Administer TEAs as pre-tests to assess prior knowledge or skill levels of a diverse group. Academic researchers in the educational field commend TEAs for their accessibility to students with or without disabilities. Educators may also wish to use TEAs for non-native speakers of English. TEAs can be designed to minimize cultural and learning style bias that can affect test validity.
Test student understanding with a personal response system (PRS). A PRS allows students to respond to multiple-choice questions the instructor projects onto a screen. Students send responses through small transmitters to receivers that register and tally the class's answers. Since responses are registered anonymously, reluctant students may find it easier to participate in class using this tool.
For the instructor, the PRS gives immediate feedback about student progress and comprehension of the course materials. By noting the frequency of incorrect answers, educators can identify areas of weakness in student comprehension and may incorporate this information into future lesson plans or additional assessments.
Assess student papers and provide feedback with Microsoft Word commands. With the advent of complex word processing programs such as Microsoft Word, educators now have many options for the technological assessment of subjective work and for providing qualitative feedback to students. Instructors evaluate student writing against mostly subjective criteria. Furthermore, since writing is a process, instructors give suggestions for improvement to guide students' revisions geared toward producing a polished final paper.
Instructors can give students feedback by highlighting text to bring attention to particular areas, inserting comments to point out errors or ask questions, tracking changes to show the student examples of corrected work and using macros to give students additional information, links to review materials or details about common errors.
Evaluate student progress with electronic portfolios. The primary difference between electronic portfolios and traditional portfolios is that electronic portfolios are created on computers with Internet access. They can therefore include links to relevant online material and incorporate audio and video files within their own work. Educators can decide whether to use electronic portfolios as either formative or summative assessments. Summative portfolio assessments are completion-based and are evaluated on meeting rigidly set criteria. Formative portfolio assessments focus on student progress, improvement and development.
Employ web-based testing for quizzes, exams and self-assessments. Educators can choose from a variety of software for web-based test development. These programs are designed to facilitate development and implementation of web-based testing. Some web-based tests provide convenience by automatically scoring tests and quizzes, yet they also present temptations for students to cheat. Instructors should consider the possibility of security issues as potential challenges with this method of assessment.