Well designed online courses are based primarily on discussion forums. >From that perspective, testing (if used at all) is minimized and the emphasis is shifted to a demonstration of subject mastery instead.
Commonly I will post two or three discussion questions, each with its own forum, per week. The questions will be open ended and designed to demonstrate both subject understanding and the ability to go beyond the text and actively seek out information. For example, in an Intro class I might post the following: "Discuss the issues involved in the prisoner tortures that took place in Iraq from a psychological perspective. Relate Zimbardo's famous prison experiment to the events and attempt to explain how such events could happen. Use the Internet to research the topic of human rights violations in oppressed nations and relate what you have learned to this discussion. Are there other principles involved besides those revealed by Zimbardo's work? Explain and discuss them. Then reply to the responses of at least four of your classmates and attempt to expand on their conclusions. Be sure to provide urls for the Internet sites you cite." Or: "Some research conducted in Europe has suggested that taking 300mg per day of the Enzyme Q-10 may slow the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Research the literature on this topic and present a summary of the results. Is the evidence ambiguous or clear-cut? Has it been replicated? How strong a link (if any) appears to be present between the disorder and the enzyme? What other factors do the researchers feel may contribute to this link? Present citations to support your points then reply to the responses of your classmates and try to reach a consensus on this research." Or even: "Despite being the wealthiest person in the world, until his marriage, Bill Gates worked an average of 70+ hours every week. This type of behavior is very common among the "super-rich" in the United States. Discuss this behavior in psychological terms (using both your textbook and Internet research to support your points). Why would someone work so hard--often at a job he or she didn't even enjoy doing--when that person already had more money than it would be reasonably possible to spend in a lifetime? What psychological principles influence this kind of behavior? Is the behavior positive or negative in nature? Explain your decision. Then, as always, reply to the responses of four or more of your classmates and try to expand on their conclusions." In other cases, the questions will be simpler or far more open-ended. The idea, of course, is to encourage the learners to go beyond the textbook material and actively pursue new information and ideas; essentially to become involved in the subject matter itself. Tests, rather than being aimed at demonstration of memorized material, become tools to insure the material is understood. Obviously, a learner has access to his or her textbook--and thus the idea of testing for memorization is pointless. Instead, overall principles are tested. A case study might be presented with several questions following it, all multiple choice, aimed at demonstrating the ability to apply the material in the textbook to a real-life situation (i.e., The Kitty Genovese [sp?] case might be briefly summarized and a number of questions asked about the social-psychological influences that led to the result or an "optical illusion" might be provided with a number of multiple-choice questions concerning the perceptual issues). Some classes require more testing than others. Statistics, for example, is one in which a weekly test (which is completed by the learner then submitted to an assignment "drop box" for grading and has no time limits) is extremely important. But even there, the bulk of the learning will come from the discussion forums. In the case of statistics, a problem can be assigned that the learner solves then posts to the discussion forum (complete with graphs, calculations, etc.). The learners then comment on each other's responses (the key to successful discussion forums is to develop the skills of the learners to communicate constructively and help each other to learn) and try to expand from the specific (the problem itself) to the general (how the principles used to solve the problem could be applied to other areas or other types of problems). Even those online courses that base the testing portion of their grades on quizzes conducted within the system (instead of permitting the learner to answer the quiz or test in a detailed word processing document), thus requiring the learner to respond to questions using an online testing engine, still acknowledge that the learner will have access to the textbook. Such tests are often time limited--allowing the learner adequate time to respond to all the questions (and to check his or her answers before submitting the quiz) but not enough time to look up all the answers. More importantly, that kind of quiz is still designed to test the ability of the learners to apply the _principles_ of the subject rather than simply testing to determine whether or not he or she has memorized the terms. There are a number of institutions that have "sample" classrooms available for prospective students to visit and explore the online delivery system in use (commonly either Blackboard, WebCT, or Education--with Blackboard being the most frequently used system and WebCT the most sophisticated and versatile one). Put together as "mini-courses" many of those sample classrooms include simple online tests as well as discussion forums. A few such sites would include: http://www.capella.edu/reborn/html/aboutcapella/ElearningCapella/index.asp x http://www.gcu.edu/blackboard/navigation/ https://classes.jccmi.edu/educator/signinguest.cgi?guest In addition, anyone interested in online education would profit from reading Palloff & Pratt's excellent work on the subject: Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2003). _The Virtual Student: A profile and guide to working with online learners_. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. I'm admittedly prejudiced in favor of the book since the authors are core faculty at one of the Universities I teach for (Capella University), but it's an outstanding book for anyone interested in learning more about online teaching. Have a great day, Rick -- Rick Adams Capella University, Graduate School of Technology Grand Canyon University, School of Social Sciences. Jackson Community College, Department of Social Sciences [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10. The Earth quakes and the Heavens rattle; the beasts of nature flock together and the nations of men flock apart; volcanoes usher up heat while elsewhere water becomes ice and melts; and then on other days it just rains. 11. Indeed do many things come to pass. -HBT; The Book of Predictions, Chap. 19 <fnord> -----Original Message----- From: Eastman, Mark [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 12:53 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: RE: reducing cell phone disruptions in the classroom How is on-line testing carried out? I am intrigued at the possibility, but can't seem to think of how an objective type exam (multiple choice) can be carried out open book style. Mark Eastman Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
