Abstract:

This pilot project builds on previous work by including an online summative examination in a blended course on Irish Language for Computer Science students.

Since 2012 I have been developing a methodology aimed at scaffolding students through the threshold concepts of the grammar and syntax of the Irish language. Basically, the methodology combines video presentations aligned to online formative assessment to guide the learner through the necessary and challenging concepts. Until now I have been reluctant to include the final high stakes summative assessment as part of the students' online experience for a variety of reasons:
• concern about the adequacy of students' IT skills;
• the need to ensure that such assessment practice is aligned with the generic programme learning outcomes of the students' main course of study;
• uncertainty about the validity and integrity of such an initiative.

This year, however, I began a new elective module of Irish language for first year undergraduate Computer Science students and felt that the nature of the students' primary course of study afforded me the opportunity (and perhaps the imperative) to conduct the final summative assessment online using Blackboard's test tool.

In addition to recapping the primary methodology, in this paper and presentation I will report on:
• how I set about organising and conducting the online final summative examination;
• how the students themselves experienced and responded to their first ever experience of being assessed in an online examination;
• how the students' performance aligned with their use of the online learning resources;
• what evidence I have found to support the integrity and validity of the process;
• how successful the overall initiative has been and my plans to roll it out to a much larger group in Semester 2.

* I reported on this methodology in Edulearn14 (Scaffolding the learning journey through combining online video and interactive tests to scaffold learners' progress across the threshold concepts of a minority language (Irish): C. Dawson, University College Cork.)

Keywords:

Assessment, summative assessment, online assessment, languages, minority languages.