Online Course Design Checklist

Developed using Quality Matters standards.

The Plan for Preparation

• Week 1: Designing Your Course
• Week 2: Orientation and Module Outline
• Week 3: Assessments
• Week 4: Creating Active Content
• Week 5: Course Management and Engagement

This week: Assessments

1. Create your assignments with the principles of Universal Design for Learning in mind.
2. Review and incorporate the Universal Design for Learning practices.
3. Think about accessibility. Make auditory what is visible, and visible what is auditory.
4. Create opportunities for student engagement and student-student interaction.
5. Create meaningful navigation for your assignments and organize the Grades section in a sequential order that reflects the course schedule.

But first, some things to keep in mind...

Assessments can be:

• Exams
• Quizzes
• Projects
• Papers
• Presentations
• Reports
• Reflections
• Small assignments
• Large assignments
• Assignments with several parts

Is the assessment formative or summative?

Consider whether the assessment is for a major grade or is low stakes. Formative assessments spread throughout the course help you and the student understand their progression through the course.

Best practice: Good balance of both formative and summative assessments.

Will the assessment be synchronous or asynchronous?

Consider your students' access to technology, accommodation needs, and the current crisis situation.

We HIGHLY recommend asynchronous assessments.

We need to be compassionate, empathetic, and flexible. Timed exams are stressful during normal times and we are all learning new tools.

Is an exam or paper the only way students can prove their knowledge?

• Consider probing, reflective questions that can't be answered without personal reflection.
• Give students a complicated problem to solve that may or may not have one right answer.
• Use a real-world scenario and have students create a product (i.e. a web page, infographic or social media post).
• Encourage application of a concept to something in the student's life or to the students chosen career.
• Look for online activities that meet the same course outcomes.
• Consider giving students choices in how they prove their learning. Some students may want an exam, others might prefer a creative project. (Use a rubric to grade.)

Next...

Self-Paced Webinar: Tips and Best Practices for Online Finals (Part 1)

The first part is a self-paced interactive webinar (we used PlayPosit). The training is approximately 30-minutes, and we have shared this resources in the College Blackboard shells.

Live Webinar: Tips and Best Practices for Online Finals (Part 2)

Wednesday, May 6, 8:15 am in Zoom ( Select the title to register)

Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

Start with thinking about what do learners really need to demonstrate to achieve the content objectives. Then, look at the potential barriers that could decrease learner motivation.

• Think about the background knowledge a diverse group of learner bring to your course and provide more choice to peak interest in assessments.
• Vary the types of assessments throughout the semester.
• Provide purpose through clear examples and rubrics with wording that directly ties into the content objectives.

Provide Multiple Means of Representation

Review the information, questions, and prompts given to learners. Are the means of representation construct relevant? Can you reduce or remove these barrier by providing alternatives?

• Think of possible technological barriers if learners need to view unfamiliar content.
• Are images, videos, charts, etc. accessible for learners and could all learners benefit from alternatives?

Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Action and expression also tie into engagement. When learners are motivated by choice, you are also providing alternative means for learners to demonstrate their knowledge. Again, think of the construct relevance when asking learners to demonstrate their understanding of the content.

• Think of possible technological barriers if learners need to use unfamiliar digital tools.
• Provide rubrics and examples that help establish expectations on how to demonstrate learning effectively.
• Ask yourself if what you are asking learners to demonstrate will give you an accurate picture of their learning.

HOP 2.51 Semester Credit Hour, requirements, contact hours different online, 9 hours (examples of activities - reading, communication with instructor/others, reading announcements, time in discussion, quiz, watching video, etc.) compare to face-to-face class time and outside activities

Let your students know how they need to interact with you and with others, and how often. Requiring interaction helps students develop soft-skills for communication and collaboration.

Discussion forums or blogs are the preferred Blackboard Collaboration tools for student engagement. This ensures all students have the same access to the interaction.

The Adobe Creative Cloud suite, and Adobe Spark, can be used for portfolios and final projects and provide a space for creative, collaborative work.

Online Exams

Asynchronous is best. If synchronous, be aware of time of day. Students may not be able to be online at certain times of day. Always allow an asynchronous option.

Consider allowing open book and notes.

Use deeper questions. Ask how and why.

Be aware of barriers. Not allowing backtracking or forcing completion may put some students at a disadvantage.

Grading

Balance auto graded assignments with manually graded assignments.

Best practice: Some shorter quizzes that auto grade to provide for formative assessment; plus some major assignments and/or group assignments that require manual grading for more qualitative feedback.

Consider the number of students, whether or not you will have a TA or course grader, the types of assessments needed for your content, and the amount of time you have for grading.

Time Savers

1. Group work provides experience in collaboration and conflict management, plus can lighten the grading load.
2. Dictate your comments and use speech-to-text to transcribe them or record your comments and share an audio file.
3. Use auto-graded exams with one or two manually graded questions.
4. Use a rubric.