Student views on short-text assignment formats in fully online courses

Abstract

Tertiary educators (and their institutions) are turning to technology to help meet increased demands in a changing environment. Assessment is one area where such moves are being made. This paper reminds us that assessment is more than a summative check on student knowledge and skills, it is an experience and part of the communication, and therefore relationship, between teachers and students. Student experience of assessment impacts on student perceptions of themselves, teacher and course quality. Having previously proposed the benefits of short-text formats for assignment tasks for teachers, this paper reports on a case study of student perceptions of these forms of assessment. Student responses were gathered using an online survey after a 12-week fully online undergraduate course. Findings suggest short-text assignments are rated highly by students not because of a shorter word count but because students appreciated the variety and creativity aspects to these assignments.

Keywords:

• online learning
• assessment
• tertiary
• student perceptions

Acknowledgment

My sincere thanks to Nola Campbell (1946–2005) who taught me her strategies for working smarter.