MOOCs and Assessment

MOOC mania:challenges to

assessment and credit (and course design)

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PostgraduateAndGraduateEducation

1994

Unbundling university education

Image courtesy of emptyglass at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Acknowledgement: Judith Murray, at the time Vice President, Open Learning Thomson Rivers University, Canada

Commonwealth of Learning http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/detail.aspx?PID=458

What is Credit-by-Examination?

“What you know is more important than how or where you learned it.”

Credit-by-examination (aka credit by assessment) allows students to prove their knowledge, regardless of how that knowledge was gained, by taking an exam.

Exams designed for credit test content equivalent to common college-level courses and undergo rigorous quality control.

Developed and maintained by Excelsior College since the 1970s.

Administered at 4,000 Pearson Testing Centers worldwide.

Exam fees = $95 - $415, depending on length and format (no separate seat fees).

Excelsior College Examinations (ECEs) & UExcel Exams

Five Steps to Low Cost, High Quality Bachelors Degrees

Identify

requirements

to be

completed Match work

needed to

available forms

of assessment

Pass

assessments

using OER

study material

Complete

Capstone

course

online

How does this work?

Select from 4 assessment-based degrees Associate – Business Associate – Liberal Arts Bachelor – Business Bachelor – Liberal Arts

Match curriculum against prior work (transfer credit, previous credit-bearing exams, credit for military/corporate training)

How does this work?

Match work that needs to be completed to credit-by-examination options

Select from list of faculty vetted, free materials to prep for the selected assessment

Access tutors and online library as needed to help prepare for assessment

How does this work?

Check level of mastery with practice exam

When ready, take exam of record To complete degree, take online

capstone course

Learning credits do not have to be tied to “seat time”

Commonwealth of Learning http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/detail.aspx?PID=458

Commonwealth of Learning http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/detail.aspx?PID=458

More questions than answers at this stage…

• It’s not only about developing CSU MOOCs and OERs

• It’s more about reuse of other universities’ MOOCs and OERs within CSU courses

• And mostly about assessing & crediting other universities’ MOOCs and OERs as components of the CSU degree – how far should we go?

Degree

UOW VC - INTEGRATION OF MOOCs INTO A UNIVERSITY’S ACTIVITIES

- Within existing courses- As a learning resource

- Accessible to individuals- As a revision tool or expansion activity

- Additional courses- Part of an integrated menu of options, with

assessment run by university

Why should CSU push further with OER?

• Lowering the cost of university education for some learners

• Thereby attracting students that we are not currently reaching

• Attracting international students• Internationalisation of learning interaction

Stats from a recent Australian MOOC

Why should CSU push further with OER?

• Lowering the cost of university education for some learners

• Thereby attracting students that we are not currently reaching

• Attracting international students• Internationalisation of learning interaction• Internationalisation of course content• Cost efficiencies in course development?

http://www.khanacademy.org/

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