Sunday, July 9 4:15pm
Video Chat Exams in an Online Gen Ed Intro to Linguistics Course
Carly Overfelt carlykoverfelt@gmail.com
Wayne State University, Detroit, USA
In my online Intro to Linguistics for Non-majors, I piloted video chat exams. As a general education course, I identified the main learning outcome to be the following: students will be able to explain key linguistic concepts in their own words and be able to discuss their relevance in relation to novel situation/novel scenario. For example, if a news story comes up about how “kids are ruining English these days” with a co-worker, my students are able to bring concepts related to language change to bear on the conversation to help dispel myths and share knowledge for the better of the general society. Using backwards design and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), I developed class activities to develop this skill and ultimately a 25-minute video chat exam to assess this learning outcome. I designed the course around five central questions (one of which students choose as their final video chat exam topic), for example, “Why doesn’t everyone sign/speak the same?” Students sign up for 30-minute time slots on Google calendar. Phase 1: They explain the answer to the question they chose in their own words while I take notes on what is unclear. Phase 2: I ask follow-up questions like, “You mentioned x but didn’t really define it. Can you explain?” I grade the exam in real time using a flow chart method. This 15-minute presentation will review the goals, technique, and benefits of this method, as well as the disadvantages of this technique. Benefits over traditional written exams include: expanding the modality of student assessments (the plus one approach from UDL); centering student experiences, linguistic choices, and rhetorical strategies; promoting academic integrity; building in chances for students to revise and repair their answers. Opportunities to improve include finding ways to relieve test anxiety, streamlining time commitment, and other concerns.
Akimov, A., & Malin, M. (2020). “When old becomes new: A case study of oral examination as an online assessment tool.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(8), 1205–1221. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1730301
Darby, F., & Lang, J. M. (2019). Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wayne/detail.action?docID=5780349
Galkiene, A., & Monkeviciene, O. (2021). Improving Inclusive Education Through Universal Design for Learning.Springer International Publishing AG.
Lang, J. M. (2013). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Harvard University Press.
Reynolds, H. L., & Kearns, K. D. (2017). “A Planning Tool for Incorporating Backward Design, Active Learning, and Authentic Assessment in the College Classroom”. College Teaching, 65(1), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2016.1222575
Scholarly Teaching in Linguistics 