Blog Post 1

From what you’ve seen of the course so far and in the course outline, which of the assessment strategies in your reading this week are being used in this course?

From what I’ve seen in the course/course routine so far, I think this course uses a combination of formative and summative assessment strategies.

I think that EDCI 355 utilizes the “purpose” and “focus” aspects of formative assessment. For example, this course displays “purpose” as it has many opportunities to get feedback on the work we submit. Whether it’s from comments on our peers’ blog posts, interacting with classmates and instructors on Mattermost, or receiving instructor comments from graded assessments- this class allows for many opportunities for others to review your work and receive commentary on your understanding of the material. As a learner, I think having multiple access points for questions and discussions is really beneficial. For me personally, hearing other opinions on my work and understanding of the material solidify my understanding of the topic. Not only if it, nice to it’s nice to hear that not only are you making a mark as a student by meeting the instructor’s standards, but when my peers connect to my work I find this very meaningful. Moreover, this class displays “focus” as the class activities are meant for us students to use the skills we acquire. For example, when glancing at the course outline I can see that each week we have teaching activities and readings oriented teaching us different learning theories and design strategies in technological environments. And for our final project, we get to work with classmates to use and apply the skills we have learned during the class, by designing a course as a group. Rather than just learning the skills to memorize and regurgitate them in a multiple-choice test.

However, I think that this course uses “grading” and “effort” from summative assessment. This is because, unlike in formative assessment, we do receive traditional grades on assignments in this course. Along, with a grade with do receive written feedback, which allows us students the opportunity for growth and to learn from our mistakes for the next assignment. Additionally, I think this course is a high-effort class. For me as a student to understand the connect I have to put time and effort into connecting and familiarising myself with the material, to ensure I have an understanding of the required topics.

Which assessment strategies are not being used?

It’s hard for me to state if the class necessary fully excludes any assessment strategies- being so fresh onto things. However, based on my experience so far I have not seen much of an authentic assessment. This is because, during the first 2 weeks of the class I feel as though I have not learned enough yet to apply the theories to real-world applications. I am sure this will change as we quickly progress, and build on the foundation set at the beginning of the course. That being said, I am excited to see where the course will take us, and I hope I’ll be able to apply the skills I have learned in the future!

What learning theories do these connect to?

Based on my readings from week 1, I think that this course connects self-efficacy and self-determination theories in motivation. I think it connects with self-efficacy because we are provided with lots of student support. By creating a communal learning environment and support group via MattermostI was able to have my questions easily and promptly answered, making it easy to want to feel like you are able to do well and understand the material. Receiving detailed feedback and having open discussions about the content creates a nonstressful learning environment. Thus, as a student the added educational and social support in the course makes me feel confident in myself and my abilities, encouraging me to feel capable and believe I can do well in this course. Also, I think EDCI 355 along with most courses uses self-determination theory since we get graded in this class. Most students typically want to do well and get good grades in the courses they take. Therefore, by being marked and assignment letter grades to assignments, it motivates me as a student to do well in the class and receive a good grade.

How does it compare to other courses you’ve taken in your studies?

Coming from a science background- previous courses I have taken, have not encouraged a self-efficacy motivation. First, this is because they were very individualist and did not allow for much opportunity to engage in questions and open discussion about the material. There were no platforms set up to connect with peers and chat receive feedback and discuss the course content openly- which as a student felt very isolating. Next, most teachers did not offer open office hours- usually, we had a small window before and after class to ask a brief question about the content. Making it difficult to have the opportunity to get questions and concerns addressed. Lastly, upper year since classes are very exam-heavy. For example, the assessment for a course I have taken in the past just consisted of 2 exams total. This made the course very stressful, and difficult to gauge my understanding of the topics, as I never felt comfortable enough with the material due to the scarce amount of assessment and feedback. Overall, these factors contributed to a tough and high-stress learning environment. These factors made it difficult to trust in myself and believe I was capable of doing well in these classes. Ultimately creating a low self-efficacy.