Using Impact Assessment to Improve Learner Engagement
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Description
Assessment in higher education will doubtless transform by 2020. Present-day learning assessment generally is focused on institutional needs. By contrast, the co-presenters propose a learner-centered approach they term “impact assessment.” This presentation will demonstrate how to re-configure online learning evaluations to reflect retention and impact for skill-based and/or professional courses, show methods for collecting impact data on student learning, and illustrate how these strategies improve learner engagement. Participants will join in the discussion on how to re-configure assessment questions to assess the impact of courses on student learning. Read More..
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Twelve years ago, the use of the World Wide Web, for educational purposes, was still in its infancy. A relatively miniscule number of U.S. students in P-20, perhaps only tens of thousands, had taken online courses. In 12 short years, the number of online learners in higher education has jumped to 3.5 million in higher education and 700,000 in K-12.
What will the landscape look like 12 years from now in 2020? Extrapolation from the results of recently-released survey reports suggests that as many as 6 to 12 million students in higher education will be taking at least one online course every semester, perhaps as many as 30-60% of all students. There is likely to be a comparable number of K-12 students taking online courses that year. The number of students taking blended courses is likely to be even greater, so that online-enabled education will be a commonplace experience for most students from at least high school onward.
Technological changes are hard to predict, except for the certain prediction that there will be substantial technological change during the next 12 years. The most important changes, however, may result from factors other than technology. We can be reasonably certain that it will be important to prepare learners:
- for jobs not yet invented;
- to invent knowledge;
- to collaborate with a diversity of partners in a global, multicultural world;
- to confront problems similar to what has been described in books such as Free Agent Nation, Wikinomics, and Revolutionary Wealth.
This transformation will require application not only of learning-centered pedagogy, but also of learning-centered assessment which engages learners and supports their capacity to value, reflect on, and make meaning from their learning. Present-day learning assessment generally is focused on institutional needs or ‘internally’-oriented outcomes such as grades or course completion rates. Results are used to improve courses or compare results with other courses. Assessment is oriented primarily toward institutional needs, and the data collection process is primarily extractive. This will not be adequate for the challenges of 2020.
By contrast, the co-presenters propose an alternative approach to learning assessment, which they term “impact assessment.” Impact assessment focuses on the “so what” factor: What are the effects of the learning on the learner and the learner’s life spheres (workplace, career, education)? What is its relevancy to the learners’ world? Impact assessment uses quantifiable and qualifiable statistics and is often action research-based, but moves beyond traditional learning assessment through the application of several key strategies:
- Changing learner assessment questions to be learner-focused rather than institution-focused by asking learners to reflect on what they've learned and what it means to them.
- Asking learners to document the impact of their learning and work products on workplace and other learner life spheres.
- Enabling learners to have more choices and control over the learning assessment process, for instance by allowing learners greater choice in learning assessment methods and criteria.
These strategies increase relevance and re-contextualize learning by strengthening the connections between the educational experience and other important aspect's of the learner's life. The net result is increased learner engagement.
This presentation will show past examples of successful impact assessment in action, demonstrate how to re-configure online learning evaluations to reflect retention and impact for skill-based and/or professional course, demonstrate methods for collecting impact data on student learning, and demonstrate how these strategies improve learner engagement. The presentation will give participants multiple opportunities to share and discuss examples of how to re-configure assessment questions to assess the impact of courses on student learning.
