I am a STARR

My Story

Situation

(Setting the scene.)
This was a Level 3 module on online communities. Previous assessment was by portfolio but we were looking for a more integrated assessment that would suit the context of the course.

Task

(what problem were you trying to solve?)
We needed to assess students' engagement in online communities without monitoring their personal interactions.

Actions

(what did you do?)
We introduced an assessment which required students to keep a blog reflecting on their engagement with other online communities. We gave them a number of required subjects to cover and asked them to illustrate their reflections with real examples from their experience.

Results

(what happened?)
The students really enjoyed the assessment and the use of a blog (with regular formative comments) allowed them to develop their reflective skills as the course progressed. They were excited when others (especially external to the course) commented on their blogs.

Reflection

(lessons learnt)
It helps students learn if the assessment approach is related to the topic area. Blogging in a public space is potentially exposing for students but brings its own benefits.