Assessment of

Course Blogging

Emily Cox, Librarian for Instruction and Research Services,

Dr. Naomi Johnson, Communication Studies and Theatre,

Dr. Heather Lettner-Rust, English & Modern Languages,

Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol, Librarian for Instructional Design

Benefits of Course Blogging

Academic Blogs provide a medium for:

• reflection and engagement with the course content

(Granberg, 2010; Joshi & Chugh, 2009)

• communication and peer feedback (Xie, Ke, &

Sharma, 2010)

• development of a learning community (Hodgson &

Wong, 2011; Halic, Lee, Paulus, & Spence, 2010)

• writing in public and for a public audience (Longwood

faculty)

Publishing platform for an engaged

academic community

1,702 sites & 2,339 users

Rubrics and Blogging

• Anson, C. M., Dannels, D. P., Flash, P., & Housley Gaffney, A.

L. (2012). Big rubrics and weird genres: The futility of using

generic assessment tools across diverse instructional contexts.

Journal of Writing Assessment, 5(1). Retrieved from

http://www.journalofwritingassessment.org/index.php

• Olofsson, A. D., Ola Lindberg, J., & Hague, T. E. (2011). Blogs

and the design of reflective peer-to-peer technology-enhanced

learning and formative assessment. Campus - Wide Information

Systems, 28(3), 183-194. doi:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10650741111145715

Methodology

• Surveyed students in a 100-level composition course & 300-

level communication theory course

– Both classes had similar blogging assignments and used the

same rubric

– About 50% response rate

• Students surveyed only (SurveyMonkey) after completed blog

– To what extent & when they read the rubric

– Assessment of rubric clarity and helpfulness

– How blogs overall influenced their learning of course

material & application to life outside of classroom

Assessment Results

Yes 94%

No 2%

Have you viewed the blog rubric?

33%

42%

19%

4%

Which of the following best describes the way you viewed the blog rubric?

Before

In process

After

I did not check it at all

16%

29%

35%

16%

3%

BEFORE you created blog, what was extent of your reading of rubric outside of class?

did not view

quickly glanced

scanned general

read some w/care

read all carefully

12.% 6%

11% 13%

26%

In the PROCESS of writing, what was extent of your reading of rubric outside of class?

did not view

quickly glanced

scanned general

read some w/care

read all carefully

26%

13%

13% 26%

23%

AFTER you finished blog, what was extent of your reading of rubric?

did not view

quickly glanced

scanned general

read some w/care

read all carefully

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

fair clear language criteria are related to important features

Evaluating the rubric

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

wri

tin

g

cle

arl

y,

co

ncis

ely

pro

ofr

ead

ing

an

d e

dit

ing

org

an

izati

on

help

ed

me

meet

assig

nm

en

t re

q

The rubric influenced my work with:

Not Applicable

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

in o

ther

co

urs

es

bu

ild

a

“d

igit

al

iden

tity

”

pre

pare

m

e f

or

my

pro

fessio

nal care

er

for

my

pro

fessio

nal g

row

th.

Writing the blog helped me:

Not Applicable

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

42%

35%

19%

3%

I have used the LEE (label-explain-example) method in:

no other classes

1-2 classes

3-4 classes

5+ classes

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

wri

te c

lea

rly a

nd

c

on

cis

ely

un

de

rsta

nd

so

me

c

ou

rse

ma

teri

al

org

an

ize c

on

ten

t

pre

se

nt

an

aly

sis

in

oth

er

as

sig

nm

en

ts

The LEE (label-explain-example) method helped me to:

Not Applicable

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Blog Rubric

Bibliography Anson, C. M., Dannels, D. P., Flash, P., & Housley Gaffney, A. L. (2012). Big rubrics and weird genres: The

futility of using generic assessment tools across diverse instructional contexts. Journal of Writing

Assessment, 5(1). Retrieved from http://www.journalofwritingassessment.org/index.php

Granberg, C. (2010). Social Software for Reflective Dialogue: Questions about Reflection and Dialogue in

Student Teachers' Blogs. Technology, Pedagogy And Education, 19(3), 345-360.

Halic, O. Lee, D. Paulus T., & Spence, M. (2010). To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog

effectiveness for learning in a college-level course. Internet and Higher Education, 13, 206-213.

Hodgson, P. & Wong, D. (2011). Developing professional skills in journalism through blogs. Assessment and

Evaluation in Higher Education, 36(2), 197-211.

Joshi, M., & Chugh, R. (2009). New paradigms in the teaching and learning of accounting: Use of educational

blogs for reflective thinking. International Journal Of Education & Development Using Information &

Communication Technology, 5(3), 1-11.

Kerawalla, L. L., Minocha, S. S., Kirkup, G. G., & Conole, G. G. (2009). An empirically grounded framework to

guide blogging in higher education. Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning, 25(1), 31-42.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2008.00286.x

Olofsson, A. D., Ola Lindberg, J., & Hague, T. E. (2011). Blogs and the design of reflective peer-to-peer

technology-enhanced learning and formative assessment. Campus - Wide Information Systems, 28(3), 183-

194. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10650741111145715

Sharma, P. (2010). Enhancing student reflection using Weblogs: lessons learned from two implementation

studies. Reflective Practice, 11(2), 127-141. doi:10.1080/14623941003683201

Xie, Y., Ke, F., & Sharma, P. (2010). The Effects of Peer-Interaction Styles in Team Blogs on Students'

Cognitive Thinking and Blog Participation. Journal Of Educational Computing Research, 42(4), 459-479.

doi:10.2190/EC.42.4.f