E-learning Assessment Research Articles

A Study on the Design of the Key Technology in Corporate E-Learning

In recent years, the government of Anhui province has carried out the construction of E- Corporation and promoted the development of corporate e-learning. Our literature researches show there are many problems unsolved in current studies and practices of corporate e-learning which calls for the systematic design of the key technologies, including: maturity model—a research on maturity model of corporate e-learning based on Strategic Planning, construction of the center of corporate e- learning, the design and key technology of organizational e-learning platform, the design of learning resources (course) based on the structure of Competency Model, a research and practice of corporate organizational learning based on e-learning, and the assessment and optimization of learning: performance assessment of e-learning. The key technologies involved are discussed in this thesis. In order to further the integration of informationizaton and industrialization and promote the informationization of small and middle-sized corporations efficiently, Committees of Economy and Informationization of Provinces like Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu etc. cooperate with China Telecom Company on the construction of Millions of E-Corporations. Their ways of construction differ but A Set of Online-Training System is included almost all their construction. This thesis probes into corporate e-learning, an important part in E-Corporations and studies how to perfect the online-training system, how to use that well, how to improve the effect of it and enterprise development with the application of such a system. Actually, it researches corporate Organizational E-Learning at a higher level, which is significant to stimulate the knowledge sharing and innovation in a corporation, to construct a creative and learning organization, and finally, an E-Corporation. According to the analysis and literature review (1,2,3,4,5,6), the present corporate e-learning researches focus on technical platform, construction of learning resources and traditional training and course design. However, corporate e-learning now is shifting its focus from pure technology and content in market trade to the learning process and is shifting its stress from individual learning to organizational learning. It turns to probe into its strategic function and value from the perspective of the realization of strategic goals of corporations. Therefore, e- learning needs further researches in construction of e-learning platform and resource development, in designing a learning process based on the work flow, in integrating learning process with knowledge management, in building an e-learning model based on the technology of web2.0, in the assessment and a maturity model of e-learning, etc. Every researcher of corporate e-learning should work out how to enhance and improve the training function of corporate e-learning and meanwhile, expand the application value of it and promote its application practice at organizational learning and other higher levels. 2. Proposed scheme about the key technology in the corporate e-learning

The Role of Digital, Formative Testing in e-Learning for Mathematics: A Case Study in the Netherlands

Repeated formative, diagnostic assessment lies at the heart of student-centred learning, providing students with a continuous stream of information on the mastery of different topics and making suggestions to optimize the choice of subsequent learning activities. When integrated into a system of e-learning, formative assessment can make that steering information instantaneous, which is a crucial aspect for feedback in student-centred learning. This empirical study of the role of formative assessment in mathematics e-learning focuses on the important merit of integrating these assessments into a system of state or national testing. Such tests provide individual students with crucial feedback for their personal learning, teachers with information for instructional planning, and curriculum designers with information on the strengths and weaknesses in the mastery states of students in the program and the need to accommodate any shortcomings. Lastly, they provide information on the quality of education at state or national level and a means to monitor its development over time. We shall provide examples of these merits based on data from the national project ONBETWIST, part of the Dutch e-learning program Testing and Test-Driven Learning.

EduMiner: Using text mining for automatic formative assessment

Formative assessment and summative assessment are two widely accepted approaches of assessment. While summative assessment is a typically formal assessment used at the end of a lesson or course, formative assessment is an ongoing process of monitoring learners’ progresses of knowledge construction. Although empirical evidence has acknowledged that formal assessment is indeed superior to summative assessment, current e-learning assessment systems however seldom provide plausible solutions for conducting formative assessment. The major bottleneck of putting formative assessment into practice lies in its labor-intensive and time-consuming nature, which makes it hardly a feasible way of achievement evaluation especially when there are usually a large number of learners in e-learning environment. In this regard, this study developed EduMiner to relieve the burdens imposed on instructors and learners by capitalizing a series of text mining techniques. An empirical study was held to examine effectiveness and to explore outcomes of the features that EduMiner supported. In this study 56 participants enrolling in a “Human Resource Management” course were randomly divided into either experimental groups or control groups. Results of this study indicated that the algorithms introduced in this study serve as a feasible approach for conducting formative assessment in e-learning environment. In addition, learners in experimental groups were highly motivated to phrase the contents with higher-order level of cognition. Therefore a timely feedback of visualized representations is beneficial to facilitate online learners to express more in-depth ideas in discourses.

Reform of medical education in Korea

There are 41 medical schools in South Korea with over 3500 students graduating from the medical schools annually with the appropriate qualifications to practice medicine. Korean medical educators have made significant efforts to enhance the effectiveness of medical education by preparing students for the rapidly changing global environment of medicine and healthcare. This article outlines the reform efforts made by Korean medical schools to meet such demands, which includes the adoption of student-centered and competency-based education, e-learning, and authentic assessment of clinical performance. It also discusses the recent reform of the medical education system, driven by the Government's policy to prepare Korean higher education for an increasingly knowledge-based society.

Using S-P Chart and Bloom Taxonomy to Develop Intelligent Formative Assessment Tool

E-learning provides a convenient and efficient way for learning. Formative assessment not only guides student in instruction and learning, diagnose skill or knowledge gaps, but also measures progress and evaluation. An efficient and convenient e-learning formative assessment system is the key character for e-learning. However, most e-learning systems didn’t provide methods for assessing learners’ abilities but true-score mode. In this article, Sato’s Student-Problem Chart (SP Chart) is applied to integrate with our proposed on-line assessment system. Teachers are able to analyze each learner easily and efficiently. In addition, the Bloom Taxonomy of Educational Objective supports each item in our assessment management system during the authoring time. In our proposed system, it provides groups of function for student, teacher, and system administrator. According to the SP Chart analysis and Bloom taxonomy of items, we can divide all items into four types, and students into six types. With these types of diagnosis analysis chart, teacher can modify or delete the items which are not proper. With diagnosis analysis chart of students, teachers can realize learners’ learning situation easily and efficiently.

A Framework for Creating Semantically Adaptive Collaborative E-learning Environments

In this paper we present a framework that can be used to generate web-based, semantically adaptive, e-learning and computer-assisted assessment (CAA) tools for any given knowledge domain, based upon dynamic ontological modeling. We accomplish this by generating â??learning ontologies

Multi-dimensional students’ evaluation of e-learning systems in the higher education context: An empirical investigation

There has been little research on assessment of learning management systems (LMS) within educational organizations as both a web-based learning system for e-learning and as a supportive tool for blended learning environments. This study proposes a conceptual e-learning assessment model, hexagonal e-learning assessment model (HELAM) suggesting a multi-dimensional approach for LMS evaluation via six dimensions: (1) system quality, (2) service quality, (3) content quality, (4) learner perspective, (5) instructor attitudes, and (6) supportive issues. A survey instrument based on HELAM has been developed and applied to 84 learners. This sample consists of students at both undergraduate and graduate levels who are users of a web-based learning management system, U-Link, at Brunel University, UK. The survey instrument has been tested for content validity, reliability, and criterion-based predictive validity. The analytical results strongly support the appropriateness of the proposed model in evaluating LMSs through learners’ satisfaction. The explanatory factor analysis showed that each of the six dimensions of the proposed model had a significant effect on the learners’ perceived satisfaction. Findings of this research will be valuable for both academics and practitioners of e-learning systems.

Un modelo para la evaluacion de la calidad e-learning

<p align="left">La Agencia Nacional Sueca de Educación Superior llevó a cabo un estudio en el periodo 2007-2008, para adquirir conocimiento acerca de lo que constituye la calidad <em>e-learning</em>, y cómo puede ser evaluada dentro del esquema de un sistema nacional de asesoría de calidad. El presente ensayo exhibe un modelo para la valuación de la citada calidad. El modelo ha evolucionado mediante el análisis de documentos legales, de redes y de proyectos de desarrollo iniciados dentro del contexto de cooperación europea, así como mediante el análisis de la forma en la cual diferentes organizaciones de evaluación nacional, y agencias encargadas de la promoción del desarrollo nacional de <em>e-learning</em>, lidiaron con la cuestión de la evaluación de calidad de <em>e-learning </em>y la educación a distancia. Estas descripciones y análisis abarcan nueve países. Los análisis indican que mientras <em>e-learning </em>es parte de la agenda europea, en países individuales, solo recientemente y de manera mucho más esporádica, ha surgido el tema de cómo la calidad de <em>e-learning </em>debe ser asesorada. En muchas organizaciones, la calidad de <em>e-learning </em>no parece ser un problema de interés. Un sondeo de investigaciones recientes en el área ―que está incluso en este estudio― sirve como base central para el modelo de evaluación propuesto.</p><p align="left">El modelo de la Agencia Nacional para la estimación de la calidad en <em>e-learning </em>«Calidad e-learning» (E-learning quality –ELQ) comprende diez aspectos de calidad los cuales, a nuestro parecer, son centrales para dicha asesoría: 1) Material/contenido; 2) Estructura/ambiente virtual; 3) Comunicación, cooperación e interactividad; 4) Evaluación del estudiante; 5) Flexibilidad y adaptabilidad; 6) Apoyo (estudiantil y del personal); 7) Cualificaciones y experiencia del personal docente; 8) Visión y liderazgo institucional; 9) Asignación de recursos; 10) Procesos y aspectos integrales.</p><p align="left">Más allá, nuestra opinión es que la calidad <em>e-learning </em>debe ser asesorada desde la perspectiva de un sistema, por ejemplo, que la calidad de la educación sea determinada por todos los aspectos antes mencionados en conjunto, y por sus interrelaciones. Otra conclusión central es que si una agencia nacional u otra organización evalúan <em>e-learning</em>, no es suficiente con simplemente establecer aspectos de calidad. El cuerpo evaluador también debe desarrollar y adaptar sus propios métodos de trabajo y garantizar la aptitud interna: los métodos existentes de evaluación de calidad deben ser adaptados; aspectos de calidad de <em>e-learning </em>deben ser integrados en sistemas de asesoría de calidad; la competencia interna y la provisión de información en el área <em>e-learning </em>deben ser garantizadas; los métodos de trabajo internos deben ser adaptados a las condiciones especiales y pertinentes para la asesoría de la educación sin fronteras.</p>

Exploiting trust into e-learning: adding reliability to learning paths

The personalisation of learning paths according to personal profiles is one of the major advantages of computer assisted learning. However, the choice of most suitable learning resources is sometime a controversial question due to different e-learning providers' assessment about each other and their learning resources. In this work, an approach to address this issue is presented, by exploiting the idea of trustworthiness associated to both learning objects as well as to peers in a P2P e-learning scenario. In particular, trust relationships among peers allows to select which ones of them can be considered more authoritative in answering a query within a given topic (described by shared ontologies), whereas trust about learning objects allows to select most reliable resources. We test our proposal on an e-learning network based on MERLOT and ARIADNE data. Results show the effectiveness of trust in e-learning context.

Distance Online Learning and Evaluation Framework

In this paper, the authors present the concept of a system for Distance Object Learning and Evaluation (DOLE), which can be used during the teaching-learning process as a virtual learning environment. The term Distance Object Learning is used here for learning over a computer network or the Internet about real world entities that are distinguishable from others. The DOLE system concept uses standards for Learning Object Metadata (LOM) at different levels of abstraction. The objective of the resulting system is not only the correct and retrievable description of the course material covered by the LOM but also the further use of parts of the LOM data set for the generation of learning materials and students' learning development assessment, which can be represented by quizzes and tests. The Distance Object Learning and Evaluation system concept outlined in this paper is based in part on an earlier version of an E-learning Assessment System for Young learners (EASY). DOLE extends the concept of EASY by a learning component and by posing system generated questions with the help of a forward-chaining inference engine to find out about a specific item (object) of the domain of instruction. As the questioning process is bidirectional (open questions can be asked by the system as well as by the learner), DOLE is more targeted at advanced and adult learners than at young learners. The ultimate goal is to use the DOLE system concept as a part of a virtual college or university.

A European Computer Driving Licence: integrating computer literacy in the new Social Work degree

'Informacy', the learning of information technology skills, is now a key element of all Social Work curricula in the U.K. following the General Social Care Council's accreditation requirements. These stipulate that all undergraduates acquire computer literacy skills to the level of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) or its equivalence and require that all accredited Social Work courses assess students to ensure that this is achieved. However, many universities do not have the support of information technology departments in order to ensure that their students are taught how to use a computer. Nor do they have access to interactive web-based packages that assist the students in teaching themselves IT skills to the high levels required by the European Computer Driving Licence. The research suggests that an integrated e-learning teaching and assessment strategy can help to promote computer literacy among Social Work students. This paper explores some of the challenges that arise from integrating e-learning into the teaching and assessment of a Social Work degree, based on the experience of the Social Work Department at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Bucks New University).

Editorial Vol 3, No 2

Just days after farewelling delegates from all over the world who attended the 3rd Asia-Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity: Creating a Culture of Integrity, held at the University of South Australia, I am delighted to welcome you to Volume 3, Issue 2 of the International Journal for Educational Integrity. I am very pleased that since my entreaties in the last issue of the journal for high quality, original and relevant submissions, there has been a marked increase in the quality of manuscripts submitted for review.
 
 This current issue provides an international and inter-disciplinary view of academic integrity. Contributors represent universities in Australia and the United States, as well as diverse disciplinary perspectives, including human pathophysiology, mathematics, health sciences, accounting, finance and economics. Each of the papers in the current issue examines a particular issue of academic integrity and contributes an original viewpoint.
 
 Michael Kremmer, Mark Brimble and Peta Stevenson-Clarke, from the Griffith Business School at Griffith University, in Brisbane, Australia, report on data from a survey of 1 057 students across four major Queensland universities which investigated factors that may influence student engagement in academic misconduct. They found that a student's age, gender and nationality are useful in explaining the probability of a student cheating. The key finding, however, suggests that the likelihood that a student will engage in any given cheating behaviour is most strongly influenced by the extent to which the student engages in other forms of cheating, supporting the notion of 'once a cheat always a cheat'.
 
 Steve McKillup and Ruth McKillup, from the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health at Central Queensland University, Australia, describe an original strategy for pre-empting plagiarism, called the 'hypothetical condition' essay. For this type of essay, the instructor invents a fictitious but entirely plausible physiological condition or concept which students must evaluate and discuss. The hypothetical condition essay was trialled with a second level undergraduate human pathophysiology class in 2007. No cases of plagiarism were detected and grade distribution was comparable with previous offerings of the course. The hypothetical condition essay also appeared to foster originality and critical thought, and the authors suggest that the concept of this type of assessment could be applied in many fields.
 
 Ken Randall, Denise Bender and Diane Montgomery, from the University of Oklahoma Schusterman Center, in the United States, used Q method analysis to understand the opinions of students and faculty in health sciences programs regarding what they consider to be key aspects of academic integrity. Thirty-eight students and faculty sorted statements on academic integrity to represent their reactions to the condition of instruction, "What are your thoughts about values in your academic program?". The key finding was that although cheating occurs even in health sciences programs such as occupational and physical therapy, students and faculty appear to share a notable degree of common ground as it relates to their opinions on academic integrity.
 
 The final paper in this issue, by Sven Trenholm from Herkimer County Community College in New York, is based on a survey of all listed Fall 2006 State University of New York (SUNY) Learning Network (SLN) mathematics faculty, and focusses on assessment in math e-learning. The study compared the practice of assessment in proctored math e-learning courses with that of assessment in unproctored math e-learning courses and sought to identify the most popular strategies for assessing math e-learning courses.
 
 It is clear from the diverse papers in this issue, and those presented recently at 3APCEI, that academic/educational integrity is more than an emerging field of inquiry. It is genuinely inter-disciplinary and wide-ranging in the forms of research being undertaken. The streams at the conference and pre-conference workshop provide some indication of this diversity: institutional approaches to educational integrity, policies relating to academic integrity officers, research, teaching and learning, contextual factors, specific student groups, transnational issues, emotional work and ethics in theory and practice.
 
 I encourage all readers of the IJEI, including teachers, researchers, writers and students to continue to explore the multi-various aspects of academic integrity from both a practical and theoretical perspective and to contribute manuscripts for review. In particular, we welcome contributions from scholars working in countries where educational integrity is only just beginning to emerge as an area of inquiry. Please send all submissions directly to me at tracey.bretag@unisa.edu.au
 
 Tracey Bretag,
 Editor, International Journal for Educational Integrity
 December 2007

An investigation of assessment in fully asynchronous online math courses

This study is based on a voluntary survey of all listed Fall 2006 State University of New York (SUNY) Learning Network (SLN) mathematics faculty. The survey focuses on assessment in SLN math e-learning. Based on survey data, the study attempts to answer the following questions: What percentage of math e-learning courses overall, by course category and by institution (two year or four year) are proctored? In proctored and unproctored math e-learning courses, which assessment instruments are utilised and how? Comparing the two approaches, how does the practice of assessment in proctored math e-learning courses compare to the practice of assessment in unproctored math e-learning courses? Finally, what are the ten most popular strategies for assessing math e-learning courses? The paper concludes with questions, suggestions for further research and implications regarding the academic integrity of math e-learning courses.

Success factors in developing and delivering online courses in operations management

This paper reports the experience in using an e-learning success model to promote e-learning quality and success. The model was adapted from DeLone-McLean's Information Systems Success Model to make explicit a process approach to success assessment, whereby the overall success of an e-learning initiative depends on the attainment of success at each of the three stages of e-learning systems development: quality design, quality delivery and quality outcome. The proposed model was tested in two cycles of action research using a web-based learning module on facility location. Findings from the study confirmed the validity of using the proposed success model for e-learning quality and success assessment.

The Design of Competency-Based Performance Assessment in E-Learning

This article focuses on the design of competency-based performance assessment in e-learning. Though effort has been invested in designing powerful e-learning environments, relatively little attention has been paid to the design of valid and reliable assessments in such environments, leaving many questions to educational developers and teachers. As a solution to this problem, a systematic approach to designing performance assessments in e-learning contexts is presented, partly based on the 4C/ID model. This model enables the construction of realistic whole tasks instead of advocating education that is restricted to more isolated skills. A new assessment procedure also implies an alternative view of instructional design, learning and assessment. The requirements for the learning environment are addressed. Examples from a virtual seminar are presented to illustrate the design approach. The article concludes with the identification of possible pitfalls related to the approach and gives directions for future research.

The Experience of Collaborative Assessment in e-Learning

This paper examines the various ways in which students talk about their experience and perceptions of collaborative review and assessment as it occurs in e-learning environments. Collaborative review and assessment involves the student, their peers and tutor in thoughtful and critical examination of each student's course work. The process involves two stages: review and discussion of the student's work with a view to bringing different critical yet supportive perspectives to the work. This is followed by the use of two sets of criteria to make judgements on the student's work: one set provided by the student, the other by the tutor. The purpose of collaborative assessment is to foster a learning approach to assessment and to develop a shared power relationship with students. From analysis of face-to-face interviews, examination of e-learning discussions and student-completed questionnaires, a set of analytic categories was built describing the learners' experiences of collaborative e-assessment. These categories are: (1) the appropriateness of collaborative assessment; (2) collaborative assessment as a learning event; and (3) the focus for assessment. The paper focuses on analysing and discussing these categories of experience. The research shows that a positive social climate is necessary in developing and sustaining collaborative assessment and that this form of assessment helps students to reduce dependence on lecturers as the only or major source of judgement about the quality of learning. Students develop skill and know-how about self- and peer assessment and see themselves as competent in making judgements about their own and each other's work, which are surely good lifelong learning skills.

E-Learning in Europe Survey

Since the early nineties, in the wake of working from home, e-learning has been regularly represented as an emerging market. In the same way, the development of the multimedia industry within, in particular, the leisure sector and education has regularly provided technological innovation. The Noir sur Blanc agency has chosen to launch a far reaching survey by contacting thousands of institutions, based all over Europe, in order to attempt to build a step by step assessment of e-learning's presence in higher education institutions. The survey's results were compiled from a sample of 120 institutions.