Assessment Tools
What are Assessment Tools
Assessment tools allow instructors to evaluate their students either formatively or summatively. Formative assessment is assessment for learning, typically conducted during the learning process to track students developing understandings, identify areas of confusion and adjust teaching accordingly. Summative assessment is assessment of learning, typically conducted at the end of a learning process (i.e. a mid-term or final evaluation). Assessment tools support both of these types of assessment through online activities that track students’ performance. The focus of this page is upon course management tools specific to OWL.
What is the purpose of Assessment Tools
Assessment tools are intended to support the various assessment or evaluation activities an instructor may wish to incorporate into their course or learning module. In supporting both formative and summative assessments, these tools can enable an instructor to incorporate a wide range of activities that allow students to test their knowledge, get feedback on learning, and complete course assignments/assessments.
How to use Assessment Tools
In general, assessment tools enable instructors to: set up the parameters of a given assessment, allow students to complete the activity, track student performance, and provide feedback. In OWL, each assessment tool serves slightly different functionality. When choosing a tool, make sure that the tool you’ve selected adequately meets your intended goals. Some ‘best practices’ of assessment tools include:
- Utilizing the tool’s features to provide clear and explicit instructions on the assessment to be completed
- Sharing with students the rubric that will be used to evaluate the quality of their work. Feedback Studio, for example, has built-in functionality for developing and sharing rubrics as well as, mark students’ work using the rubric. In the Assignments Tool (OWL), documents such as a PDF rubric can be attached to assignment descriptions.
- Provide timely, regular, and consistent feedback to students through a combination of formative and summative assessment
Comparison
 Assignments Tool - OWL |
Gradescope |
Tests and Quizzes Tool - OWL |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Score | 92% | 79% | 91% |
| Functionality |  |
|
|
| Accessibility | |
|
 |
| Technical |  |
|
|
| Mobile Design | |
|
|
| Usage & Account Set Up | |
|
|
| Social Presence | |
|
|
| Instructor Presence | |
|
|
| Cognitive Presence | |
|
|
|
Assessment Types |
Response Types |
Types of Assessments Supported |
Types of Feedback Supported |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Assignments Tool (OWL) |
|
|
|
|
|
Tests & Quizzes (OWL) |
|
|
|
|
|
Feedback Studio (Turnitin) |
|
|
|
|
|
PeerMark (Turnitin) |
|
|
|
|
|
TopHat |
|
|
|
|
|
Plickers |
|
|
|
|
|
VoiceThread |
|
|
|
|
|
Gradebook (OWL) |
|
|
|
Topic at a Glance
These tools allow instructors to assess student performance. Grading and feedback to students are usually associated with these tools
Feedback
Leave feedback to comment or request that the tool be re-reviewed
