Introduction to Educational Research Module: Formative Group Assessment aligned to Final Research Proposal

Introduction to Educational Research Module: Formative Group Assessment aligned to Final Research Proposal

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Image by artursafronovvvv on Magnific 

Lecturer, Dr Colette February with the guidance of a CIECT Instructional Designer, structured interactive content and assessments to introduce students to “basic concepts, techniques, methods and practical questions in educational research” within the Introduction to Research Module (EDC 411). 

Interactive Lessons/Topics aligned to Resources and Tutorials

Students were expected to actively participate in structured weekly lessons. The students were also expected to engage in dedicated teaching observation and practice sessions. Weekly lessons included introductions, outcomes and embedded resources (articles, YouTube videos).  Content/lecture topics are aligned to the resources and tutorials. Furthermore,  specific pages were created directing students to assessment resources such as templates and readings. 

Using the Advanced Content Items on the Lessons Page to Capture Students’ Attendance

The Lessons eTool entails advanced content items. The lecturer added a simple question to each lesson topic, that enabled her to keep a record of class and tutorial attendance. The students are expected to capture their attendance online, during their face-to-face and online engagements. The lecturer was able to retrieve the statistics. This is an innovative method of capturing students' attendance within iKamva. 

Engaged Group Discussions: Significant and Detailed Responses

Students signed up for groups in class and were tasked to participate in two discussion topics which were created online using the Discussion Forum eTool. The topics were around two articles related to the weekly readings - “Volmink Reading (Weeks 1 and 2)” and “Davies and Heyward Reading (Week 4)”. Dr February checked the students' responses and engagements within these discussion topics. The student responses were detailed and counted towards a participation grade. 

Assessment: Group Research Plan

An assessment, a research plan, was completed by 30 groups; and group leaders were expected to submit contributions. Initially, the groups were invited to provide a name for the research group in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa as part of a multilingual orientation to the course. The lecturer provided detailed feedback to all groups. 

Final Assessment: Group Research Proposal [Take-Home]

The final assessment entailed a group research proposal; and students were expected to complete and submit via Take-Home mode within a week. The proposal was aligned to the research plan and detailed lecturer feedback.

Reading Material aligned to Test [Multiple-Choice Question Type]

An online Multiple Choice Question test was created and aligned to five respective articles. Hence, the test was divided into 5 parts with the related questions per article.  The students had two opportunities to engage in the test. Grades and the memo were made available to the students after the due date of the test. 

Gradebook: Formative Assessment Activities

The Gradebook was setup with categories and weightings for continuous formative assessment activities. The students could view their individual grades, especially related to group activities and participation.  These marks were calculated by the system and exported.