EDCI335 Post 1

Assessment Strategies Used

1. Formative Assessment:
   • Peer Feedback: Students give feedback to each other to help improve their work continuously.
   • Self-Assessment: Students reflect on their own learning and progress.
   • Ongoing Feedback: Students get feedback on drafts and assignments before the final submission.
   • Connection to Learning Theories:
     • Constructivism: This theory suggests learning happens through interactions and feedback, which matches well with these strategies.
     • Cognitivism: This theory focuses on how we process information, and getting regular feedback helps with this process.
2. Summative Assessment:
   • Final Projects: Students complete a big project at the end of the course to show what they’ve learned.
   • Connection to Learning Theories:
     • Behaviorism: This theory focuses on observable behaviors, like how well you perform on a final project.

Assessment Strategies Not Used

1. Multiple-Choice Tests:
   • This course doesn’t use tests with multiple-choice questions, which are common in other courses.
   • Connection to Learning Theories:
     • Behaviorism: These tests check if you can choose the correct answer, fitting well with behaviorist ideas.
2. Automated Grading Systems:
   • This course doesn’t use systems that automatically grade your work, which are often used in computer science courses.
   • Connection to Learning Theories:
     • Behaviorism: Automated grading provides instant feedback on right or wrong answers.

Comparison to Computer Science Courses

1. Typical Computer Science Course Assessments:
   • Automated Coding Assignments: These are graded by computers based on whether the code works correctly.
   • Exams and Quizzes: Use multiple-choice questions and coding problems to test knowledge.
   • Project-Based Assessments: Students work on projects, but they often don’t get as much feedback during the process.
2. Differences:
   • Peer Feedback and Self-Assessment: These are used more in this course but not as much in computer science courses.
   • Emphasis on Formative Assessment: This course focuses more on continuous feedback rather than just final grades.

Specific Examples

1. Formative Feedback:
   • In this course, students might submit a draft and get feedback from classmates and instructors, similar to a code review in some advanced computer science courses.
   • Learning Theory Connection: Constructivism, which suggests that feedback helps build understanding.
2. Summative Projects:
   • Both types of courses might have final projects. In computer science, it could be a big coding project. In this course, it might be designing a learning plan.
   • Learning Theory Connection: Behaviorism, focusing on the final performance to show what’s been learned.

Conclusion

The course “Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments” uses many different ways to assess learning, especially focusing on continuous feedback and reflection. This approach matches theories that say we learn best through interaction and feedback. In contrast, computer science courses often use automated grading and tests, which fit with theories that focus on right and wrong answers. This course’s approach can help students think more deeply about their learning compared to the more straightforward methods used in computer science.