How Do I Choose the Best Assessment for Learning Resources?

Learning resources are any tools or activities that help people to understand concepts that are taught in classes or in training sessions. Educators use assessments to evaluate learning resources when they want to discover how successful those resources are in helping students to learn, which kinds of people learning resources are most effective for, and which resources individuals preferred to use. To choose the best assessment for learning resources, it is important that you determine which questions you would like to answer and which kind of assessment model makes the most sense for acquiring this information. For example, if you want to know which learning resources help students to earn the highest grades, you can issue exams that test students' understanding of materials, while determining satisfaction levels might require surveys. When choosing the best assessment for learning resources, it also is important to think about which method of assessment distribution makes the most sense considering the size of a class or training session, as well as the capabilities and preferences of parties involved.

To choose the best assessment for learning resources, it is essential to consider which information you would like to learn and how you plan on applying this information. For example, if an educator uses a video as a learning resource, he or she might want to learn if the video was entertaining or interesting to students and if students actually gained greater insight into concepts covered in a video. The best assessment for learning resources in this case might include a brief survey that asks individuals to rate their levels of entertainment, followed by a short essay in which students can express what they believe are a video's main points.

An educator who is interested in learning why his or her students are struggling, on the other hand, might choose an assessment for learning resources that enables students to explain their experiences with resources. For instance, if an educator relies heavily on books with much written text, he or she can learn how much students understood of this text by administering exams or engaging in teacher-student conferences. Some educators give students tests that enable them to understand which learning styles, such as visual or conceptual methods, work best for them.

When considering which assessment to use to evaluate a particular learning resource, it is essential that you consider issues of practicality. For example, if you are dealing with a group of over 100 students, you might want to issue assessments that are electronically graded. If you are an instructor of an early literacy course, on the other hand, it might make more sense to speak with students directly since they might have difficulty reading and writing.