Overview

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has been enabling and promoting the paradigm shift in higher education based on the ideas of leaner-centered learning and constructivism. As the ways teaching and learning occurs are being reconsidered, so are the ways of assessing learning outcomes. As the activities of learning are becoming diverse, we have to come up with the ways to appropriately assess outcomes of such diverse learning activities. Especially, in distance and e-learning where face-to-face meetings are not the major mode of teaching and learning, assessing student learning means not only grading and credentialing, but also giving feedback to the student's progress in learning. In considering the assessment of learning outcomes, it is important to think "what" is being assessed. In a way, the assessment methods deeply influence the quality of teaching and learning. In this symposium, we have invited experts on student assessment in distance education and e-learning from U.K., Australia, Canada, Korea, and Japan to share their knowledge and opinions gained from their research and practices on student assessment to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The symposium also aims to further discuss the ways of comprehensively assessing diverse student learning.

Program

Chair: Kumiko Aoki(Center of ICT and Distance Education, The Open University of Japan)

10:00-10:10
Opening Remark
Yoichi Okabe (President, The Open University of Japan)

10:10-11:10
Guest Speech1
Assessment for Retention and Learning: Design, Feedback and Quality
Prof. Mary Thorpe (Professor of Educational Technology, The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University)

11:10-12:10
Guest Speech 2
Designing Learning-oriented Assessment for Flexible Learning and Teaching
Prof. Mike Keppell (Director, The Flexible Learning Institute /Professor of Higher Education, Charles Sturt University)

12:10-13:30
Lunch Break

13:30-14:30
Guest Speech 3
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition at an Open University
Dr. Christine Wihak (Director of PLAR, Open Learning / Prior Learning International Research Centre (PLIRC), Thompson Rivers University)

14:30-15:30
Guest Speech 4
Student Assessment Trends in Korea Higher Education e-Learning
Prof. Jin Gon Shon (Director, Digital Media Center /Professor, Department of Computer Science, Korea National Open University)

15:30-15:40
Tea Break

15:40-16:40
Guest Speech 5
Formative Assessment and Support for Students’Self-Regulated Learning in e- Learning
Prof. Yoshiko Goda (Research Center for Higher Education /Instructional Systems Program Graduate School of Social and Cultural Sciences, Kumamoto University)

16:40-16:50
Break

16:50-17:50
Panel Discussion
Challenges of Appropriately Assessing Distance Learning Students' Performance

17:50-18:00
Closing Remark
Akira Ninomiya (Vice president, The Open University of Japan)

18:15-
Reception