Assessing Student Learning Online

Assessing students in online university courses poses challenges to instructors in maintaining reliability of the measurement instruments being utilized and their delivery processes. Some programs have the latitude to incorporate proctored assessments, but this is not always practical in asynchronously structured courses reaching out across a broad geographic region. Adding challenge to the process, it is difficult to know with 100 % certainty who is actually completing the assignments and various other checks on learning in online courses. Reliability in the assessment sphere is associated with a continuum, higher and lower, rather than absolute. A great deal has been written about constructing reliable tests, but less focus has been placed upon the testing process. Given the substantial expansion of online education, an equitable amount of attention must be contributed to the online assessment process. Rather than focusing on test construct reliability, this chapter will explore the process of assessment in the online environment, strategies for increasing reliability via the delivery processes, and alternative student outputs as viable representations of learning.