Blended Course Design Workbook Blog Series

Module 2: Transitioning traditional assignments to a blended format

This is the second blog post in The Blended Course Design Workbook series, where we discuss each module covered in this summer’s virtual FLC. To see the schedule for the learning community and to follow along at your own pace, refer to the first blog post, Module 1: Introduction to Blended Learning.

Regardless of your teaching modality (traditional, online, blended), assessment of student learning should map to the student learning objectives so that you are grading students on the knowledge, skills, and abilities you expect them to gain throughout your course. This means that when transitioning your assignments from a traditional face-to-face course to a blended format, you should start with what you already have.

Many times, these assessments can be directly moved to the blended environment or modified slightly. Other times, you might find that the virtual environment facilitates an assignment you and your students prefer even more.

Begin this process by writing down each of your learning objectives and add the graded assignments you use for assessment to the appropriate objective. Indicate which assignments you plan to move to the virtual environment and which are best kept in the traditional environment. Double check that you are assessing each learning objective. If you have objectives you are not assessing, consider if those objectives are needed or if another assignment is called for. (Consider using this course mapping worksheet provided by Katie Linder.)

Once the pedagogical elements are in place, it’s time to choose technology to deliver the assessment. While there are an abundance of online tools that can help you conduct your assessment, not all are supported by IU. Choosing an IU supported tool ensures FERPA compliance for your student data, provides tech-support to students so you don’t have to, and integrates easily into Canvas. Search or browse the Technology Tool finder to discover which tools might work well for your purposes.

While considering the types of tech tools and assessments you plan to use for the virtual assessments, ask yourself the following questions:

• For each of the assessments, can students utilize an open book or open note approach?
• What assumptions do you hold regarding how students will use the internet during online assessments?
• What assumptions do you hold regarding student communication with peers during online assessments?
• Are you concerned about the possibility of cheating or academic dishonesty during an assessment?

“There is a widespread perception that the online environment enables cheating, yet researchers have found that the incidence of cheating is no different than what is found in the face-to-face learning environment” (Linder, 2017, p. 48). Instructors and students do have different beliefs about what it means to cheat, so it is important to communicate your expectations to make sure there is no confusion.

Please reach out to Shannon and Jennifer if you’d like to discuss Blended Learning and/or how you can facilitate a group with your colleagues. If you would like to know more about:

• online assessment, register for one of the following CITL webinars,
  • Creating Online Assignments
  • Assessing Student Learning Online
  • Online Writing Assignments for Student Engagement, Learning, and Assessment
  • Strategies for Remote Exams and Assessments
  • Core Canvas Tools.
• cheating and academic dishonesty,
  • read “Cheating Lessons” on Inside Higher Ed or
  • listen to an interview with the author, James Lang, on Teaching in Higher Ed.