Conclusion

//"From today's cognitive perspective, meaningful learning is reflective, constructive, and self-regulated. People are seen not as mere recorders of factual information but as creators of their own unique knowledge structures. To know something is not just to have received information but to have interpreted it and related it to other knowledge one already has. In addition, we now recognize the importance of knowing not just how to perform, but also when to perform and how to adapt that performance to new situations. Thus, the presence or absence of discrete bits of information-- which is typically the focus of multiple-choice tests-- is not of primary importance in the assessment of meaningful learning. Rather, what is important is how and whether students organize, structure, and use that information in context to solve complex problems." //

Dietel, R. J., Herman, J. L., & Knuth, R. A. (1991). What does research say about assessment? Oakbrook: Central Regional Education Laboratory.

This week proved to be informative and beneficial in terms of learning about and summarizing our assessment tools. While we each had a genuine interest in our tools, it was really hard to pick just one! As instructors, it is imperative that we remember to use these tools with the student in mind. While it is exciting and invigorating to learn new tools and how to use them, it is equally important to remember that students may not view these new "tools" as beneficial to their learning. In fact, sometimes the instructor tools can inhibit students' learning.

All of the assessment categories are very carefully intertwined in the interest of giving our students the best possible educational experience. For instance:
 * Blackboard Collaborate opens up the lines of communication between students and other students, instructors, guest lecturers, etc. With this tool, students can challenge each other in their discussions of concepts presented in virtual class sessions.
 * When students move on to complete a quiz that has been introduced through SurveyMonkey, perhaps they will have discussed the information within their Blackboard Collaborate "rooms." When all goes well, these discussions will help them to gain a deeper understanding of the material and successfully answer the quiz questions.
 * Finally, when these students record their thoughts about the weeks' happenings in Weebly, they are likely to feel that they enjoyed using this collection of tools. It is quite likely that they will address this when they write their weekly reflections.

We have produced a website that includes the tools we felt would be beneficial to our teaching. While all the tools we have read and learned about sound fantastic, we hope you appreciated the three we chose as worthy of checking out.

Thank you for your time,

Team Swedish Chef (Jenni, Diane, and Libby)