An exploratory study of how novice instructors pivot to online assessments strategies

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, graduate student instructors (GSIs) teach online without prior formal training on how to design online assessments of learning and participation. We present findings from a collective case study of seven GSIs at a university in the United States of America to describe how these novice online instructors learned to enact assessment strategies in an online classroom. Findings reveal that the GSIs were influenced by professional learning networks such as peer communities of practice, the academic Twitter community, student feedback, and faculty gatekeeping of institutional resources and policies. With limited institutional and departmental support, the GSIs struggled to transform their face-to-face assessments to leverage technology but leaned on their professional judgment to prioritize traditional discussion and participation structures. Findings inform our understanding of how universities might prioritize professional learning networks on online teaching at differing institutional levels to increase GSIs’ access to online teaching information and knowledgeable role models.

KEYWORDS:

• online teaching
• assessment
• participation
• graduate students
• Twitter

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Virginia L. Byrne

Virginia L. Byrne is an assistant professor for higher education and student affairs at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned her PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her work explores issues of equity and community in technology-mediated learning environments.

Erin Hogan

Erin Hogan is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a former classroom teacher committed to challenging persistent achievement patterns by preparing teachers who recognize and respond to inequities in curriculum, assessment, and classroom management through use of evidence-based instructional practices, especially discourse.

Neil Dhingra

Neil Dhingra is completing his doctoral studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he studies the history and philosophy of education, education policy, and education law.

Monica Anthony

Monica Anthony is a Mathematics Teacher Educator. She recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Maryland, College Park and is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Gwinnett College. She is passionate about the preparation of K-12 mathematics teachers, graduate student instructors, and teacher educators.

Colleen Gannon

Colleen Gannon is a former middle school teacher who received her PhD in teacher education from the University of Maryland, College Park. She serves as clinical faculty for elementary and secondary English with Johns Hopkins University in partnership with Urban Teachers.