It is very important that an assessment plan is created after the learning objectives are developed. An assessment plan helps clarify if the objectives for the instructions are measurable. (Horton 2012, page 50). A well-designed assessment also provides timely and valuable feedback (and encouragement when needed) to a learner to let them know how they are progressing.
The two types of assessments are formative and summative. A formative assessment is used to monitor if the learner is making progress and learning the new content, and gives ongoing feedback (good or bad). This type of assessment allows the learner to participate in various assessment exercises (if necessary, multiple times without penalties) and helps the learner develop their learning and mastery of the instructions and/or new content. The ongoing feedback supplied to the learner allows the learner to absorb the content better and/or correct their mistakes throughout the learning process. Instructors can also use the feedback to improve and create better instructions while the learning is happening and/or for future updated instructions. Weekly class assignments with feedback like the ones used in the online instructional design classes at University of Wisconsin-Stout are great examples of formative assessments.
A summative assessment is used to evaluate if the learner has mastered the training material at the end of an instructional period. As stated on the Ed Glossary website, “it helps determine to what degree the student learned the material that was taught.” Some examples of summative assessments include: a mid-term exam, a final paper or quiz at the end of instructions. Summative assessments also include feedback.
The various types of learning activities and assessments I selected support the various learning objectives involved in this training project. Being that most of the objectives are mainly interactions with the software, observing the learners actually performing the tasks in a live software environment will be a key form of assessment to measure if they have successfully completed an objective. Throughout the observation assessments, the learners will receive formative feedback both from the instructor and/or other learners. I will also include a multiple choice/pick question and a drag-and-drop question with immediate feedback. Rather than just supplying the ‘incorrect’ label to an incorrect answer, I will supply explanatory feedback for incorrect answers (Malamed).
In addition, I will include a series of true/false questions that require the learner to understand the software data and conclude if the data results are correct and fall within the 15% variance allowed by the company. The true/false questions will include screenshots of the software and correct/incorrect data. The learner will need to conclude what is correct/incorrect or missing. I view the true/false questions as part of the summative assessment to judge whether the learner has mastered the training; because knowing what information (data input/output) is accurate is at the core of mastering and understanding the software’s functionality and application for generating and emailing vacuum and/or vent block sizing to clients.
References
EdGlossary. August 29, 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.edglossary.org/summative-assessment
Horton, W. (2012). E-learning by design. 2nd Ed. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, Wiley.
Malamed, C. Alternatives to ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’. Retrieved from http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/alternative-feedback
Click here to view the sample assessment questions.