Framework for integrating outcome-based assessment in online assessment: Research in progress

Abstract

The use of online examination in place of paperbased assessment has attracted a plethora of attention from educators and researchers alike. The reason for this stems from the advantages of online examinations, such as effectiveness, objectiveness, and flexibility. However, creating valid and reliable examinations remains a challenge. Often used as a framework for educational assessments, bloom's taxonomy greatly influences the formulation of course outcomes and examination questions. An ideal examination should consist of set of well-aligned questions that extensively meet all the course outcomes and correspond to the different levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Moodle is a popular widespread open source Learning Management System (LMS) that can be used to create examination questions. However, it is lacking in its reporting mechanisms that enables the classification of various questions based on the course outcomes and Bloom's Taxonomy. The objective of this paper is to propose and describe a framework to integrate outcome-based assessment into LMS. This alignment is significant in order to ensure high quality examination assessment as well as to help teachers develop a balanced examination that encompasses all the course outcomes and different levels of Bloom's taxonomy.

Success and Failure Aspects of LMS in E-Learning Systems

“…Experts are also not satisfied with the assessment features and tools of LMS: most assessment modules in LMS include multiple-choice questions and similar restricted answer-type questions. Thus, aligning assessment with learning outcomes and cognitive thinking domains remains a significant challenge in these systems [42]. Technology-based pedagogy should seek to motivate learning experiences in ways that take account of individual differences in learning.…”

“…LMS features and tools vary slightly from one system to another across both open source and commercial implementations; however, many core features are standard across all systems [3]. An LMS requires students, teachers, and admin tools, which can thus be classified into three main groups: Content management, learning management, and assessment management [42]. As shown in [34], LMS features can be categorized into the following aspects: Presenting Content Knowledge, Presenting Course Management Information, Searching for Information, and Facilitating Discussion.…”

“…Assessment: Assessment is an essential part of learning and significantly impacts student outcomes [42], [48]. However, most LMS tools for managing online assessment have been assessed by users as inflexible and difficult to use [23].…”

“…Using LMS for assessment is a process that is still in the early stages, and the current usage of assessment tools focuses on converting paper-based processes into computerized ones [10]. Aligning assessment tools with learning outcomes and the different levels of cognitive domain is another issue leading to LMS failure [42].…”