Work in Progress - Using Information Technology to Author, Administer, and Evaluate Performance-Based Assessments

Abstract

Performance-based assessment (PBA) require students to construct responses in an problem-solving context. However, PBAs are traditionally labor intensive to create, administer, and score. We are extending previous work using information technology (IT) to author, create, and deliver PBAs by incorporating this functionality into an existing open-source learning management system (LON-CAPA.) The LON-CAPA system permits the delivery of individualized PBAs to the students' desktops, where they use other computer software to create files (e.g., spreadsheets, word-processing files, etc.) as solutions to the PBA and electronically submit those files to the system. The system then provides Teaching Assistants with the students' files and the individualized scoring rubrics used to assess each student's performance. This hybrid use of IT permits the use of complex, authentic tasks that cannot be evaluated by a computer, by providing a cost-effective means to leverage TA resources