I. Assessment Methodologies Related to Topic
A. Constructivist
· Ruey (2009) found that adult learners responded better to weekly quizzes and discussions on the material than one big exam at the end of the semester.
· Formative type of learning
· Improving learners understanding of the material is the purpose of these types of assessments (Behera & Jena, 2017)
· Behera et al. (2017) found that learners who had a rubric or scoring guide for the particular project/assessment did better than those without a rubric.
· Open ended questions- Where learners need to discuss concepts and connect to materials can allow for higher-level thinking and help the instructor see if something the learner is not connecting on and what areas need to be better reinforced.
B. Self-Directed Learning
· Incorporation of self-reflection writing and assessment
· Provide feedback to learners with constructive criticism to help them grow as a writer and as a student (Knowles, 1975).
· Educators can develop material where learners have to experiment with different concepts to find the best fitting answer in essay type questions (Louws, Merink, van Veen …, 2017)
· Throughout a course, reflective journaling can be a helpful assessment tool for educators in an SDL classroom (Louws et al., 2017).
· Specifically for adult learners, assessments such as presentations that can be recorded and played back for self-criticism is essential to an SDL learning classroom (Costa & Kallick, 2003)
· Assessment, where the educator, peers, and learner evaluates the work using a provided rubric, can be utilized (Costa et al., 2003).
· More formative type work, such as at the end of specific concepts, learners turn in reflective journals or have presentations where feedback is provided regarding the information at hand (Costa et al., 2003).
References
Behera, D., & Jena, S. (2017). Constructivism in Education. Amari Satya, Khurda Teeka Foundation
Louws, M. L., Meirink, J. A., van Veen, K., & van Driel, J. H. (2017). Teachers' self-directed
learning and teaching experience: What, how, and why teachers want to learn. Teaching
and Teacher Education, 66, 171–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.04.004
Ruey, S. (2009). A case study of constructivist instructional strategies for adult online learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(5), 706–720. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00965.x
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2003). Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning (Experts In Assessment Series) (1st ed.). Corwin.
Knowles, M. (1975). Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers. Chicago: Follett
Publishing Company.