Assessment is a critical component of any educational experience, and this is especially true in asynchronous online learning. In the case of the library’s online course for undergraduate students, assessment provides feedback to both learners and instructors (and librarians who are the designers of the online course) about the effectiveness of the learning experience and ensures that learning outcomes are being met.
Self-paced Course on Bibliographic Research
As part of the core Academic Discourse Skills (ALS10A) course, students are required to conduct a literature search for their final essay. Since 2020, in collaboration with course co-ordinator, Dr Anitha Pillai, an online self-paced course was developed by librarians in NIE Library to be undertaken as part of the ALS10A course.
In the online course, students acquire skills and knowledge on how to conduct effective searches utilising a variety of platforms and tools, as well as how to cite their sources in APA style.
Since the online course was developed in 2020, close to 300 undergraduate students have taken it.
Design for Understanding
To ensure that students acquire the requisite skills and knowledge, frequent knowledge checks (such as multiple-choice questions, matching activities, scenario-based interactive activities) were included in strategic points throughout the course. The instant feedback to learners’ responses helps to test and reveal gaps in their understanding.
Accessible via NTULearn
Since 2021, the course was integrated into Blackboard and students access it via NTULearn. With the integration into the Learning Management System, a post-course quiz was developed in 2022. This gives course lecturers important data on the course completion status as well as students’ achievement of the learning outcomes.
This data will be used to refine the course and improve its effectiveness, creating meaningful and engaging learning experiences that meet the needs of our students and help them achieve their academic goals.