DIGITALALIGNING COURSE ASSESSMENT METHODS TO PROGRAM ASSESSMENT STRATEGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
1 Riga Technical University (LATVIA)
2 Daugavpils University (LATVIA)
3 St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo (BULGARIA)
2 Daugavpils University (LATVIA)
3 St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo (BULGARIA)
About this paper:
Appears in: EDULEARN20 Proceedings
Publication year: 2020
Pages: 6366-6372
ISBN: 978-84-09-17979-4
ISSN: 2340-1117
doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2020.1670
Publication year: 2020
Pages: 6366-6372
ISBN: 978-84-09-17979-4
ISSN: 2340-1117
doi: 10.21125/edulearn.2020.1670
Conference name: 12th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies
Dates: 6-7 July, 2020
Location: Online Conference
Dates: 6-7 July, 2020
Location: Online Conference
Abstract:
Latvia is undergoing a nation-wide curriculum reform in general education, with an aim to help students develop 21st-century skills. The reform’s goal is to focus on the development of transversal skills, complex learning outcomes, and higher-order thinking. In line with this goal, a new teacher preparation program in higher education has been developed and will be piloted starting from the Year 2020.Extending the objectives in higher education, including expecting results to be achieved from students, enabling the development of not only specific but also general skills, including skills to be suitable for the future labor market leads to the necessity to plan for harmonized changes in the study process and evaluation in higher education. In this context, the importance of evaluation is increasing significantly, but at the same time, it is clear that the requirements for evaluating individual study courses in the currently implemented study programs are not conducive to an integrated evaluation approach and are not significantly aligned with the overall objectives of the program.
The research aim is to develop and validate a framework for evaluating alignment between course assessment methods and program assessment strategy, balancing the short-term and long-term impacts on student learning outcomes. Teacher preparation new program is chosen as a case study for preliminary framework validation.
The authors evaluate assessment course methods according to three dimensions: the alignment of learning outcomes and assessment methods in the course, the progression of learning outcomes and assessment criteria during the program, the integration of strategies of assessment for learning in the courses and use of computer aid assessment.
As a result, authors arrive at the conclusion that the developed framework allows identifying the misalignments between course’s assessment methods and program assessment strategy, increasing the effectiveness of the assessment across the courses in the relation to program aim and learning outcomes for the ungraduated students.