How do students and educators assess the production of multimedia presentation ILANA BARKAI ISRAEL ilanab@mofet.macam98.ac.il.

How do students and educators assess the production of multimedia presentation

ILANA BARKAI

ISRAEL

ilanab@mofet.macam98.ac.il

What is a multimedia presentation

A set of slides/screens that is built while using multimedia-authoring tools.

Multimedia

Ready to useConstruct your own

The unique characteristics of multimedia presentation

(construct your own)• Change of knowledge space

• Construction versus usage

• New alternatives of knowledge presentation

• Immediate consequences of action

• Focusing and integration of knowledge

• Creating a communal knowledge base

• Developing awareness of the audience

• Computer as discourse partner

Alternative AssessmentAlternative assessment enables the

assessor and the assessee to get a dynamic picture of the learner’s

academic qualifications and abilities to use different thinking

procedures.

The StudyThe work is based on the need to assess complex learning projects,

enable students to demonstrate their learning and thinking capabilities,

their abilities to integrate knowledge and to work collaboratively with peers and teachers, while using

information technologies.

Research population

48 interviewees:

• 12 secondary school students

• 12 teachers

• 10 teacher-researchers / teacher-supervisors

• 14 pre-service teachers

The research questions

• Why do you use the production of multimedia presentations as part of the learning process?

• What is a good presentation produced by students?

• what are the main criteria to assess the presentations?

• Is it important to know the assessment criteria before the production? Why?

• Who should assess the presentation?

Method

The data-base

• 48 interviews were taped and the interviewer took field-notes.

• 12 joint assessment rubrics the students wrote as part of their learning.

All the data were analyzed in quantitative and qualitative in-depth content analysis, concentrating on three issues: 1. The assessment criteria suggested by the different interviewees.2. The importance of knowing these criteria before the learning and production processes.3. The preferred assessor/s.

Findings The main assessment criteria - 4 groups of the interviewees

Main assessment criteria - No.1

Use of several media, in a creative way, considering alternatives, and in congruency with the research issue.

Sub criteria:• A product that embodies information processing

and multiple knowledge representation.• Represents more than one point of view.• Communicative.

Few examples:

• “You have to use all the media but only after you decide what is the best way to demonstrate what you know now”

• “It has to be different from a boring learning material”

• “like a good advertisement in the television”

• “Dynamic, interesting, not only textual”

• “Represents knowledge from several points of view, in multiple ways and media”

Use of many valid and update information resources.

Sub criteria1. A product that indicates integration of knowledge

resources.

2. Congruency between purposes, comment and concepts.

3. Divergent learning and representation.

4. Coherent writing, using main concepts and key words.

5. Suitable for the audience.

Main assessment criteria - No.2

Few examples

• “You have to use many knowledge resources but it must be valid, up-to date, and coherent”

• “It must be based on the key-words of the subject-matter”

• “The texts must be accurate, short and communicative. You can add visual and vocal ways to support your inquiry”

• “Links are very important. They can be used to demonstrate, to explain, to give more information…”

Main assessment criteria - No.3

Produced collaboratively, in cooperation with peers.

Sub criteria1. Enables joint learning, sharing and advising.

2. Encourages listening, distribution of learning tasks and compromising.

3. Coherent in a way that doesn’t distinguish what each student did.

Few examples

• “Working together gives you an opportunity to understand what others think and compare it with your thoughts”

• “A collaborative work can lead to a better understanding”

• “The presentation is richer and smarter”

• “1=1=3”

• “ You learn to cooperate, to consider ideas, to share, but the presentation must be coherent”

Main assessment criteria - No.4

Use of the unique characteristics of the computer and the production-tools.

Sub criteria1. Based on interactive knowledge representation.

2. Includes links between different knowledge representations.

3. Esthetic and dynamic.

4. Using visual and vocal effects.

5. Can store many versions of the produced presentation.

Few examples• “There must be links to other knowledge

resources, like Excel, Internet, other slides…”

• It allows to think, produce and use in a non-linear way”

• “The presentation must be dynamic, as much as beautiful, so that it catches the audience right from the beginning”

• “A lot of visual and vocal effects…”

• “The presentation allows the audience to choose what, when, and how to see and learn from the producers”

Main assessment criteria - No.5

Avoiding visual density that creates over-load

Few examples

• “If there are to many effects one can’t understand the content of the presentation”

• “Too much “noise” makes you forget the research question. You can’t notice everything”

Main assessment criteria - No.6

Expertise usage level - using the computer and the production-tools.

Sub criteria1. Expresses the expertise level of computer literacy.

2. Maximal use of all the design components of the computerized environment.

Few examples• “You must have computer skills in order to get a

good job”

• “Producing multimedia presentation helps you to know better how to use the computer”

• “After the first presentation you can decide better how to demonstrate your knowledge and when it is efficient to use it”

• “It is important to use buttons, flowcharts, visual effects, diversity, links etc’. Your work is much more interesting”

The preferred assessor/s

• 85% of the educators and 84% of the students prefer a joint assessment

• 15% of the educators and 8% of the students think that the teacher should be the only assessor

• 8% of the student think it is not important who will assess their presentation

The importance of knowing the assessment criteria before or at the beginning of the

learning and production processes

• 75% of the educators and 82% of the students think that it is important

• 25% of the educators and 8% of the students think that it is not important

• 8% of the students see no difference

DISCUSSION

Three stages of alternative assessment - “growing” assessment

Synchronic, integrated in the learning process, as an integral part of the production process.

During some intermediate phases in the learning and production phases, in an asynchronic way.

At the end of the learning and production processes.

Joint assessment as a collaborative process

Teachers and students have to define:

The assessment criteria

The preferred assessor

The phases of the “growing” assessment

Developing an assessment repertoire

People who experience “growing” assessment can develop an assessment criteria repertoire that might improve their learning and production processes and their reflective ability as well

Building a communal “Knowledge Museum”

Building a database of students’ multimedia presentations and arranging them like a “museum of information” that can become a learning resource for the whole learning community

Thank you