Course development for non-degree/non-academic offerings.
The course we are developing is for training young professionals in our field and not for either academic credit or certifications. Content is important but grading not so much as just getting them to understand the concepts.
Given the above, are there other methods of evaluating the knowledge obtained with out the emphasis on grades?
Warren,
Interesting - it really depends on what you want them to learn. You may be able to do a "project" type of assessment and look at it as pass/fail - if you are really just trying to involve them (as opposed to grade them).
Jon
Could still use quizzes that students have to pass to continue on through the course.
Even if there is no final grade, I believe having some guide posts as to how the student is doing will help the student focus and persist with the course.
Group projects/mentoring will also help keep the students on track to completion
Lucy,
Good idea - many systems also allow for selective release of content (pass the quiz to see the next lesson ..)
Best,
Jon
Grades are really not important. You can state: statisfied or not satisfied the specific course objective. Assessing knowledge is what is important.
But of course students want those grades! - Jon
One of the things you can do (if content is more important than grading) is create a criteria based on qualities that you are looking for, such as creativity, groupwork collaboration, and so on. Students must then fulfill all the criteria on a checklist before they are able to complete the requirement.
Interesting idea - thanks! Jon
Patricia, add quality of workmanship, integrity and resourcefulness and you have my favorite list of assessment criteria!
You say you are developing training. Well I agree then, grading is not as important. However, the training (not education) should be measured by a task, condition and standard. If the standard is not met then retraining occurs.
