Online Collaborative Learning and Assessment

Rationale, aim and method of study

We report on a study which aims to investigate the impact of Online Collaborative Learning and Assessment (OCLA) on the teaching and learning of academic content subjects (i.e. applied linguistics and communication studies subjects as opposed to English language proficiency subjects) in the English Department of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and specifically to evaluate the effectiveness of OCLA in addressing subject objectives from both the perspectives of the teacher and students, and to examine students' approaches and views regarding OCLA. Another aim of the study is to compare first-year and third-year students in terms of the effect of OCLA on their learning. In this study, OCLA was incorporated into the teaching of two subjects, Pragmatics for first year and Intercultural Communication for third-year undergraduate students. Both the writers were involved in designing the syllabuses and teaching these subjects. The subject syllabuses were written to facilitate the learning and assessment of both subject specific knowledge and such generic attributes as critical and creative thinking, learner autonomy, collaborative learning, reflective thinking, and the confidence and ability to assess oneself and one's peers fairly and responsibly. The subject design was in line with the strategic objective of our university, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, namely, "To enhance the all-round development of students, particularly in the areas of global outlook, critical and creative thinking, social and national responsibility, cultural appreciation, life-long learning, biliteracy and trilingualism, entrepreneurship and leadership". 'Online collaborative assessment' in this study is defined as the assessment of both process and product of assessment tasks from three sources: the teacher, the student, and peers. The online learning activities and assessment tasks were all carried out by students using the WebCT1 as a platform of learning, teaching and communication.

The study systematically collected a range of data using a variety of methods, including focus group interviews that involved about 20% of the students, and textual analysis of the students' portfolios. Assessment was based on subject-specific criteria in combination with the more general SOLO taxonomy (Biggs, & Colins, 1982) in order to assess the quality of online collaborative assignments submitted in the form of a portfolio by individual students. A development from the study, which will be described later, is the construction of an OCLA taxonomy to better reflect the nature of the assignments and distinguish between different levels of attainment of the learning outcomes of the subjects concerned, i.e. in line with the notion of constructive alignment (Biggs, 2003).

¹ WebCT, Inc., based in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, is the world's leading provider of e-learning systems for higher education institutions. Thousands of institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide are expanding the boundaries of teaching and learning with WebCT (http://www.webct.com/).

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مواضيع ذات صلة

Online Collaborative Learning and Assessment (OCLA)

Mapping Self-Assessment to Achievement Conclusion

Results, Analysis and Discussion

Stage 4: Determine the predictive validity of the ILP questionnaire, with retention progression, academic outcome and 1st destinations as dependent variables Method

Results, Analysis and Discussion

Stage 2: Determining causal relationships between previous academic qualifications, age, gender, motivation and ILP scores Preliminary analysis Method

Development of Revised Tool

Internal Consistency and Split-half Reliability of Existing Factors

Results, Analysis and Discussion Evaluation of the Existing Tool

Stage 1: Evaluating the reliability, stability and validity of the ILP questionnaire Method

Mapping Self-Assessment to Achievement

Introducing Computer-Aided Peer Assessment (CAPA) in Engineering Conclusions