Formative assessments are low-stakes tests administered frequently to monitor student learning. They help students identify their strengths and weaknesses so they can improve throughout the course. Instructors can use formative assessments to adjust their teaching methods when needed. Discussion forums allow for critical thinking and ensure all students can participate at their own pace. Online assignments save paper and allow electronic grading with rubrics. Lessons chunk content into pages with embedded questions, and quizzes provide automated assessments with question banks. Wikis support group collaboration, and blogs allow reflective writing. Workshops automate peer review through rubric-based grading.

1. Tonia Malone June 26, 2015
Formative Assessment
The goal of a formative assessment is to monitor student
learning. Students can determine their strengths and
weaknesses to improve their learning throughout the
course. Instructors have a clear view of student skills and
can adjust content when needed.
Formative assessments are provided often, are low-stakes
or low-points, address specific material, require little
time, and in many cases allows multiple attempts until
mastery is achieved.
Discussion (Forum)
Discussions can create a space for critical thinking. A
successful discussion has clear expectations, crafted open-
ended questions, structured feedback, and supportive
mentoring.
Discussions ensures everyone gets a chance to participate.
Students can take more time to reflect and think about
their answers. Introverts may find it easier to participate
in an online discussion. Discussions can improve student-
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo - Ca ——— CTLT 1
Advantages
Discussion (Forum)
• Social
• Extended participation
• Peer review & feedback
• Scaffolding
• Reflection
• Construct knowledge
Assignment
• Timely
• Rubrics
• Paper savings
Lesson
• Chunking
• Simplify delivery
• Easy to access & edit
• Timely
• Learner engagement
Quiz
• Repetition
• Motivation
• Evidence
• Timely
• Paper savings
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Using Moodle’s Assessments Tools to Support Student Learning

2. Tonia Malone June 26, 2015
to-student and student-to-instructor communication.
Assignment
Online assignments save time, paper and confusion.
Students are able to submit files and write text outside of
the face-to-face class. Papers are not lost or eaten by pets,
instructors have the ability to grade the assignments
electronically. Rubrics or Marking Guides can be added to
the assignment allowing students to review before the due
date and instructors can use them for consistent and
structured grading/feedback.
Lesson
The Lesson provides a series of content (text, images,
graphs, video, etc) pages and question pages. A single
question (essay, matching, multiple choice, numerical,
short answer, and true/false) can be added on a page.to
assess comprehension. Questions can be randomized with
clusters, reports, and detailed statistics are also available.
Quiz
The quiz tool allows instructors to provide multiple,
automated, and quick assessments. Question types such
as: calculated, calculated multiple choice, calculated
simple, embedded answers, essay, matching, multiple
choice, numerical, short answer, true/false, and
description can be used within the Moodle quiz. Quiz
questions can be randomized with question banks.
Wiki
The wiki tool is great for group collaboration and long-
term projects. Wikis can be created via a template to
provide page structure and supportive resources within.
Instructors can review developing wiki pages and provide
comments to support student improvements. Peers or
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo - Ca ——— CTLT 2
Advantages
Wiki
• Collaborative
• Asynchronous
• Pre-defined templates
• Page history
Blog
• Reflective
• Critical & analytical thinking
• Writing
Workshop
• Social
• Automated peer review
• Directed and objective
assessments
• Grades for submission and
review
• Rubrics
• Project review and feedback

3. Tonia Malone June 26, 2015
other groups can be given access to view and comment.
Blog
Course blogs can allow students to reflect through deeper writing prompts. The blog displays
student work in chronological order and can be viewed by the whole class or just the instructor. A
weekly blog post can also allow students to give input by listing one-course topic that is clear and
one that is the muddiest point.
Workshop
The workshop tool can allow peers to review a draft paper before the final is due. Students can
submit their paper into the workshop and based on your preferences, their class peers use the
rubric to provide grades and feedback. The instructor can choose the students who evaluate the
others or have Moodle randomly select points. The workshop is broken up into phases, so it is
important to plan ahead. Students are graded for the work they submit and for grading others.
____________________________________________________________________________
Blooms Taxonomy
References
Stein, E. (no date) Melding Bloom’s Taxonomy and Universal Design for Learning. Available at: http://www.middleweb.com/21295/the-intersection-
of-udl-and-blooms-taxonomy/ (Accessed: 24 June 2015)
Blogging About The Web 2.0 Connected Classroom: Formative Assessments Are Easier Than You Think! (no date) Available at: http://
blog.web20classroom.org/2013/01/formative-assessments-are-easier-than.html (Accessed: 19 June 2015
Kelly, R. (2015) How to Foster Critical Thinking, Student Engagement in Online Discussions. Available at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-
education/how-to-foster-critical-thinking-student-engagement-in-online-discussions/ (Accessed: 19 June 2015)
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo - Ca ——— CTLT 3