create or upload guidelines for the test or exam: what is the start date/time and end date/time of the test or exam; what, if any, collaboration or communication between students is permitted; what sources may or may not be used in the exam; the preferred citation style and whether a reference page is required; reaffirm commitments to and importance of academic integrity; and, identify learning outcomes.
    • Option 1: The MyLS Dropbox tool can be used to administer the exam online. You can add attachments for students to view and download, set up originality checking, and set a due date for students to submit their exam.
    • Option 2: Alternatively, you may email your students directly using your class listserv with the exam and have students submit their exams to you directly via email by the set due date and time.
  • Synchronously: class time can be used to reiterate the importance of academic integrity and to reinforce how students are expected to work individually even though course materials are open to them.
  • Remember: your Department or Faculty may have additional policies that govern the administration and approach to open book exams during the final exam period. 

Resources

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Peer Evaluations

As a comparative process, peer evaluation can encourage students to be analytical and critical of themselves and others in a way that contributes to improved student performance. Peer assessment can be used to evaluate a range of course activities. Peer evaluations can be formative assessments where students provide feedback to one another’s work at an early stage, such as on a draft before final submission, or it can be a summative assessment where students grade each other’s work as part of the final mark for the assignment.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To provide an opportunity for students to understand their work in the context of their peers that also supports the development of a learning community, and provide student ownership of the assessment process.
  • To offer students the opportunity to develop an understanding of the grading process and application of rubrics.

When Would You Use It?

  • In situations of low-stakes assessment, group work, scaffolded drafts or assignments (first marked by peers, apply feedback, then marked by instructor), where assignments might otherwise be prohibitive due to grading support resource constraints.
  • In situations where giving appropriate feedback is a stated learning outcome.
  • In high enrollment courses to assist with marking load concerns and student development of understanding around expectations.
  • In courses that use team-based learning approaches.

How Would You Use It?

  • Instructors can incorporate peer evaluations or peer review as part of a larger assessment to help students develop metacognitive skills and build peer relationships. For example, students can work together to provide feedback on peer work like a draft of a writing assignment.
  • Providing Feedback: students can use rubrics or a template to provide constructive feedback, or they can use formatting tools such as MS Word or Google Docs to provide specific feedback on writing assignments. For example, students can highlight information, use colours to indicate specific feedback categories (e.g. argument development, paragraph organization, grammar), or use strike-out features to indicate unnecessary words, etc. MS Word has a built in “Track-Changes” feature that can be used to track student comments, in-line notes, and deletions.
  • On MyLS, create or upload assignment guidelines, such as a marking rubric, where and when to provide comments, grammar rules, what the assessment is worth and how it ties to learning outcomes. (Note: Using PeerMark with Turnitin through MyLS can be found at this link.)
  • Asynchronously or Synchronously: peer evaluations can be completed independently during students’ own time, or time can be set aside during synchronous sessions for peer review evaluations depending on the requirements of the assessment.
  • Peer-to-Peer Learning: providing opportunities for group writing work either asynchronously or during synchronous class sessions can help students to learn about writing from their peers, develop collaboration skills, and build peer support networks. Students can use collaborative tools like shared Google Docs to write, provide feedback, ask questions, and share their writing.
Examples and Resources

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Portfolios

Portfolios require students to collect artifacts of learning across course to build a holistic understanding of learning and allows for students to update and re-evaluate work before the final summative analysis is done. Students can also annotate their submissions to provide a narrative on the selections and their significance in connection with learning outcomes. 

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess the breadth of learning across a course and provide students an opportunity to revise earlier work based on their holistic learning in the course.
  • To allow students to engage creatively with their learning process and allow for some flexibility in how learning is communicated and assessed.
  • To build assessment sequentially through the course so students can clearly see and understand their learning and development over time.

When Would You Use It?

  • In environments where student understanding of their learning is prioritized over more content driven concerns.
  • In situations where learning outcomes are driven by the ability of students to connect course content into their lives or other relevant contexts.
  • As part of a broader assessment package where students develop multiple connected products within the portfolio from across the course and then utilize reflective analysis to explain their learning, its purpose, and its relationship to course learning outcomes.

How Would You Use It?

  • Decide what platform(s) will be available for students to use when creating and submitting their assignment. Will students have choice? Digital portfolio options include:
    • Physical or text-based portfolios uploaded as PDF documents
    • Personal website or blog posts, such as Google Sites
    • PowerPoint Presentations
  • Explain the purpose of the Portfolios, how it connects to learning outcomes, and guidelines for completing and submitting the portfolio. Repeat expectations and outcomes throughout the course as this is an ongoing project.
  • Asynchronously: create or upload a file on MyLS that outlines the guidelines for the portfolio, including all dates and deadlines connected to the project.
  • Synchronously: discuss the purpose and expectations of the portfolios. Instructors may consider sharing examples of digital portfolios.
  • Scaffold portfolio assignments to help strengthen and deepen student learning and engagement with the assessment. For example, build in peer review components so students can share their ongoing projects, exchange ideas and insights, and discuss what others are doing. Students can also be required to submit a draft of portion of their portfolios half-way through the term to encourage them to begin work sooner and to receive formative feedback before the final summative assessment.
  • Consider providing students with a set of questions to reflect on their portfolio and to submit with the final project.
  • Rubric: provide a clearly stated rubric to outline expectations, assessment approach, and grading criteria. Criteria can include completeness of the portfolio, quality of sources or evidence used throughout, visual design, and overall quality. 
Examples and Resources

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Poster Presentations

Visual representation of student research, typically demonstrating knowledge of theory, literature review, methods, and findings. Poster presentations are a way to circulate and engage with each other’s work through reading about a study or a research project from the posters.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Provides opportunities for students to capture and demonstrate their learning in a format commonly used in professional academic environments.

When Would You Use It?

  • Can be displayed in a "poster session" in person or shared to MyLS Discussion Boards for asynchronous engagement in peer learning and feedback.
  • Use as an alternative assessment or in addition to a written research essay to offer students choice of assessment.

How Would You Use It?

  • Poster Presentation assessments can be designed with or without Q&A interaction, or with instructor only questions that can be part of a synchronous or asynchronous exchange with each student. Instructors may choose to provide students with guiding questions to consider in their planning:
    • What is the most important data or research finding from my project?
    • How can I visually share my research? Should I use charts, graphs or images?
    • What kind of information can I convey in the poster itself, and what should I convey during the presentation?
  • Tools: decide which tools students will use to create and share their posters. Students can use PPT or Google Slides. To ensure high-quality PDFs at the correct size, students should check and adjust the size in PowerPoint by going to “File” > “Page Setup” and then change “On Screen Show” to “Custom”.
  • Collaboration and Peer-Review: Instructors can ask students to work collaboratively to develop the research, information, and formatting for the poster. A peer-review component can be incorporated into individual or collaborative posters as part of a larger assessment package. More information about Collaborative Essays and Assignments.
  • Presentations can happen either synchronously or asynchronously:
    • Asynchronously: On MyLS, provide guidelines on the assignment, including the purpose of the poster presentation, the relationship to learning outcomes, formatting requirements, acceptable sources and the number of sources to be consulted, citation style, the document type for submission (e.g. PPT, Google Slide, PDF), and grading criteria or a rubric. Students can share their completed posters with the class by posting in a thread on a MyLS discussion board to allow for an asynchronous poster session with comments and questions answered over the week. This helps replicate the in-person display of posters.
    • Synchronously: students can present their posters “live” by sharing their screen with their poster slide/doc in Zoom. Depending on the size of the class, posters can be shared either in the main room or via breakout rooms, where students take turns sharing and engaging in the findings of their posters. 
Laurier Resource
  • Creating Poster Presentations for the Sciences | Laurier Library: a list of dedicated resources to supporting students in planning and developing their poster presentations. While the resource is targeted for science students, it is applicable to students of all disciplines with guides on visual data storytelling, font guides, effective posters for academic conferences, etc.
Resource

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Presentations

These assessments develop oral presentation skills. In large classes where synchronous presentations by each student are not possible, asynchronous submission through MyLS is used to share students’ presentations. Students create a presentation using slides and record themselves speaking on PowerPoint with audio voiceover.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Allows presentation-based assignments to be submitted via the dropbox in MyLS and assessed.
  • In situations where you want individual or small group presentations with single or a limited number of voiceovers.

When Would You Use It?

  • In situations where synchronous (real time) presentations are not possible due to time and class size restrictions, and therefore are not inclusive to all students.
  • In courses where verbal communication skills are assessed as an essential student learning outcome, presentations can be shared on MyLS Discussions Boards allowing students to view each other's presentations on their own time and provide opportunities for peer feedback. In courses where verbal communication skills are assessed as an essential student learning outcome.
  • Presentations with audio can be offered as an alternative option to a written demonstration of learning in order to offer student autonomy of choice in graded activities.

How Would You Use It?

  • Determine the topic or assignment that students will be presenting on. Will students share their findings at the end of a large research project, will they present information on a particular topic to their classmates, and will the presentations occur multiple times in the class?
  • Asynchronously create or upload a file on MyLS that outlines the guidelines for the presentation, including length of the presentation, grading criteria, and the connection to learning outcomes. Academic Skills offers the following resources that can be shared with students:
  • Presentations can happen either synchronously or asynchronously:
    • Asynchronously: On MyLS, provide guidelines on the assignment, including the purpose of the presentation, the relationship to learning outcomes, formatting requirements, acceptable sources and the number of sources to be consulted, citation style, the document type for submission (e.g. PPT, .mp4, Zoom recording link), and grading criteria or a rubric. Students can share their completed posters with the class by posting in a thread on a MyLS discussion board to allow for an asynchronous presentations with comments and questions answered over the week. This helps replicate in-class presentations while remaining flexible.
    • Synchronously: students can present during synchronous sessions by sharing their screen and leading the discussion. Depending on the size of the class, presentations can be shared either in the main room or via breakout rooms, where students take turns sharing and engaging in one another's findings. 

Creative Variations

  • Podcasts and Interviews: In 3-4 minutes students can connect media issues, demonstrate understanding of relevant concepts, and synthesize information in a creative oral presentation. Laurier's Dr. Bruce Gillespie produces the One Market podcast, and examples from McGill and Queen's further illustrate using podcasts in assessment. 
  • “Talk Show” interviews, either in character or not. Professor Patrick Finelli from University of South Florida has a series of YouTube videos with examples and strategies for how to employ this assessment.  

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Prototyping

With this assessment, students are given the opportunity to develop a product, proposal or app (prototype). For example, provide students with a Request for Proposal (RFP) and have them write a response.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To provide a capstone assignment focused on depth and application of knowledge to produce a proposal or actual product that encapsulates their learning in the course.
  • Can be assessed by a panel of invited externals (industry partners, community partners, etc.) .
  • Can be done via Zoom, Teams, etc., with screen sharing.
  • To provide students with an individualized learning experience that allows them to foster creativity while developing key skills.

When Would You Use It?

  • In courses that prioritize the development of solutions to complex problems.
  • Consideration should be given to the ability for students to create apps and prototypes without on-campus lab and maker-lab resources available.
  • In courses that focus on developing entrepreneurial or project management skills.
  • Can be used collaboratively or individually as a formative (staged) assessment or summative (in place of final exam) assessment of student learning.

How Would You Use It?

  • Determine the parameters of the product, proposal or app:
    • Will students be required to submit a completed product or simply create on paper what could be a usable prototype?
    • Will students work individually or collaboratively in small groups?
    • Will students work on the same project or will students have choice?
    • Will the assignment be scaffolded to allow for formative feedback?
  • Tools: what tools will students use to create their prototypes? Word document for drafting a written response to an RFP or Design Thinking tools for app prototyping? Tool ideas, such as creating apps, can be found on The Game Beyond’s More Online Tools for Teachers and Students.
  • Asynchronously create or upload a file on MyLS that outlines the guidelines for the prototype, including any questions that need to be addressed or templates that need to be followed, grading criteria, and deadlines.
  • Synchronously discuss the assignment with students and how it connects to the intended learning outcomes.
  • Collaborative work: Zoom breakout groups can be used to provide students with synchronous time to work on collaborative prototyping. Students can use collaborative documents such as MS Word Collaboration or Google Docs to work on or map out their assignment in addition to any prototyping tools that their project requires.
Examples and Resources

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Reflection Papers

Reflective practice is an important activity that encourages the deepening of students’ self and social awareness as well as understanding of academic concepts. This assessment is a “meaning-making process” that helps students set goals, use what they have learned in the past to inform future action and consider the real-life implications of their thinking. For example, at the end of a course, project, work term or volunteer experience, a backward-looking reflection is an effective way for students to take stock of their experience and find meaningful connections to learning outcomes.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Reflection papers allow you to ascertain student learning across a course through the ability to build a holistic reflection of their journey through the course and the learning that they gained.
  • Offers the opportunity for both breadth and depth in assessment of student learning but primarily in situations where it is used across the course.

When Would You Use It?

  • In situations where student learning is driven by their ability to connect course content into their lives or other relevant contexts.
  • In environments where student understanding of their learning is prioritized over more content driven concerns.
  • In experiential and active learning environments where student cognitive and social engagement with their learning process is an important part of the course learning outcomes, these can be completed collaboratively through document collaboration features.

How Would You Use It?

  • In building this assessment, instructors decide on:
    • The purpose and goal of the reflection papers and what learning outcomes it connects to.
    • Whether students will provide private reflections or if students will be required to reflect on an assignment, course module, readings, or experiential learning experience.
    • The format, whether the assignment will be a structured or free form piece of writing, the length, descriptive vs analytical reflections.
    • Will reflections be ongoing – at the beginning, middle, and end of the course.
    • The writing tools: MS Word or, if allowing for more creativity, blog posts.
  • Explain the purpose of the reflection paper and how it connects to learning outcomes. Guidelines and grading criteria can be created or uploaded as a file on MyLS. Guidelines can include preferred model or format of the assignment (length, essay, short-answer style questions), the preferred citation and formatting expectations and deadlines. 

  • Asynchronously: Students will write and submit reflections in their own time during the assigned due date(s). Reflections can be submitted at the end of each module or reading, written weekly with submission every two or three weeks, or after the completion of an assignment or experiential learning activity.

  • Synchronously: Discuss expectations and allocated time for writing reflections (e.g. 30 minutes of a/synchronous time each week). Time can be provided during synchronous sessions to discuss reflections if sharing and collaboration will be a component of the assessment.

Laurier Resources
Resources

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Scaffolded Assessment

Larger projects, cases, problems or assignments are broken up and organized into smaller progressive learning activities (“chunked”) and build toward a final summative assessment. This approach allows for a supportive structure of learning that is based on opportunities for students to work on smaller low-stakes progressive assignments (e.g., annotated bibliography, literature review, research questions or outlines, early drafts). Feedback is provided on these lower-stakes assessments so students can develop deeper learning before a final summative assessment, such as a case study, research essay, poster, policy brief, or infographic.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To provide students with an opportunity to receive ongoing feedback throughout the process of their coursework.
  • To provide multiple opportunities for improving student learning through iterative approaches.
  • To build student confidence based on instructor feedback.
  • To give students an opportunity to demonstrate how they can incorporate feedback into their work.

When Would You Use It?

  • Where student demonstration of skill and knowledge development through their learning process is prioritized.
  • In larger classes, using rubrics provide opportunities to track student progression towards achieving outcomes across staged assignments.
  • To more adequately spread assessment and marking workload through the course.
  • General feedback on assignments can be offered to the entire class collectively using the News features in MyLS.
  • Feedback can be offered in video, audio or written form.

How Would You Use It?

  • Determine which high-stakes assessments can be broken down into distinct parts for feedback and opportunities for student improvement and self-reflection on learning. When chunking assessment, consider where students could most benefit from early feedback or what will most help their learning. For example, a research essay or a case study can be broken down into its individual component parts such as formulating a research question, an outline of the final project, annotated bibliography, early draft, and peer review. Note: the intention of scaffolded assessments is not to add more assessments, but to help provide ongoing feedback for larger assignments to help students engage in the learning process.
  • Explain the purpose of the final summative assessment to students and how each of the scaffolded assignments are progressively designed, as well as their relationship to the learning outcomes. A concept map could be used to visually represent the alignment between each assignment.
  • Asynchronously: create or upload a File to MyLS to provide guidelines and examples for each of the scaffolded assignments. Due dates can be added to the course calendar and rubrics can be included for each scaffolded assignment to clearly indicate assignment and learning expectations. Collective feedback on common challenges and successes can be provided through the MyLS news item, and the feedback can be video recorded and shared as well.
  • Synchronously: explain guidelines and discuss effective and ineffective approaches to each of the scaffolded assignment sections. Provide collective feedback and point to common areas of success and challenges.
Laurier Resources
Resources 

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Three-Minute-Thesis-Style Presentations

The Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) is a popular competition among research-based graduate students that can also be used as an assessment tool for all students. Students are allowed one slide and three minutes to present on course content, a specific topic or a research project to a general audience. The slide and presentation can be recorded on PowerPoint with an associated audio file, or as a video using Zoom or Teams' recording functions.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To capture summary of student learning if final was conceived as a culmination (i.e. capstone).
  • To create developmental assessment through using an iterative process that allows students to integrate feedback throughout a series of iterations.
  • Can be used to capture and demonstrate student learning about a unit or module of learning.  
  • To develop communication and presentation skills.

When Would You Use It?

  • Can be used where describing and reporting (lower-order thinking and cognitive skills) of course content are desired student learning outcomes.
  • As an alternative to written assessments to explain understanding of course content.
  • As part of peer learning and evaluation where students choose one or more concepts or units to teach each other the material and post for asynchronous evaluation on organized discussion boards.

How Would You Use It?

  • Choose how often students will give 3-minute thesis style presentations in order to connect to the desired learning outcomes. Will students give presentations in small groups through Zoom breakout groups or will they upload a prerecorded PPT slide with audio?
  • Asynchronously: create or upload a file on My that outlines the guidelines for the presentations, including deadlines and connection to learning outcomes.
    • Students will be submitting one PPT slide and will have a maximum of 3 minutes to share their learning.
    • Students can record their audio either directly through PPT or by opening a private Zoom meeting to record their presentation with their slide.
    • A rubric can also be used to provide students with clear grading criteria and assessment expectations.
  • Synchronously: discuss the assignment with students, going over expectations, the connected learning outcomes, and examples of 3-minute presentations. Depending on the size of the class, Zoom breakout groups can also be used for students to share their presentations and receive peer feedback. 

Laurier Example

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Timelines

Students are asked to either create a timeline or to critique and edit an existing timeline using course or researched materials. With this assessment students demonstrate their visual understanding of historical significance, conceptual relationships, and show evidence of their knowledge of key events, policies, people, concepts, and contextualize them as changes over time.

Students can research people, topics, and events to make their own digital timelines. Timelines can include text and multimedia artifacts to allow for creative and interactive assessment opportunities.

Why Would You Use It?

  • To assess student’s ability to apply knowledge from course material to identify, categorize, describe, and expand on characteristics of key historical time periods.
  • To assess student’s ability to demonstrate understanding of relationships, causes, and effects of important changes over time.
  • To assess student’s ability to creatively and effectively collect evidence or examples that categorize historical time periods.

When Would You Use It?

  • When temporal context of course content is relevant (i.e. defining relevant historical time periods, discoveries, laws, genealogies of concepts, ideas, or theories or people, causes and effects involved in change).
  • In courses where demonstration of knowledge of historical contexts and relationships are prioritized in learning outcomes.
  • In courses where weekly low-stakes quizzes have been used for formative assessment, timelines can be developed as a creative summative assessment of student knowledge and understanding.
  • In situations where you wish to offer a creative and visual representation of learning opportunity for students as an alternative to traditional academic approaches.

How Would You Use It?

  • Determine the time period(s) and topic(s) students can create entries on or students can be expected to construct their own time period based on their chosen topic.
  • Tools & Templates for Creating Timelines: Using a timeline template can help students to visualize the construction of their template. PowerPoint (New>Infographic Timelines) and Google Docs (Insert>Diagram>Timeline Template) offers timeline templates that can be adapted by students.
    • Instructors can choose a template for all students to follow or allow students to choose from a range of templates or to construct their own, including more text-based options using Word (adding lines and arrows and textboxes) or a creative low-tech option of cutting and pasting on a physical board and taking a photo to submit or share.
    • Critiquing & Editing Timelines: Critiquing and editing an existing timeline can also be used to demonstrate learning outcomes that are connected to both understanding temporal relationships and evaluating existing constructions of history. Instructors could develop a timeline for students to edit or use one that is available online.
    • Asynchronously: On MyLS, provide assignment guidelines including the relationship to learning outcomes and any parameters for the timeline. Students work on timelines in their own time and can share their completed timelines through a MyLS discussion board thread. Early drafts can also be shared for peer-review and feedback. Consider asking students to write a short opening narrative to explain and justify their choices, and to briefly describe or explain the significance of each event, idea, and relationship over time.
    • Synchronously: students can present their timelines “live” by sharing their screen in Zoom. Depending on the size of the class, instructors can have poster sessions in the main room or via breakout rooms where students take turns sharing and engaging in the findings of their posters. Synchronous sessions can also be used to share examples or to provide time for students to discuss their timelines and receive early feedback from their peers.

Resources

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Two-Stage Collaborative Testing

Students first take an exam, test, or quiz as individuals and submit their individual work. Students then retake the exam, test, or quiz in groups of three or four. This method allows for collaborative approaches to learning and offers students the opportunity to discuss and debate answers immediately with their peers. Two-Stage testing reinforces learning as students leave assessment with the correct answer and have talked through why.

Why Would You Use It?

  • Students have an opportunity to debrief with a group, after writing an individual exam. Students then receive immediate feedback on how they answered questions.
  • Helps alleviate student anxiety and helps them to see alternate perspectives during discussion and debate/argue their point of view.
  • Incentivizes students to study and learn to identify what is important when studying. Academically stronger students also help to lift academically weaker students in terms of testing.
  • Students are engaged with co-creating the learning experience and providing feedback to improve delivery of this model.

When Would You Use It?

  • Primarily used in large classes, however, can be used in any class size with more than two students.
  • Use when the goal is for students to learn from their misconceptions or misunderstandings immediately after the test when questions are still fresh in their minds.
  • Any class where active and collaborative learning is a teaching approach, strategy or learning outcome.

How Would You Use It?

  • In building this assessment, instructors decide on and communicate to students:
    • The purpose and goals of two-stage testing and the connection to the intended learning outcome(s).
    • The tools that will be required for both parts of the test, such as Teams, collaborative documents (Google Docs, MS Word collaboration), or Respondus Lockdown Browser.
    • The length of each component, noting that collaborative testing generally takes less time (eg. 1 hour for individual testing, 20-30 minutes for collaborative testing with time to submit answers for each).
    • Weight of the test. The standard practice is for the individual component to be weighted at 85% while the collaborative component is weighted at 15% of the final test mark. Note: if the group mark is lower than the individual exam, the students’ individual exam can be weighted at 100% to ensure collaborative testing only improves and does not penalize a student’s test score.
  • Synchronously: 
    1. Step One: Build a randomized question bank for the individual tests as well as a set of questions to be taken collaboratively that require Bloom’s higher-order thinking skills (analysis and synthesis) rather than pure recall or memorization. For example, students can be asked to refer to the periodic table to answer the question rather than memorize it to demonstrate a deeper level of learning. Higher-order thinking questions also make it harder for students to simply “Google” the correct answer.
    2. Step Two: Pre-form teams by grouping students according to their ability to ensure a diverse mix of ability. A diagnostic pre-test can be offered at the beginning of the course to determine student abilities. Grouping by ability helps to create more balanced teams, by using first quiz results to show a mix of students with different test performance abilities. Stronger test performing students can then assist lower test performing students in the collaborative testing process.
    3. Step Three: Have students complete and submit their individual tests through MyLS during the synchronous session – in MyLS, instructors can use the question bank to provide students with a randomized question order. Synchronous testing can be administered through Respondus Lockdown Browser or Teams.
    4. Step Four: Provide a 10-minute window between the two sessions (individual & collaborative) to allow students to upload individual exam results between stages.
    5. Step Five: For collaborative testing, use one of two methods: either have students sent to Zoom breakout rooms with instructors’ pre-set groups or use Teams by setting up a private group channel with a set Word, PPT, or Excel file for each group. Students answer the questions collaboratively and submit one document with their answers for grading. Groups should consist of 3-4 students.
  • Asynchronous Alternative: students can also be given a specified time frame to complete the individual exam, such as within a 24-hour time period. Likewise, the group exam can be carried out asynchronously with students choosing meeting times with their group at their own convenience and can work through the questions at their pace for the allocated time period (24 hours or 1-2 days). This approach is most successful when using written response questions that require higher order thinking skills.
Further Resources
With thanks to Dr. Jaclyn Stewart and Dr. Jay Wickenden, Associate Professors of Teaching, from the University of British Columbia’s Chemistry Department for sharing their experiences in remote learning.  

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What Tools are Available to Support Academic Integrity?

The following tools have been approved for use by the university have been reviewed by relevant university departments for fitness for purpose and use in teaching, and have met the requirements and expectations set by the institutional procurement process, which includes a Privacy and Security Impact Assessment. These tools can be used to support academic integrity in your assessment processes, as well as fostering academic integrity in students’ skill development. The tools outlined are housed within MyLS, unless otherwise stated, and more information regarding supports for these tools can be found on Connect.


Turnitin

Laurier subscribes to Turnitin, which can be enabled in the dropbox tool in MyLS in order to identify similarities between submitted assignments and other sources. Written work can be checked against current and archived web content, journals, periodicals and other papers submitted to Turnitin from institutions worldwide.

An originality report is generated for any paper that is submitted, highlighting matches to other sources. In addition to aiding your marking, this report can be made available to students for review, to engage them in the process of learning how to manage citations and appropriately referencing sources.

Resource


Peer Marking Approaches

Peer marking strategies can be used to improve student understanding and self-reflection around academic integrity and course assessments. Peer marking allows students to grade and provide feedback on other students’ assessments (with any personal information removed) at the penultimate draft stage so that students can use that feedback to improve on their work before final submission.

Peer marking assists students in seeing how rubrics guide the marking process, assists students in developing an understanding of what quality assessment looks like, and can allow them to clarify how moments of questionable academic integrity practices are displayed.


Rubrics

Rubrics can be created and attached to a variety of assessments in MyLS including dropbox folders, discussion topics, or individual grade items in the grades tool. Rubrics help promote academic integrity by providing clear, quantified instructions and expectations so that students know what achievement looks like on their submitted assignments.

Use rubrics to clearly outline the criteria by which an assessment will be graded, along with the variable weighting attached to each one, and make them available to students to review while they are completing the assessment. In addition to providing as much clarity as possible, rubrics allow students an additional opportunity to reflect on their work before they submit it for a grade. Consider asking students to use the rubric to self-assess their assignment before they submit, and they can even submit the self-assessment rubric along with their assignment.


Gradescope

Gradescope can be used to facilitate grading feedback and offer students more transparency into the assessment process. Gradescope uses dynamic rubrics that allow for quick grading and supports grading in large courses with multiple graders (like TA’s or marking assistants). Gradescope works to develop consistency in the grading and feedback process by enabling coordination and collaboration across multiple graders.

Resource


Discussions

Discussion topics in MyLS can model proper citation and referencing and allow students a chance to practice before they submit their own assessments. Attaching discussions to the development of written assessments creates opportunities for students to practice their citation skills. By providing feedback on these discussion posts, you can assist students as they formulate and hone their ideas for assessment and help them make corrections to their developing citation skills before they submit assignments where referencing is required.

Resource


Questions Pools and Randomizations in MyLS Quizzes

When creating quizzes and tests using the Quizzes tool in MyLS you can create a unique test for each student by developing question banks to pull a smaller number of questions from a larger set. Creating unique tests for each student lowers opportunities for academic integrity concerns related to collusion in test taking. The Quizzes tool enables you to set up multiple pools of questions in order to evenly distribute questions to your students (e.g., five questions each from chapter 1, chapter 2, etc.). If you don’t have enough questions to pull from a larger bank, you can use "shuffling" to assign questions in a random order. You are also able to randomize the order of answers.

Resource


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