IGNOU OPENNET key terms

Evaluation carried out during teaching to monitor learning and adjust instruction, usually low-stakes and feedback-oriented, rather than to assign a final grade.

Evaluation conducted at the end of a course or unit to judge overall achievement against learning outcomes, typically graded and used for certification or progression decisions.

An assessment that interprets a learner's score against fixed performance standards or learning outcomes, not against the scores of other test takers.

An assessment that ranks a learner's performance relative to a comparison group, so results show position within a distribution rather than mastery of specified content.

An assessment approach using frequent school-based appraisals of both scholastic and co-scholastic areas, intended to reduce dependence on a single terminal examination.

A hierarchical classification of learning objectives spanning remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating, used to design questions and align teaching with cognitive demand.

Designing a course so that intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks all point to the same cognitive processes and content.

A precise statement of what a learner should be able to demonstrate after instruction, expressed through an observable action verb and assessable content.

A cyclical inquiry in which a practitioner identifies a local problem, plans and implements an intervention, collects evidence, reflects, and revises practice.

Systematic review of one's own teaching decisions and their effects, using evidence and feedback to improve subsequent planning and classroom action.

A structured arrangement in which a colleague observes a class against agreed criteria and provides non-judgemental feedback for professional development.

The extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure and supports the inferences drawn from scores for a particular purpose and population.

The consistency of scores across repeated administrations, parallel forms, or independent raters, indicating how much measurement error affects results.

A measure of how far scores spread around the mean, calculated as the square root of the average squared deviation from the mean.

An abstract attribute or trait, such as motivation or critical thinking, that is inferred from observable behaviour and cannot be measured directly.

A statement specifying exactly how a variable or construct will be observed and measured, so that another researcher could repeat the procedure.

A testable, falsifiable statement predicting a relationship between variables, framed so that evidence can support or contradict it.

A design that combines quantitative measurement with qualitative interpretation within one study, integrating both strands to answer a research question more fully.

Using multiple data sources, methods, investigators or theories to cross-check findings and strengthen confidence in the conclusions drawn.

Voluntary agreement by a participant to take part in research after being told its purpose, procedures, risks and right to withdraw at any time.

Protecting research participants by concealing their identity in reporting and restricting access to identifying data, respectively, as promised at the outset.

A deductive argument with two premises and a conclusion, valid when the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises regardless of their content.

Inference that moves from general premises to a conclusion that must be true if the premises are true, as in mathematics and formal logic.

Inference from specific observations to a broader generalisation that is probable rather than certain, and may be overturned by new evidence.

A defect in reasoning that makes an argument unreliable, such as attacking the person rather than the claim or generalising from too few cases.

The distinction between variables that merely vary together and one variable actually producing change in another; association alone does not establish a causal link.

Deduction of conclusions from given statements using rules of inference and elimination, independent of real-world plausibility of the premises.

Constructing meaning from a text by identifying main ideas, supporting detail, the writer's purpose and tone, and implied relationships between statements.

A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning rather than stated directly, requiring the reader or listener to connect explicit cues.

The way sentences and paragraphs are linked through pronouns, conjunctions, repetition and reference so that a text reads as a connected whole.

Attending fully to a speaker, paraphrasing and checking understanding, and withholding judgement in order to respond accurately to the message.

Any factor such as noise, jargon, cultural difference or emotional state that distorts or blocks the intended message between sender and receiver.

Teaching, learning and research materials released under licences that permit free use, adaptation and redistribution, often through Creative Commons terms.

Software that hosts course content, organises enrolment, and supports delivery, discussion and assessment online, such as Moodle.

An online course designed for very large, open enrolment, typically delivered through a platform with automated assessment and discussion forums.

A planned combination of face-to-face and online learning in which each mode contributes deliberately to the achievement of course outcomes.

The capacity of a learner to set goals, choose strategies, monitor progress and evaluate learning with diminishing dependence on a teacher.

Structured distance-education content written for independent study, with objectives, explanations, activities, self-check questions and summaries built in.

Academic and administrative help provided to distance learners, including tutoring, counselling, library access, and help with study skills and assessment.

Education in which learners study away from the teacher, with flexible entry and pacing, using prepared materials and supported by an institution.