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Although most students perform well in a distance education setting, it is known that for some, barriers to learning exist which can cause students to perform poorly and to drop out at rates higher than would be expected in the traditional classroom environment. Demographic, situational and psycho-social variables, such as the learner's experience and attitude toward technology (or lack thereof), life situation, support network, educational preparation, motivation and persistence, location and socio-economic status, are all factors which may play a role in whether a distance learner succeeds in finishing a course or a degree program.

For the faculty member just starting to develop a distance education course, the process of adapting material for a new delivery format is often the most daunting aspect; conceptualizing how content might be integrated with new technology, not to mention how students will perceive and react to it, is often particularly difficult. Assessment and evaluation of the students in your distance education course is one important tool that can not only help you evaluate your students' performance, but also help you shape and fine tune your instructional methods and technique.

Dr. Elaine Turner discusses the importance of selecting assessment and evaluation strategies when planning a course.        Watch Video (1 min. 30sec.)

Assessment is usually thought of as the process of determining the quality or worth of the students' efforts and performance leading up to a final course grade, as well those methods used as the course goes along to ascertain if the student is mastering the content. Several ways exist to conduct student assessments in a distance education course. The following are some you may want to use to assess student performance:

Peer evaluation of group activities - Groups can produce projects or papers via distance education technologies. Allow group members to assess each other's performance.
Student self-evaluation - Ask students to evaluate how well they think they did. This requires them to be somewhat introspective and helps them to learn from the experience.
Offer conventional exams - at regional testing centers or by qualified monitors/site facilitators.
Give "take-home" exams - that simulate real-world applications of course content.
Assign written reports and projects - Written reports or projects provide students the opportunity to synthesize the material they learned.

Although many courses use both objective exams and non-objective projects and assignments to evaluate student performance and generate grades, the distance setting does present some constraints with respect to administering tests and exams. In addition to the use of regional testing centers, some instructors take advantage of Web-based testing systems, which are often packaged in an online course management tool, such as WebCT, or available as downloadable shareware. These testing systems can be used by students in the form of self-quizzes, in which students fill in an answer and get immediate feedback. Some sophisticated systems also allow you to upload a test bank to provide an individualized exam for each student taking the test and even let you administer a timed test.  For more information on WebCT's course assessment tools, contact the WebCT administrator at UF's Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) at http://www.citt.ufl.edu

Assessment can also take the form of pre- or self-diagnostic assessment, in which a student takes a specific survey instrument or skills inventory designed to assess his or her innate learner traits, such as personality type or learning style, as well as the capacity or "fit" into a distance education program or course environment.  In addition to the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) that is used to identify learning style, examples of "learner traits" self-assessment instruments include the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the California Critical Thinking Dispositional Inventory. Contact faculty in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (http://aecweb.ifas.ufl.edu) for information on these self-diagnostic assessments.

Some instructors also use self-diagnostic "is-this-distance-education-course-right-for-you?" type survey questionnaires to help students understand what the distance education experience will be like, and to enable them to determine if it will be a good fit given the student's abilities and life circumstances.  A good example of this type of survey is one used by Mickie Swisher in her online course Food and the Environment (http://disted.ifas.ufl.edu/agg5425/week1.htm). 

Hear Dr. Mickie Swisher describe the self-diagnostic assessment she asks her students to complete before starting her course.       Watch Video (1 min. 20sec.)

Other examples of self-diagnosis include:

• "Are you an independent learner" from Colorado State University (http://www.colorado.edu/slhs/ASLcert/independent.html)
• "Distance Education self diagnostic questionnaire" (http://nova.umuc.edu/~musavi/webtycho/SelfDiagnostic.html)
• "Thinking about enrolling in a course or program at WGU" (http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/self_assessment.asp)

How would you assess student work? List student assessment methods you could use in your distance education class.

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