Using Messicks Framework to Validate Assessment Tasks in Online Environments: A Course in Writing Effectively for UNHCR

Abstract

Messick (1988) maintained that technology-based delivery methods would transform both our conceptions of teaching and learning, and also our methods for evaluating student learning. Designed 100 years ago (Crocker & Algina, 1986), classical approaches to assessing test quality are unsuited to the contemporary context of technology-based learning (Messick, 1988). We will discuss evolving conceptions of validity and show how Messick’s (1989) framework is an improvement over traditional conceptions. We will then apply Messick’s framework to the evaluation data from the globally delivered, hybrid “A Course in Writing Effectively for UNHCR.” Our results will show how Messick’s framework provides a comprehensive assessment, based on evidence, values, and consequences of the merit and worth of contemporary assessment tasks.