Student Assessment in Online Education

It is difficult to evaluate educational methods directly. It is important, however, that we should try, and in this instance the analysis was simplified by a number of factors:

• This was the first time this group of students had met online course support.
• The online module was run after the students had sat one formal examination, which provided a benchmark for their abilities.
• The online course was followed by a second exam, which permitted us to evaluate effects of the course.
• The students were not obliged to use the course (the material was also covered in lectures), and marks from the course did not count towards their grades.

For this course we observed a strong positive correlation between performance in formal exams and online course participation - and this was not restricted to the more able students.

Return to education

© Barry Kaye, CookandKaye