Post for 11/2: Reading and Thinking Blog 29

Reading and Thinking Blog 29

Penrod, Diane. "Rethinking Validity and Reliability in the Age of Convergence." Computers in the Composition Classroom. Eds. Michelle Sidler, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2008. 271-292. Print.

Electronic Representation:
This article is also found in Diane Penrod's book, Composition in convergence: the impact of new media on writing assessment, Chapter 4

Comments:
I found this article to be particularly interesting. I assist companies and faculty with research design and often face the debate over validity and reliability between qualitative and quantitative data. I am happy to observe an increase in the acceptance of qualitative data, particularly over the past 5 to 10 years. This type of methodology has validity and is often more suitable for certain research and assessment scenarios.

I appreciate Penrod's argument for qualitative assessment of students. This form of assessment can provide a richer understanding of a student.

I am speculative of the use of generic on-line assessment tools. I have not used one and cannot provide an educated stance one way or the other. However, I feel as though assessment depends on your specific context and the exact data you are trying to acquire. Are you assessing the students, the teachers, or the program? What will you use the data for? Who benefits from this data? Can an on-line program be manipulated enough to suit specific needs? The development of assessment parallels that of research design. To achieve an accurate and effective assessment, your methodology must be based around the exact data you want with an understanding of how you are going to use that data once acquired.