Hello Lori and Kristan!

There are a few areas of your work that I was wondering if you found much additional literature in.  You mentioned that assessment methods differ when evaluating application of knowledge versus learning outcomes.   Are there currently any theories that attempt to explain the strategy behind these two practices, and in addition I am curious if any existing theories can be applied to the online environment or if they are specific to traditional instruction.  The other area that peaked my curiosity was towards the end of your writing, where areas of opportunity are discussed.  For each of these areas of opportunity, I would love to hear some of your suggestions on how to fulfill these "gaps" that are left in the current literature.  Along these same lines, was there any literature specific to content or did the existing research attempt to generalize across all content?   

Thank you for your thoughts and comments, Amanda! I find that the constructivism is a theory that attempts to explain strategies behind the practices. Constructivism is when existing knowledge comes into contact with new knowledge. Fulfilling the gaps includes trial and error in in the classroom as well as having the right resources. Rwegarding GCU online classes, some updates would need to be made to the course materials in LoudCloud in order implement the closing of any gaps. The gaps referred to in our paper are out of the instructor's control, for example, technical difficulties. There was existing research specific to content, but our goal was to cover the online setting in general, not base our research on content.

Dear Kristen and Lori;

I have reviewed your research and was very interested in your findings about the use of in-class assessment techniques. The research is very relevant and the use of recent studies makes it interesting and worth reading. I do; however, have a couple of comments you may want to consider.

1. In the abstract, second sentence, "Review of assessments can lead…" I would suggest substituting the word  can  with the word may instead. It is not determined that such a review will "lead to a perspective for increased performance..".
2. In page 3, I find the purpose not clearly articulated through the use of the current wording. "The purpose of analyzing this research is to present the findings associated with multiple studies on classroom assessments techniques and how effective they are when implemented in the online forum.."
   Is the purpose of the paper here to present the findings or assess the findings to measure how successful class assessments are in light of these studies? If you are trying to answer a question, then you would find support for it based on the findings of these studies. Simply presenting the findings without analyzing and interpreting the results may not get you any closer to evaluating your research question.

Thank you for presenting an interesting article that is very relevant to our students and faculty.

Riyad

Riyad Naser, MS, MBA, PhD.

Dr. Naser, thank you so much for taking the time to read our paper! I like your suggestion on the semantics of "may" versus "can". I concur that this is better suited. Thank you for your thoughts on the purpose. We will go back and review this for clarity based upon your feedback! Thanks again!

I thoroughly enjoyed the massive amount of research you both obtained concerning your objective, for each piece provided another glimpse into the world of effective assessments online.  The last piece of research from Beebe, Vonderwell, and Boboc (2010) was the area that provided the most realistic and informational components to your statements.  I found the other pieces to be precursors to your final thoughts as to the effectiveness of assessments. 

As I reread your Areas of Opportunity section, it pretty much highlights how I feel regarding the online learning format: It is like teaching primary school. When you teach K-2 or even preschool, it is almost as if you are teaching to a room full of balloons filled with helium. Some of the balloons are full and eager to float high to obtain information, while others are beginning to deflate and wonder away from the high achieving success of learning, while yet again, you have those already hitting the floor and have lost all focus. It is dependent on the learners will to learn online, yet, as I say this, you as the instructor are there filling up those balloons with much needed helium, aka enthusiasm, to engage the online learner to learn at their highest potential, of which, effective classroom assessments can bolster that desire and will. 

I have taught grammar for way too many years, so you do have some minor comma placements within your paper along with miniscule grammar issues, but if I were to change anything, I do believe the way your research is flowing confused me a bit.  The last piece of research, as mentioned above, outlined the information in a way that I was given background knowledge to understand the piece, while the previous research left me wondering because I was not given the detail as to what was pertaining to the research, for it strictly went into limitations.  In the end, though, it was a nice read. You both did a superb job. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment. 

With much blessings,

Christine Kirchner

Thank you for posting this paper.  I enjoyed reading it.  I found it to be informative and constructive.

Ed Kaplan

Kristen and Lori, I really enjoyed reading your paper.  I found myself nodding my head in agreement as I read the studies you used to support your observations.  The most important take away from your paper was the need for a shared commitment from students and faculty alike.

I was extremely excited about the possibilities for extension of learning and student engagement when including weekly CAT's.  Sadly, very few students responded to the CAT's I included during my first class, after the CAT's workshop.  Week after week, the same highly engaged students responded, while others chose not to do so.  I really feel like this connected well to the point you developed regarding voluntarily responding.

During subsequent courses, I have done a better job introducing and promoting the CAT's at the beginning of the course.  The weekly CAT response is required participation and students are accountable via their Participation grade.  I explain the value of having another avenue of discussion and try my best to make the CAT relevant, thought-provoking and engaging.  During the first four weeks of my current course, I have had a grand total of four students not respond.  I think this really ties in well with the point you make regarding teacher involvement and engagement.

Thank you again for posting your paper.  I enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the insightful points you made.

Yours in Education,

Matt

Christine, Edward, and Matthew: Thank you so much for your comments. Lori and I will take all of these comments into serious consideration when revising for our final submission. Online teaching with college students is definitely different than teaching elementary-level children in the traditional setting. We will continue to focus on online learning assessments that can assist adult online learners while incorporating all the relevant feedback provided by our peers. We appreciate all of your input and thank you again for taking the time to read! :-)

Kristen & Lori:

Thank you for sharing you literary critique on the subject of online classroom assessment. I enjoyed how your paragraphs flowed well into the other, but I hardly see your own opinion into the subject matter. How do you feel that Grand Canyon University utilizes assessment tools to check on student learning and to evaluate weather or not the information provided to the student actually is retained to meet overal course objectives. Can you relate to the studies you discuss?

Thank you, and nice work overall!

Mr Gregory E Ludvik, MS; RRT-NPS

Adjunct Online Faculty

College of Arts & Sciences/College of Nursing &  Health Sciences

Hi Kristen and Lori!

You begin from a fruitful starting point by not assuming that classroom assessment techniques are necessarily effective in online learning environments.  Clearly formative assessments are becoming more accepted and necessary within online education.  Online education presents several challenges not present in face-to-face settings, such as a higher potential for psychological distance between teacher and student, differing motives and approaches to learning of online students, and, of course, the medium itself.  As Fish and Wickersham (2009) explained, evaluation is already a core element of best practices in online education.  The question is what kind of assessments can be most effective in online learning environments.  I suspect the answer to this question will be as complex and diverse as the myriad of approaches universities take in providing online learning environments.

As for improving your paper, your manuscript could benefit from more synthesis of the literature in the beginning of the paper.  Such synthesis would not only tease out additional emerging themes but also help the reader grasp the overall picture.

This is an important topic for further research on online education.  As an online instructor and online education researcher, I encourage you to continue on this path.

Good work!

Dr. Greenberger

Reference
Fish, W. W., & Wickersham, L. E. (2009). Best practices for online instructors. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 10(3), (279-284).

Lori and kristan,

You have both done a very impressive study on effective online classroom assessment. From my understanding your study presents the results of different research in effective classroom assessment in the traditional classroom setting, and seeks how these results can be integrated in the online classroom assessment setting. The results of the various techniques from your research and your research conclusions show obvious limitations or gaps. The question is how the identified limitations or gaps can be addressed to achieve the intended result of your study, noting that the online classroom techniques differ in most respects from the traditional classroom setting. Should your research concentrate on the online learning techniques to assess the effectiveness of its learning?

Boniface C Madu

Dr. Scott, Gregory and Boniface, thank you so much for all of your feedback.  The purpose of our paper was to compile several articles in order to review current trending with respect to classroom assessment techniques. The goal was to report the findings of other research studies, and was not indented to offer research conducted by us or our personal opinions.  While the ideas are wonderful and would offer something new to arena by conducting research, if this is something we choose to do down the road, we can always modify at that time. Thank you again for your perspective and comments and we will take all feedback into consideration for revision.

Hi Kristen & Lori,

Thank you so very much, for taking on the charge of forging what I see as a sort of meta-analysis for many of the prescient pieces which outline the road ahead for what will be the intersection between classroom assessment, and learning outcomes.  A student of assessment and evaluation myself, I've come to quickly witness the extant disconnects between what classroom assessments can offer, and what learning outcomes essentially promise (at-present in practice).  

The primary task, to identify those variables and/or techniques proven and efficacious enough to claim to tell us what we need to know of whether students are learning what they need to in our classrooms.  Having recently helped compile a webinar on like topic, the considerations which kept coming up for us were, to know whether we were truly telling students what we want them to leave knowing, and more importantly whether we informed them of which assignments translate to which learning outcomes.

Much of the discussion led to comments ranging from augmenting weekly announcements to announce to students which learning outcomes would be touched upon by which assignments, including the relationships in the assignment descriptions, as well as commenting on the relationship and students' progress toward each learning outcome in each relevant assignment rubric(s) returned.  This done, for as mentioned by Yarbrough, Shulha, Hopson, & Caruthers (2011), "Stakeholders who feel respected by the process and who can identify with the information and methods used in the evaluation are more likely to invest in evaluation activities and ultimately use the processes and findings. Attention to stakeholders facilitates realistic expectations for the evaluation" (p. 24).

I believe your paper touches on such topics (perhaps why tutors led to effective assessments?), and on the real need for a broader understanding not just of what we can measure of learning outcomes via course assessments, but what students can take away after understanding just what we intend to measure, why, and how.  Thank you for blazing this meaningful trail, and presenting this summative review of where we are today.

Sincerely,

Dr. Justin Barclay, DBA
Faculty - Ken Blanchard College of Business

Hello,

Thank you for such an important topic, which has very important implications, not only for the academic development of learners, but also for the effectiveness and professional development of instructors/professors.

Aside from the feedback you have beed offered, the following feedback is meant to strengthen the presentation/delivery of this manuscript.  See as follows:

-Re-review for minor APA 6th edition or journal modified style/format, and mechanical errors.
-In the statement "Assessment techniques should reflect pedagogy," a clarification will help elucidate any misconception or confusion with andragogy.
- Illustrations and/or examples could greatly enhance the material and conclusions presented.

I look forward to the final product.  Best regards,

Genomary Krigbaum, Psy.D.

This research is impressive and reflects work completed in the arena of distance learning during the last decade.  Most academics agree that replacing the majority of quantitative assessments with qualitative measures enhances student learning abilities, while encouraging the learner to achieve higher levels of student learning outcomes. 

Thank you Justin and Karen for your positive comments and feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to read, and reflect on what we have compiled. While we would love to do more and perhaps branch what we found into research of our own, we believed we picked out some important elements in the field that can lead to themes for further review.

Hi Genomary,

Thank you for your consideration. Lori and I have a high understanding of APA formatting and we will be sure to double check mechanics prior to our final submission. I like your suggestions regarding clarification and adding examples, and we will take a look at those in our revision. Thank you very much for your insight and expertise.

Kristen,

You are welcome!

Genomary Krigbaum, Psy.D.

Hi Kristen and Lori,

Thank you for the time you invested in this evaluation of CAT's in the online learning environment. I took several helpful suggestions from your work: (1) CAT's should be proactive, (2) timely in their use / application, (3) focus on the application of new knowledge, (4) focus on course and learning objectives, and most importantly (5) be focused on aiding students. Often, we get caught up in the use of new technologies and methodologies and forget to focus on the outcomes desired and on aiding the students in their search for knowledge. Your brief article placed the focus on use for outcome. Thank you,

Ron

Hello, I notice that the introductory sentence is incomplete? What about the course objectives and proposed outcomes? Your topic immediately caught my eye as I find this topic fascinating and painfully discouraging as well. It is a constant challenge, in my opinion, to find the right technique that truly can accurately assess. Using the formative assessment presented by Van Gog and the two of you is going to be a rewarding experience I believe. I write this, because I wonder if Vonderwell and Boboc reviewed the numerous on-line tools available such as Nothstar, egov, classmarker etc…  If we can better construct CLC groups, I believe peer review can add to this type of experience as can creating student centered portfolio assessments. Thank you for the research. 

Leisha - Thank you for your comments. Our first sentence in the abstract has a subject, a verb (are), and a predicate, so I am a little confused about your first question. We will consider course objectives and proposed outcomes on our revision. We appreicate your time in reading our essay!