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Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses James Paulson, PhD QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES AND BEST PRACTICES Ho Chi Minh City, July 30-31, 2015 Cultural considerations
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Outline
- Introduction
- Origin of the question – what motivated me
to think about this
- Assessment of class participation
- Assessment rubrics
- Uncertainty & ambiguity
- Conclusions
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Introduction
Growth of online learning Gaining legitimacy Still small numbers of students engaging in
- nline learning compared to face-to-face,
particularly outside North America, Europe, Australia.
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Origin of the question
Why investigate the assessment of class participation in online learning?
Curiosity New to online teaching Much experience in international education Interest in the connection between the two
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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The assessment of class participation
Relatively recent in higher education Used in many classes as a means to instill a
sense of ‘learning community’
It is difficult to assess participation It is even more difficult to assess
participation in online learning in a meaningful way.
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Assessment rubrics
My colleague Peter will discuss rubrics at
length
Outlines performance necessary to attain a
specific mark
Aims for transparency, objectivity, and
consistency
Online learning environment is naturally
suited to standard assessment rubrics
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Uncertainty & ambiguity
Tolerance of ambiguous situations varies
among individuals (Clark, 2010)
Level of comfort with uncertainty is different
between cultures (Hofstede, 1980)
Low uncertainty avoidance index: USA,
Canada, UK, Australia
High uncertainty avoidance index: Japan,
China, Korea, Latin America, Middle East, Vietnam
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Conclusions
Apply principles of ambiguity tolerance and
uncertainty avoidance to rubrics assessing online class participation
Reduction of communicative uncertainty will help
to ensure a more equable learning environment for all students whatever their national origin
Future research suggestions
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Thank you
Full paper: Paulson, J. (2015). Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses. Proceedings of the International Conference, Quality In Higher Education: Global Perspectives and Best Practices, Ho Chi Minh City, July 30-31, 2015 James Paulson, PhD jamesnpaulson@gmail.com
Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses
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Cultural considerations in the assessment of class participation in international online courses