Question

Pros and Cons regarding reliability and validity of the following assessment tools:

Fill in the blank

Multiple Choice (4 answer choices)

True or False

Matching

Rubric

Portfolio

One-on One Discussion

Answer 1

Fill –in-the- Blank

Fill –in-the- Blank with a word bank is just another form of matching and only test the lower cognitive levels.

Although short answer and fill-in-the-blank do require students to generate an answer, they call for a very brief answer that is counted right or wrong, so we include these options in the selected response category.

Benefits Rubrics can serve as a powerful tool for assessment. First, rubrics can improve students’ performance by making the instructor’s expectations clear and the task more explicit. When students understand what is expected of them, they are better able to monitor their progress and in so doing “hit” the learning target (Wolf & Stevens, 2007). Rubrics also allow instructors to give students clear and informative feedback on current levels of performance. Rubrics help assure the assessment process is consistent, impartial, and well documented (Chapman & Inman, 2009). Finally, rubrics give students and instructors a basis for conversation that ultimately serves as a guide to revision (Turley & Gallagher, 2008).

Concerns The principle concern with using rubrics is that doing so puts both instructor and student on “autopilot” and stifles the writer’s creativity. Students may feel required to complete an assignment strictly as outlined and thereby focus on how well they’re doing versus what they’re doing. Additionally, rubrics are not always self explanatory and not a replacement for good instruction (Goodrich 2005). An additional concern is that rubrics take too much time to develop, test, evaluate, and update (Chapman & Inman, 2009). Once a rubric has been developed, it does not seem to invite instructors to improve practices or rethink premises of assignments (Kohn, 2006).

Making Rubrics Useful

The following are several suggestions to make rubrics a useful tool in the assessment process. • Develop rubrics only for the most important and complex assignments (Wolf & Stevens, 2007). • Provide models, feedback, and opportunities for students to ask questions, think, and revise their work. • Disseminate the rubric only after you have received and reviewed students’ first draft. In order for a rubric to function descriptively rather than prescriptively, it must follow the student’s initial attempt. You can use this as an opportunity to help students learn about the revision process and how to integrate their own work into the standard of the rubric. • Compare your rubric(s) to published standards, show them to a colleague or ask a colleague to co-score student work. Rubrics get better when you do this (Goodrich, 2005). • Build in a student-reflection component into the assignment to encourage students to take greater accountability for their learning (Ross-Fisher, 2005). • Provide narrative comments and not just points (Turley & Gallagher, 2008)

One-on One Discussion

PROS

• If you need to be able to touch things, such as product samples, then an in-person meeting is probably the best option for you.
• In-person meetings can be more dynamic than virtual meetings. For example, you can easily break up into smaller groups to brainstorm ideas.
• At the very beginning of a business relationship, it can be beneficial to meet in person in order to create a strong basis for an ongoing relationship. However, this is only necessary for the first meeting.

CONS

• It takes up a lot of time. All participants have to be in the same place at once, which may require you to travel interstate or overseas. Even a one-hour meeting interstate could take up most of the day once travel is factored in, which is a very inefficient use of company time.
• It's not cost-effective. If you need to attend an in-person meeting overseas, this would involve booking flights, accommodation, transport and maybe even a venue in which to host the meeting. These costs can be prohibitive and some companies have even had to implement complete travel bans as a result.
• It's outdated. Digital technologies are constantly improving and providing easier ways of meeting and doing business. Companies who are still sending people to in-person meetings are lagging behind on business trends.