QM: Assessing Your Learners

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This winter I am working toward adding a new credential to my learning: Quality Matter's Teaching Online Certificate. This well-established and highly respected organization has put together a series of workshops that focuses on best practices of online teaching. I plan to reflect on each workshop as I complete them as a way to model metacognition. This post is 5 of 8.

This week the focus shifted to assessment. The first conversation revolved around academic honesty- a topic that has been discussed since assignments have been given! We talked about reasons why some students might cheat. One literature review on academic dishonesty cited poor time management, academic pressures, and low-stakes assignments as some of the reasons students go this route.

Best practices seem to fall in three buckets:

  1. Inform & Educate
  2. Protect & Prevent
  3. Practice & Support
I'm a firm believer in being honest and transparent with my graduate students in hope that they will be honest and transparent with me. If I have policies in place that explain what I am doing and respect my students, I've found they are more willing to be honest with me. I try to "assume positive intent" with my students- but admit this was not always the way. I wonder some times what changed in my thinking. Was it age? More comfort with the content? Letting go of being the 'sage on the stage?'

Strategies explored include designing assignments to promote honesty and limiting opportunities for cheating on exams by either randomizing questions, allowing open book, or scenario-based assessments. 

We also talked about academic dishonesty statements within syllabi. This area is gaining more attention with the onset of artificial intelligence programs in education. Luckily, many professors are sharing their AI policy language so we can learn from each other. 

Finally, we focused on feedback and assessment on online courses. There are so many strategies for assessment that are available, there is no excuse not to find different ways to assess our learners.



quality matters certificate


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