Fine-tuning the Evaluation Focus in the University Cooperative Learning Model in Relation to the Pandemic

Abstract

Due to the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, the University of Amsterdam faced a sudden need to shift our education to online learning. We experienced that radical impact given that we were amid efforts to restructure one of our courses in March, 2020. That restructuring, which focused on improved cooperative learning, would have required contact-based education. The sudden COVID-based shift to online learning limited the opportunities for cooperation, mutual knowledge sharing, and inspiration. Students needed more intensive stimulus to stay involved and active. We understood that more focus on evaluation helps educators to obtain better insight into the learning progress of students and to adapt the educational processes to improve students’ learning outcomes and their learning journey. We realized that traditional end-of-course evaluation alone does not suffice the new requirements of online education. We saw a need for continuous evaluations during the course to monitor the learning trajectory that students followed. In this paper, we share our experience about the changing role of evaluation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and describe how evaluating effectiveness, success, efficiency impacts the online work with students.