Microlesson "Dva alata za sumativno vrednovanje"

1. Microlesson Dva alata za sumativno vrednovanje

Teacher Ana found the use of digital tools for summative student assessment to be a complex and demanding task. However, after discussing with her colleagues in the department, she realized that this method of assessment is significantly faster, more transparent, and simpler than traditional approaches, while also offering valuable statistical analysis. Although Ana will retire in a few years and has only recently begun using technology, she quickly recognized the benefits of digital tools in teaching. Always eager to learn and embrace new challenges, she decided to create digital knowledge assessments to support summative evaluation. Below, we will review the digital tools her colleagues recommended, taking into account her initial level of IT proficiency. At the end of this microlesson, participants are required to complete a short knowledge assessment as part of the activity.

* The original microlesson was created as part of CARNET's EduBlic project and is available at the link. Since it is released under the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, it has been adapted for a higher education context and published under the same license.

2. Summative assessment

Summative assessment is typically conducted at the end of a teaching unit, course module, or educational period. It provides students with feedback on their knowledge, skills, and competencies and is usually expressed as a numerical grade. Students may be assessed through written or oral tests, as well as through other forms of evaluation.

Today, there are many digital tools available for creating knowledge assessments for summative purposes. When selecting such tools, it is important to ensure that they can be accessed using an electronic identity from the AAI@EduHr system, that they are secure and closed, and that students’ personal data is protected. This is particularly important because, during digital assessments, students enter personal information and submit their responses over the internet.

3. Why combine traditional and modern methods?

In contemporary higher education, there is a growing need for dynamic teaching approaches that can respond to changes in social, technological and educational contexts. Although traditional methods (e.g. lecture, oral examination, revision) are often criticized for making students passive, they still have value in structuring knowledge and transmitting basic information. On the other hand, modern approaches (such as problem-based and project-based learning, collaborative learning and digitally mediated teaching) encourage activity, critical thinking and the development of metacognitive skills. However, they often require more time for preparation and strengthening of teachers' pedagogical competences.

a) Google Forms

Ana recently activated her Google Workspace for Education so she decided to create her first digital assessment in the Google Forms tool that she found on her dashboard. The forms can also be accessed directly at the link, after which you need to log in using your user account. Creating and sharing a knowledge assessment is very intuitive, simple and easy. The created knowledge assessments are automatically saved to Google Drive. After starting the Forms tool, the home page opens where you need to click on the plus ( + ) button below which it says Blank.

Forms as a default display offers the creation of a form, i.e. a survey questionnaire, which is not a good choice when creating a test. To create a quiz in Forms, it is necessary to convert the open form into a questionnaire by checking Turn this into a quiz item in the Settings tab. Forms offers eleven different question types with the option to add an image. For each question, the correct answer is entered or marked, a possible number of points is added, and the task is defined. It is possible to change the color and theme of each quiz, and carefully define the settings and restrictions before sending. Google Forms also offers a very useful “locked mode” option that prevents students from opening tabs in the browser and other applications on the computer they are working on. After students complete the quiz and submit their solutions, all answers, as well as the entire statistical analysis, are located on the Answers tab. The statistics can be downloaded in spreadsheet format.

More information is available at the link.

b) Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms is part of the Office365 package and is available at the link. To access the tool, you must first log in to Office365 using your AAI@EduHr user account. Microsoft Forms offers the ability to create knowledge tests with nine different types of questions, including a question in which it is necessary to set any type of file as an answer. Creating is very simple and intuitive. With each question, it is possible to set an image, add points, enter and mark the correct answer, set the obligation to answer the question and add branching.

In the settings, it is possible to limit the duration of each test, for example to 40 minutes, then set the start and end date, shuffle the order of the questions, limit submission to only one answer, and disable the display of solutions after submitting the test. Once created, the knowledge test can be shared with students by email, sending a link, or generating a QR code. The results are immediately processed in the Forms tool itself on the Answers tab and can be downloaded in spreadsheet format.

More information is available at the link.

4. Conclusion

The digital tools Microsoft Forms and Google Forms offer a Croatian-language interface, making them simple and easy for teachers to use. Ana was able to create her first digital assessments and distribute them to students without any difficulty. Both tools save teachers significant time in grading and evaluation, as each assessment provides detailed automated processing of results.