A hybrid course on assessment: Using Canvas and Data Analytics to respond to and understand the needs of a diverse student population

Our initial objective was to create a hybrid course powered by Canvas learning analytics, however, given the Covid crisis, we had to switch our objective to developing an asynchronous online course. The choice of developing an asynchronous course was made given the phenomenon of “online meeting fatigue” that many students were experiencing during the Covid crisis, hence we wanted to reduce the time that students spend in online meetings and give them more control over their schedule so they can choose when and where to study.

We created 18 asynchronous online modules on assessment in the classroom; these modules can be reused by future instructors of courses on assessment, the modules can also be reused by faculty members teaching about assessment related topics. The modules are all structured following best practices in instructional design: Specific learning outcomes for each module, diagnostic assessments, assessment activities with instant feedback, interactive activities, and scaffolded assignments that include self-assessment, peer-assessment, and feedback from instructor.

In addition to the 18 modules, we created an online repository of more than a thousand assessment tasks for all subjects: quizzes, exams, project-based assessments, and lesson plans. The assessment tools included tools in the public domain, tools licensed under Creative Commons, and copyrighted tools for which we requested and received permission to share. To support users of our repositories in knowing how to properly attribute the authors of the assessment tools, we developed a learning module specifically on copyright. By completing the module, students will develop the necessary copyright knowledge to know how to properly attribute authors and the conditions under which they may or may not produce and circulate copies of these resources.

To support other instructors who plan to teach online courses in the teacher education program, we created five personas that reflect five categories of teacher candidates. The personas were developed by instructors who taught the course in Winter 2021 based on the experiences of their students. The fives personas were the outcome of the Learning Analytics component of the project.