Imagine you are a software engineer working on developing a new app. You are really excited, your app has been released, people download and use it. The next step is to verify and evaluate the app to know how consumers rate it and based on this data, how you can make it even better!
Running an online course is a similar process. Once you design and create the course, one of your goals is to find out if the course objectives meet the course outcomes. In other words, if your students learnt what you expected them to learn.
From learning outcomes to learning evaluation
This is one of the very first steps taken when starting your course design. Course objectives are what you want your students to learn, whilst course learning outcomes are the actual demonstration of their new knowledge and skills. If objectives and outcomes meet, you’ve done an awesome job! Course objectives and course outcomes are the base for evaluation and verification at the end of your course.
Activity as a tool for evaluation
Activities are a crucial part of teaching and learning when students become actively involved in their learning. They create a great opportunity to link the course content with real life and personal experiences to demonstrate skills of analysis, evaluation and creativity. At the same time, they demonstrate their skills, knowledge and thinking which you can evaluate and verify.
The activity, in essence, can be seen from two perspectives:
Activity instructions can be presented in two ways:
So what is the indicator of skills? Direct observation of real driving. Revision questions, as a method, provide a message that the student knows the theory. Direct observation goes further, as this method indicates that the student knows the theory and is able to use it as a real skill.
It is widely believed that quantitative evaluation methods are more reliable and valid than qualitative ones. It is true that they are easier to replicate and administer. However, they do not provide a holistic overview of a student’s learning and thinking.
As you could see in the example above, quantitative methods focus on knowledge. If you decide to go further and implement qualitative methods, you can see how your students can use and apply their knowledge. You not only gain a deeper insight, but also help students develop higher-level thinking skills!
Using both methods can be extremely beneficial for students and teachers in terms of effective teaching and learning. Both of these approaches provide students with different experiences as well as provide you with different information about students’ knowledge and skills.
Implementing qualitative methods of evaluation can significantly enrich your students experience and their learning!
What are your thoughts on qualitative and quantitative evaluation? Share your ideas in the comments area below!
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