Using Blogs as Formative Assessment Tool to Evaluate and Support Students' Idea Improvement

• In Event: 70.066 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 70.066-12 - Assessment and Evaluation of Learning Environments

Abstract

This paper reports a design experiment conducted over a whole semester, with the goal of using blogs to assess students’ idea improvement process and support their knowledge production. Twenty-four students participated in the study. They posted reflective journals on their personal blogs periodically while working on a knowledge problem. A qualitative content analysis and repeated measure ANOVA were performed to evaluate students’ idea improvement. Initial results indicate that the blogs can serve as platforms for externalizing reflection, as well as serving as formative assessment over time to inform about students’ level of idea improvement and to act as input into the successive design cycle.

Authors

• Mahir Akgun, The Pennsylvania State University

• Priya Sharma, The Pennsylvania State University