November 2000 — Broadband
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Practical Tips for Using Web-based Assessment Systems
Class and Lab Preparation
Instructors are often frustrated when students come to class
unprepared. They don’t want to waste valuable class time reviewing material
that the students should already know. WebAssign helps faculty members make
better use of their class time by allowing them to quiz students before class
on required reading. Some then tailor their lectures to emphasize those areas
where the students had difficulty understanding the material. A history
professor at North Park University gives students daily quizzes on required
reading and weekly quizzes on factual material (e.g., names, dates, battles)
that he formerly put on tests. Class time is spent analyzing primary source
documents with the students rather than lecturing on historical facts.
In chemistry and physics, lab time is precious. Students may
only have limited time in the lab to perform their experiments, so they can’t
afford to waste it reading over the preparatory information. Professors in
these classes have used WebAssign to quiz students about the pre-lab readings
and calculations to ensure that they read the material before entering the lab.
Conclusion
Although it is certainly easy for university faculty to set
up a semester’s worth of homework on a system like WebAssign and then forget
about it, it is also possible to use such a system in creative ways to enhance
the learning process. Some of the faculty members interviewed indicated that
they work harder than before to make their classes better. And since they don’t
need to spend time grading homework and can check on their students’
understanding of course material, they use their class time more wisely. Those
who were concerned that an automated grading system impedes the learning
process by focusing on only the “right answer” have found that collecting work
samples randomly from students ensures that they are using the proper
processes, while not imposing too great a grading burden on the faculty member.
With the proliferation of distance learning and demands on university
faculty to be more productive in their teaching, there is an increasing need
for tools to help with these endeavors. Web-based assessment systems such as
WebAssign can assist in this process.
Catherine E. Brawner, Ph.D.
Contact Information:
WebAssign
(800) 955-8275
www.webassign.net/infoSponsored Links
