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LXD Style Guide

iPD’s Guide for Course Design & Development

Formative Assessment

Standard

The standard with which Michigan Virtual courses need to comply.

Plus courses should have at least one formative assessment per new concept/topic introduced.

Alignment

Quality Matters

Specific Review Standard 3.3 C: Assessment strategies provide learners with opportunities to reflect on their progress towards meeting course requirements and mastering learning objectives or competencies.

National Standards for Quality Online Teaching

G5: The online teacher evaluates learner readiness and progress using formative and summative assessments and learner feedback throughout the course.

G8: The online teacher creates opportunities for learner self-assessment within courses.

 

Requirements

What exactly do course developers need to include in order to comply with this standard?

Formative assessments are any form of test, quiz, or practice activity that is meant to gauge learners’ progress as they go through the course. Typically, formative assessments are non-graded and are used as a tool to measure whether the student is learning the material and meeting the lesson objectives. Plus courses should have at least one formative assessment per new concept/topic introduced.

Any ungraded quiz does not need to have four answer options. If the quiz is graded, it must have four answer options unless an exception is requested and approved.

 

Implementation

How can course developers implement this standard? What is the process for doing so?

Follow Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction to ensure that application (practice activities) are being scripted and developed. By following Michigan Virtual’s lesson structure and scripting template, each concept/topic will have at least one formative assessment.

The lesson template used for Michigan Virtual includes pages in order that adhere to these principles.

  • Activation (Activating prior knowledge, lesson “hook”)
  • Demonstration (Scaffolded Content presentation)
  • Application (Practice activities)
    • Practice activities may be included on “Demonstration” content delivery pages as well as end of lesson “Let’s Practice” pages
  • Integration (Assessments- not typically built in CA for SLS courses)

 

Resources

What resources would help a developer implement this standard appropriately?