Congratulations to Dr. Danielle Catona, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, for recently receiving a Stearns Center grant for implementing alternative assessment strategies. The grant will allow Catona to conduct research on alternative assessment strategies for GCH 380: Public Health Research Methods. GCH 380 is an important aspect of the college’s accredited MPH program, and Catona’s research will provide valuable insight on improving it.
In her proposal, Redesigning Online Assessments, Catona identified the need to explore alternative assessments that allow students to engage with the complex topics of GCH 380 beyond simple memorization. During the course’s pilot semester, she intends to implement alternatives to exam-based assessments such as weekly online discussions and an original research proposal and presentation to foster student applications of course concepts and collaboration.
The Stearns Center, in collaboration with 4-VA at Mason, is piloting a program to provide up to ten (10) $4,000 grants and 1:1 instructional design support for faculty interested in implementing alternative assessment strategies into their online course. Catona’s grant is part of this program and is designed to support assessment strategies that help bolster student engagement, encourage academic integrity, and reduce tendencies toward academic outsourcing.