Web Seminars Contributed by EDUCAUSE and Assessment and Evaluation

Good questions, Swan argues, specify not just outcomes but also inputs and, most importantly, learning processes. In this seminar, she will review the major issues and processes to consider in assessing the impact of technology on student learning. In particular, she will highlight the importance of carefully assessing teaching and learning inputs and processes in addition to learning outcomes in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of where and how the use of technology supports learning.

One of the most powerful features of technology-enhanced learning environments is that they enable us to embed ongoing formative assessment and feedback into instructional activities. This Web seminar will demonstrate how two projects, the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University and ASSISTments, a Carnegie Mellon and Worcester Polytechnic Institute collaboration, use this feature to create dynamic, flexible, and responsive learning environments that foster robust learning.

EDUCAUSE Vice President Diana Oblinger will moderate this Web Seminar with Sawyer Hunley and Molly Schaller, in which they will discuss how to assess the effect of learning spaces on teaching and learning.

The impact of learning space on student learning and faculty approaches to facilitate learning has become a topic of interest over the past few years. Learning space is linked to learning through engagement, both theoretically and practically. How do we assess the relationship between learning space, engagement, and learning?

This Web Seminar offers a look at theoretical perspectives, a guide for developing an assessment plan, some specific examples of assessment instruments, and a brief discussion of results from the University of Dayton's assessment of learning spaces. Assessment is reviewed as a cyclical process which should inform our decisions about learning spaces on our campuses.

Virtual simulations, role-playing in games, discussion boards, and shared spaces are among the growing kinds of options educators are using to foster student learning. Aside from the efficiency of delivery and students' generally positive response to technology-based instruction, how can we learn about the efficacy of teaching and learning through technology?

Multiple factors drive the mushrooming practice of electronic portfolios. Diverse students coming to college with job-related goals, moving among institutions on the way to degrees, and requiring lifelong learning learn from portfolios about self-assessment, their own learning processes, and representing competencies rather than course credits. Faculty members in all disciplines examine their pedagogies in light of student learning, design inquiries open for peer review and use, and use portfolios to document their learning over time. Colleges and universities address many publics who have different questions about how and what students learn at their institutions. Portfolios can connect student, faculty, and institutional learning in innovative ways. Let's discuss how e-portfolios contribute to learning, assessing, and accountability.