Page 135 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

102 CHAPTER 4

or interpreting the student samples helps reduce the potential for
bias. Sometimes it is helpful to bring in an evaluator from outside the
composition classes to serve as an external reader whose primary
function is to keep everyone honest in her assessment of the work.
For instance, in a networked writing class that has hypertexts or web
sites as part of the class work, the assessment team might include a
willing faculty member from the computer science or art depart-
ments who could lend his or her expertise if needed. This person
could observe the process and raise questions of possible bias or mis-
interpretation of the work should the situation arise.
5. Apply deep viewing approach to the data.

These two methods are workable for instructors and are fairly
nonintrusive for students. Students can and should be involved with
the data collection beyond the gathering of completed student assign-
ments, particularly in the deep viewing sections of the evaluation.
Protocol interviews, reflective statements, video or audiotapes of ses-
sions, comments from students about the stages of their work, and
their reactions to instructor responses are all necessary components
of qualitative assessment and are common data-collection techniques
in composition studies. Including student participation in the assess-
ment activities acknowledges students' authority as writers in a legit-
imate way that respects their interests and stakes in the writing and
evaluating processes. This move is an especially important one when
assignments are cooperatively written, because students have already
invested a high level of ownership in the formation of their work. Fur-
thermore, to exclude a range of student responses or critiques (or only
to include student reflections) in online assessment contexts seems to
me to be antithetical to the democratizing rhetoric underlying com-
puter-enhanced composition pedagogy. It suggests that the teacher
still holds the only authoritative position in the classroom, and the
student writers' voices carry little weight. Without student input, the
assessment would not be considered deep nor would it be as demo-
cratic as many in Composition hope writing assessment could be.

THREE MOVES TOWARD DEEP ASSESSMENT:
THE ONLINE LEARNING RECORD, TOPIC/ICON,
AND DYNAMIC CRITERIA MAPPING

The Online Learning Record at the University of Texas at Austin is an
excellent bridge between using conventional writing assessment