Assessing assessment

In the online environments some case studies we’ve developed and day-to-day experience have shown that, several times, online learning activities are promoted without considering the assessment of cognitive results that derive from those activities. Engaging students appears as the main justification. And when students’ involvement is not what it was expected? Should a student be penalized by not being a part of an online activity? Isn’t he/she also participating with the silent follow up that he/she chooses to do? Isn’t he/she learning? In the teacher’s point of view, the analysis of each of the students’ interventions may be a hard and time consuming task, especially in large classes. On the other hand, an automated process of the students’ interventions may be overrated in messages of social nature that show little cognitive activity. This context led to a study that aims to determine which are the most suitable activities for the learning process and objectives assessment. The research led into an innovative assessment model that seeks an alignment between objectives, softskills, assessment, content and other variables. The model that we suggest describes a solution for the elaboration of assessment questions by nature and expected results. It also suggests online activities that, for their innovative character, seek the students’ engagement, the objectives accomplishment and the balance between the teachers pedagogical, managerial, social and technical dimensions.