Designing Alternative Assessment Activities and Adaptive Learning Scenarios to Cover Various Learning Styles in Higher Education

Abstract

Teaching should have a pluralism, containing a variety of alternative educational activities and supporting various learning styles. If so, then assessment should also have a pluralism, testing not only knowledge but also skills and attitudes (where applicable). This is mandatory in practical courses which are common in engineering and science disciplines. In this chapter we draw from our experience and research, and propose ways for designing authentic educational activities and adaptive learning scenarios to cover various learning styles in Higher Education in order to revitalize the learning process. The idea is to put students in action by assigning them authentic and meaningful tasks, individually and in groups, leaving the teams to self-organize by undertaking or assigning specific roles and tasks. Case studies from Computer Networking and Cyber Security are presented. We shall also present alternative assessment for these activities and scenarios. This is a fieldwork, hence, quantitative data from real classes, as well as interviews will be presented.