Student-Driven Assessments

Student-driven assessments are activities such as discussion boards, projects, and assignments that include an element of student control: control over the topic they research, final deliverable, or direction of the conversation. Allowing students control over their own learning deepens their engagement with the material and leads to better achievement of the learning outcomes. For students in today’s world, it’s imperative to foster independent thought and practice in a low-stakes academic environment, as well as have ownership over their learning path. Let’s explore how students in a course within the Engineering for Professionals (EP) program are finding their own paths to success with the help of their instructor’s guidance and expert course design.

For Dr. Robert Osiander, who teaches 515.617: Nanomaterials in the Materials Science and Engineering department, and his instructional sesigner Kimberly Barss, student-driven discussion boards have been a big hit for students’ engagement as well as learning. Osiander allows each student to pick a module in which they will serve as a discussion lead. In order to complete the role of discussion lead, for which students receive extra credit, “they pick a paper, or I suggest a paper, or I give them a problem, and they prepare a small PowerPoint presentation” to incite the discussions. Once the leader has posted, the other students respond and the discussion is led and maintained by the students, with guidance from Osiander as needed.

To promote student engagement, Osiander also uses a tool called VoiceThread, available as a direct integration through Blackboard. VoiceThread allows students to create videos, record PowerPoint presentations with narration, exchange video or audio only comments with one another, and share media. Of course this approach is not limited to those using VoiceThread only. Students can easily record and share audio and video in Blackboard using the Kaltura Mashup tool, any number of free tools online, such as Jing or Flipgrid, or plain text discussions. The heart of student-driven assessment comes from the student-centered design of the assessment itself, regardless of the tool utilized.

What Are the Benefits?

Student-driven assessments give students control over their own learning and research. According to Osiander, “it enriches their argumentation skills, [as] they have to find either solutions or constructive criticism [and] they also have to identify errors and mistakes.” The benefits for the instructor are many as well. Osiander says, “Instead of all students having only a few dissimilar discussion points, now the problem discussion goes more into depth and I can really see who is thinking about the problem. I try to be as little involved as possible, and I only intervene when major mistakes are made.” Osiander also says that students in his course are more engaged and active with a student-led discussion than they were with more traditional discussion prompts, saying, “we [in the department] are very impressed how engaged the students are in the discussion.” Incorporating some of these ideas into your own course can open up new learning opportunities for your students.

How Can You Add These to Your Own Course?

Most online courses already offer discussions to students—discussing code, discussing homework, discussing big ideas from course content. To improve upon that model and allow students more ownership in their exploration of the course content, Osiander says, “Just open it up.” The traditional discussion board generates very few original ideas after a while. But when students take charge and lead the discussion, the ideas are all new and belong to them, emphasizing original thought and critical analysis. Start small to test the waters in your own course. Beginning with one or two modules can allow you to test the concept and see if it’s the right fit for you.

Other Examples You Can Adopt Today

Giving students flexibility and freedom is not just limited to the discussion board. Semester-long projects, single assignments, and final exams can all include elements that are student driven. Many courses include end-of-semester projects and presentations—what if students had the ability to choose the type of deliverable such as a PowerPoint that is narrated, a video they create, a paper written on the topic, or any number of other deliverables in between? Allowing students to choose will keep them better engaged, allowing them to align their assessment with their own learning goals. What’s more, the final product is likely to be of a better quality with the information learned, creating deeper connections with the content. Coupled with the freedom to select the topic of the final deliverable, flexibility granted to students can also lead to high student satisfaction and higher ratings on course evaluations.

Now that you’ve got some ideas, what will you create in your own course? Need help implementing student driven assessments? Contact an instructional designer for a consultation today!