OEC Online Assessment & Feedback Strategies 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which online tool allows an instructor to provide inline written comments directly on a student's submitted document?
- A discussion board thread
- A grade book entry
- An annotation tool such as DocViewer or Turnitin GradeMark (Correct answer)
- A video conferencing chat window
Correct answer: An annotation tool such as DocViewer or Turnitin GradeMark
Annotation tools like DocViewer and GradeMark let instructors highlight specific passages and attach comments directly in the document at the point of issue.
Question 2: When using peer assessment in an online course, what is the MOST important step to ensure quality feedback?
- Having students grade anonymously without criteria
- Training students on the rubric and providing sample peer reviews (Correct answer)
- Limiting each student to reviewing only one peer
- Allowing students to choose their own review partners
Correct answer: Training students on the rubric and providing sample peer reviews
Calibrating students to the rubric with examples ensures they understand the quality standards, which directly improves the usefulness of peer feedback.
Question 3: Which scenario is the BEST example of using data from assessments to drive instructional decisions?
- Recording quiz scores in the grade book
- Reviewing item analysis reports to identify questions most students missed and revising instruction accordingly (Correct answer)
- Sending the same feedback template to all students
- Deleting low-scoring questions to raise average grades
Correct answer: Reviewing item analysis reports to identify questions most students missed and revising instruction accordingly
Item analysis reveals which specific questions (and therefore concepts) caused the most difficulty, enabling targeted instructional adjustments.
Question 4: In online education, a 'proctored assessment' refers to:
- An assessment graded by a peer proctor
- An assessment monitored by software or a human to verify student identity and prevent cheating (Correct answer)
- An assessment with no time limit
- An assessment posted publicly for community feedback
Correct answer: An assessment monitored by software or a human to verify student identity and prevent cheating
Proctored assessments use live proctors, AI monitoring software, or lockdown browsers to ensure academic integrity during high-stakes online testing.
Question 5: What is the MAIN risk of relying solely on automated grading for essay-type assessments?
- It takes longer than manual grading
- It cannot evaluate nuance, argument quality, or original reasoning effectively (Correct answer)
- It gives students too much feedback
- It requires students to submit work in PDF format
Correct answer: It cannot evaluate nuance, argument quality, or original reasoning effectively
Automated essay scoring struggles with assessing the quality of argumentation, creativity, and context-specific reasoning that human graders evaluate naturally.
Question 6: An online instructor gives all students identical written feedback. What is the PRIMARY problem with this approach?
- It takes too long to write once
- It fails to address individual student performance and may be perceived as impersonal and unhelpful (Correct answer)
- It is prohibited by LMS terms of service
- Students prefer less feedback overall
Correct answer: It fails to address individual student performance and may be perceived as impersonal and unhelpful
Generic feedback does not address each student's specific strengths and weaknesses, making it far less useful for guiding individual improvement.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes a 'low-stakes' assessment strategy suited for online learning?
- A comprehensive final exam worth 60% of the grade
- Weekly reflection journals or exit tickets counted for completion (Correct answer)
- A timed proctored midterm exam
- A capstone project graded by an external evaluator
Correct answer: Weekly reflection journals or exit tickets counted for completion
Weekly reflection journals or exit tickets are low-stakes because they assess understanding frequently without heavy grade consequences, encouraging honest self-disclosure.
OEC Online Assessment & Feedback Strategies 4
Which online tool allows an instructor to provide inline written comments directly on a student's submitted document?