Assessment for learninga case study of an online course in operating systems

Resumen

This study explores the effects of a formative assessment on operating systems, a subject that is part of the computerengineering degree at an online university. The formative assessment that we designed was based on the following goals: (a)to promote meaningful learning and (b) to make students aware of their learning processes. The research methodologyused was the qualitative case study. The sample was composed of 9 students out of 13 who were enrolled in the class. Thequalitative data analyzed were obtained from formative assessment tests taken by the students during the course. Theempirical evidence shows that the assessment produced deep reflection on both the subject’s main concepts and thestudent’s learning style, which corroborates the results of other research in this area. This case study can help engineeringteachers to create formative assessments for online courses.