Module 3: Assessing a Collaborative Community

Part I
Ms. Eder in her Module 3 blog posting http://eder8842.blogspot.com/ provides a concise summary of an excellent model for assessing a collaborative community such as is done in the Walden University courses. But indeed assessing a collaborative community is brand new challenge because the concept of a collaborative community in itself is a new platform and environment.

Some instructional design theories begin with the assessment stage. So perhaps when a collaborative community course is being designed, it should begin with identifying the learning or behavioral outcomes followed by a storyboard of the delivery method while simultaneously developing the assessment rubric. In other words, a DE designer should not ask, “How will we asses this?” after it’s been designed but rather before and during the design process. So “how to assess” a program will depend on the design and method of the course.

Siemens (2008) suggests the community of learners as assessors. He does state that it is a new concept which will require a new pedagogy in assessing, and it will take time for us to break out of the old traditional mold. But he seems to be a strong advocate of this peer review model. For me personally, this presents some challenges for several reasons:

Siemens (2008) used the “Did you find this answer useful?” (p. 1) analogy. Students come from all different backgrounds and knowledge levels. Information that is useful for one student may be completely useless for another student. As the learner being assessed, my goal is to learn, not to try to appeal to all knowledge levels of my peers.

As a learner who has to review and grade my peers, that pressure places undue stress on me. My goal, let’s say as an aerospace engineer student, is to learn about aerospace engineering, not to learn how to be an assessor of others. Yes, learning and living in a collaborative community is bound to have benefits as we all diffuse ourselves in to this online world, but the pressure and idea of assessing and learning simultaneously may be a deterrent.

Closely aligned with #2 above, students would have to not only learn how to properly participate in a community but also learn how to be a fair assessor. Is that the goal of this aerospace engineering course?


Part II
How do you handle those who do not participate in the community? I am believer in prevention rather than reaction, when possible. If a program requires a collaborative community, this should be clearly defined before a student is allowed to enroll in that program. Therefore the “lone learner” will know of the collaboration requirement in advance. Once enrolled, then as Palloff and Pratt (2005) suggest, some sort of clear agreement or team charter should be created by all members of the community. The team charter would then define the action steps and consequences. All members of the community should sign off on the final product. The contents of the agreement would depend on the learners, the course, and the community structure.

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Siemens, G. (2008). Assessment of collaborative learning. [Study video transcript]. Retrieved January 3, 2008 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=3206859&Survey=1&47=5050260&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1 Only available to Walden students enrolled in EDUC 8442.