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Self-assessment Activities

Few comunications traditionally seen in distance courses provide a sense of "how am I doing in relation to everyone else?" or "what do I know well and what do I need to know better?" Opportunities for practice and feedback will help students understand both strengths and weaknesses in a relatively risk-free environment. Self-testing activities or practice tests allow students to assess their own learning progress.
The tools found in Blackboard can be used to create practice exams and mastery exercises.
Practice activities also allow peer review opportunities that can help student measure their own progress and get a sense of their learning in comparison to that of their classmates.
Feedback is needed during the learning process and self-check activities allow students to understand what they know and what they need to learn.
Formative feedback during the learning episode is important for understanding and adjustment of both product and process.

Good practice suggests that frequent feedback is important for student success. Self-assessment activities can be used as a feedback mechanism that requires little instructor intervention.
Establishing a tone that clearly demonstrates that students must take some responsibility for their own learning is easier if self-assessments are included as a normal course routine.
Creating a system where self-assessment and peer review are normal activities helps to build a sense of community.

Clearly establish the expectation that students need to gauge their own progress by using practice exams to understand gaps in their understanding of the content.
Create multiple opportunities for students to practice within your course.
Create self-testing or practice activities that provide feedback.

Go to Control Panel / Assessment/ Test Manager
To Add a test, click Add Test
Set options so the test is a practice test that allows students to gauge their own understanding of the content.
Use one of the TWU Instructional Designers to create practice tests that you can import into Blackboard. Our instructional designers have access to several applications that can be used to create practice tests that provide feedback to students. As the instructor, you will need to provide the content but the ID team can build the practice assessment for you and teach you how to import it into your course.

This will take you to the tools section -- detailed step-by-step instructions for using this feature and more ideas for how to make this tool work for you.