This special project—involving members of the assessment working group but also a larger group of BVA participants—was organized to provide resources for faculty assessing student learning online as a result of the COVID pandemic. One of the challenges stemming from this shift is to find alternative modes of assessment that not only discourage academic dishonestly (a particular concern in STEM fields) but also promote significant and equitable learning by diverse learners. Pooling ideas and materials from across the ten BVA campuses, participants have contributed to and organized a set of principles, examples from a range of fields on BVA campuses, and curated resources from each campus. The aim is to assist faculty who unexpectedly find themselves teaching and/or assessing online but also to provide guidance for effective, learning-centered assessment in more traditional, face-to-face settings.
Design Principles
Examples
The following examples of assessments, assignments, and exams are deliberately diverse in approach, disciplinary context, course size, and level of detail. We invite you to reflect on how they can be mapped onto the design principles—and then to engage in that same process—alone or with colleagues—with your own assessments in view.
Thanks to the faculty members—all from BVA campuses–who have generously agreed to share their practices with assessment, assignments, and exams. We are eager to add to what is here, so if you or a colleague has an example to add, please contact us at hello@bayviewalliance.org
- Collaborative Book Chapter for Future Students in an Intro Chemistry Course, University of Kansas
- Learning in Physics Courses Is More Than Just Plugging Things In, Queen’s University
- Online Midterms in both Large and Small Biology Courses, University of British Columbia
- Empowering Students Through Options in an Intro Undergraduate Course, University of Kansas
- Making Your Voice Count in a 100-Level Course, University of Kansas
- Posters and Peer Review on a Wiki for an Upper-Level History Course, University of Kansas
- Three Examples of Full Course Assessment Plans for Engineering Courses, Canadian Association for Engineering Education
Curated Resources
- University of British Columbia
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Indiana University Bloomington
- University of Kansas
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Queen’s University
- University of Saskatchewan
- University of South Florida
Click here to access a pdf version of the full BVA Online Assessment Resource