Presentation Panel
Rethinking Assessment: Innovations in Student Evaluation and Motivation
Date Thursday, Nov 28 Time – RoomKoepenick II / III
This session will explore the future of assessments in higher education, focusing on the shift from traditional exams to more flexible, automated methods. Participants will learn how formative assessments, student choice in testing, and AI-driven grading systems can boost student engagement, improve learning outcomes, and streamline instructor workloads.
Vesa Paajanen
Senior Lecturer, University of Eastern Finland, Finland
Vesa Paajanen is a senior lecturer in animal physiology. In current position as a facilitator of online and blended learning at University of Eastern Finland he is using 50% of the working load on teaching higher education and rest time helping his colleagues to turn their teaching online and to develop pedagogically useful online learning environments. In higher education his is focused in Flipped Classroom & learning analytics to support each student in a personal way.
Giel Kessels
Lecturer, SUMMA COLLEGE, Netherlands
Moderator
Tamara Powell
English Professor, Kennesaw State University
Dr. Tamara Powell is a professor of English at Kennesaw State University (KSU) in the Atlanta metro area in Georgia in the US. Her research interests include African American literature and open educational resources. She co-authored Open Technical Communication (https://alg.manifoldapp.org/projects/open-technical-communication), and it won the 2022 OE Global Award for Excellence in the Open Reuse/Remix/Adaptation category (https://awards.oeglobal.org/awards/2022/open-reuse-remix-adaptation/ope…).
Tamara began teaching online in 2001 and has been hooked on this exciting and versatile medium ever since. Every semester, she tries new techniques to increase student engagement and successful completion of classes.
She has won several honors and awards, including Best Paper Award for “Student Success Innovations vs. Faculty Workload Concerns: How to Find a Balance for Success” at The Thirteenth International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-line Learning eLmL 2021 in Nice, France.
Links
Assessments and Learning Analytics – What Will Happen for Learning if We Stop Using Exams?, Vesa Paajanen
This session will explore how different forms of assessment in higher education impact student engagement, learning outcomes, and study behaviors. Drawing from eight years of research in flipped classroom courses, it highlights the importance of formative assessments in fostering continuous learning and the role of learning analytics in identifying at-risk students and evaluating the effectiveness of assessment strategies.
Flexible Assessments as a Tool to Improve Student Motivation, Giel Kessels
Giving students choice within assessment can contribute to their motivation. Discover how to redesign a standard test into a motivation-supportive flexible assessment.