Overview
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For several decades now, assessment has become an increasingly pressing educational priority. Teacher and school accountability systems have come to be based on analysis of large-scale, standardized summative assessments. As a consequence, assessment now dominates most conversations about reform, particularly as a measure of teacher and school accountability for learner performance. Behind the often heated and at times ideologically gridlocked debate is a genuine challenge to address gaps in achievement between different demographically identifiable groups of students. There is an urgent need to lift whole communities and cohorts of students out of cycles of underachievement. For better or for worse, testing and public reporting of achievement is seen to be one of the few tools capable of clearly informing public policy makers and communities alike about how their resources are being used to expand the life opportunities for their children. This course is an overview of current debates about testing, and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of approaches to assessment. The course also focuses on the use of assessment technologies in learning. It will explore recent advances in computer adaptive and diagnostic testing, the use of natural language processing technologies in assessments, and embedded formative assessments in digital and online curricula. Other topics include the use of data mining, learning analytics and artificial intelligence in learning management systems and educational technology platforms. Participants will be required to consider issues of data access, privacy and the challenges raised by ‘big data’ including data persistency and student profiling.
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Recommended Background
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This course is designed for people interested in the future of education and the "learning society," including people who may wish to join education as a profession, practicing teachers interested in exploring future directions for a vocation that is currently undergoing transformation, and community and workplace leaders who regard their mission to be in part "educative."
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Related Resources
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Online resources are available here:
https://newlearningonline.com
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Join our Online Communities!
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CGScholar (Create an account and join the New Learning community)
https://cgscholar.com/community/community_profiles/new-learning/community_updates
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/newlearningonline
Twitter
https://twitter.com/neolearning
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Take this Course for Credit at the University of Illinois
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This course has the same content and anticipates the same level of contribution by students in the Assessment for Learning course offered to graduate certificate, masters, and doctoral level students in the Learning Design and Leadership Program in the College of Education at the University of Illinois.
Of course, in the nature of MOOCs many people will just want to view the videos and casually join some of the discussions. Some people say that these limited kinds of participation offer evidence that MOOCs suffer from low retention rates. Far from it – we say that any level of engagement is good engagement.
On the other hand, if you would like to take this course for credit at the University of Illinois, you will find more information about our program here:
https://ldlprogram.web.illinois.edu/overview/
And you can apply here:
https://education.illinois.edu/epol/programs-degrees/ldl
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The Learning Design and Leadership Series of MOOCs
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This course is one of a series of eight MOOCs created by Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis for the Learning Design and Leadership program at the University of Illinois. If you find this MOOC helpful, please join us in others!
e-Learning Ecologies: Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age
https://www.coursera.org/learn/elearning
New Learning: Principles and Patterns of Pedagogy
https://www.coursera.org/learn/newlearning
Assessment for Learning
https://www.coursera.org/learn/assessmentforlearning
Learning, Knowledge, and Human Development
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-knowledge-human-development
Ubiquitous Learning and Instructional Technologies
https://www.coursera.org/learn/ubiquitouslearning
Negotiating Learner Differences: Towards Productive Diversity in Learning
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learnerdifferences
Literacy Teaching and Learning: Aims, Approaches and Pedagogies
https://www.coursera.org/learn/literacy-teaching-learning
Multimodal Literacies: Communication and Learning in the Era of Digital Media
https://www.coursera.org/learn/multimodal-literacies
Syllabus
- Course Orientation + Intelligence Tests
- This course is an overview of current debates about testing, and analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of approaches to assessment. The module also focuses on the use of assessment technologies in learning. It will explore recent advances in computer adaptive and diagnostic testing, the use of natural language processing technologies in assessments, and embedded formative assessments in digital and online curricula. Other topics include the use of data mining and learning analytics in learning management systems and educational technology platforms. The module also considers issues of data access, privacy, and the challenges raised by ‘big data’ including data persistency and student profiling. A final section addresses the processes of educational evaluation. Video presenters include Mary Kalantzis, Bill Cope, Luc Paquette, and Jennifer Greene.
- Kinds of Assessments
- The word "standard" is used in two quite different ways in testing theory and practice: to create a common measure of learning in "standardized assessments"; and the generalized and measurable objectives of learning. Sometimes standardized assessments are used to determine the outcomes of standards-based education, but often not. Standards-based assessment can also be criterion-referenced, and self-referenced.
- New Assessments in the Digital Age
- Computer-mediated assessments can be used to mechanize, and so make more efficient, traditional select-and-supply response assessments. However, new opportunities also present themselves in the form of technologies and assessment processes called "learning analytics."
- Educational Data Mining + Evaluation
- In this module, Luc Paquette discusses educational data mining – a new generation of techniques with which to analyze student learning for the purposes of assessment, evaluation, and research. Finally, Jennifer Greene explores theories and practices of evaluation. Assessment data may be used to support evaluations, however evaluation is a considerably broader process.
Taught by
Dr William Cope and Dr Mary Kalantzis
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Reviews
4.8 rating, based on 4 Class Central reviews
4.7 rating at Coursera based on 280 ratings
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great! this kind of content is so helpful for those who really want to improve their skill in the teaching and learning process, I really happy for this new experience that in the future is going to be helping me with everything related to my major in teaching language. there are tools for everything and the fact is completely into the process the student can also to has a review anytime, of course, there are limits that we can respect but if we are into the process the knowledge is going to be awesome.
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Coursera Assessment for Learning Review
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Assessment for Learning
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign via Coursera
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Excellent! This course is for people who want to greatly improve their skills, feedback their knowledge in the teaching and learning process, it is a new experience to take this course so we learn more about the class
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The course was good, interesting and fun, it's a pity that to finish it you have to pay some money, but it still helps the students a lot