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Assessment - Overview

Page history last edited by mary.mcglasson@... 13 years, 6 months ago

 

Luann

Introduction

 There are a number of things to consider when designing and selecting assessment activities, whether they be for in-person, hybrid or online classes.  At the end of this workshop you will be able to:

 

  1. Identify various methods for assessing students.
  2. Describe the technologies that can be used to assess students.
  3. Select a technology you want to learn more about.

 

The "Authentic Assessment" workshops have been designed to correspond to specific elements (3.1, 3.4, 3.5) of the Quality Matters rubric.

 

Big Nate

 

Many thanks to Laura Ballard, Instructional Designer at GateWay Community College for sharing her work and ideas!

 

Overview

When you hear the word "assessment," what comes to mind? Multiple choice tests? Essays? What about group work, presentations, in-class polls and practice activities? Assessment is key in determining if your students learned what they were supposed to in your course. Fortunately, there are many ways to assess student learning that go beyond multiple choice tests.

 

Big Nate

 

 

Ask Yourself: How do you assess?

Think about how you currently assess your students for one of the courses you teach. How do you determine if the students have learned...or not? Jot down a list of all the things that you "grade" in class. These are all ways you "assess" the course learning objectives.

 

 

 

 

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere


 

How do you want your students to change after your course?

Think about your answer to this question. The behavior change is the learning. So whether you are an English composition teacher or a Nursing instructor, the answer to this question should drive your assessment. If your answer is "I would like my students to be efficient and effective researchers who understand how to use the information at their fingertips to formulate an argument and put it in words that will move their audience to action"...your assessment should be able to determine that. Make sense? Use your response to this question to take a look at your assessments.  Turn to a colleague and discuss your answer to this question.

 

Formative vs Summative Assessment

 

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is a two-way process between the teacher and student.  The main purpose is to help the student learn better. Teachers can use various tools to get feedback from students which should aid them in adjusting teaching technique and content delivery.  Instructors could, for example, have students:

 

  • Respond to questions during class -- use a polling tool like Polldaddy.com or Polleverywhere
  • Answer and ask questions -- use an open discussion board forum for "help" topics -- moderate on a set basis
  • Interact with other students during activities -- have students collaborate on group projects within a wiki like Google Sites if they are doing this in class. Monitor the group activities to find areas of confusion that may need to be addressed

 

Along with these suggested techniques, a very popular strategy for formative assessments is to use Classroom Assessment Techniques (otherwise known as CATs). Take a look at the following examples of using CATs in the classroom.

 

  • Minute Paper: After every virtual and face-to-face class, have every student use a blog (within Blackboard, Blogger or WordPress) to reflect on their learning.  Ask them to respond to the prompt: “What is the most important thing you learned today?”
  • Application Cards: After every virtual and face-to-face class, have students apply a concept they learned about in class to a real-life situation.
  • Muddiest Point: After every virtual and face-to-face class, have every student use a survey (Polleverywhere or Bb Survey) to respond to the prompt: "What is one thing you are still unclear about?"

 

Formative assessments are for learning – the purpose of formative assessment is to enhance learning not to determine grades.

 

Summative Assessment

The purpose of summative assessment is to summarize the learners' comprehension of given objectives at a particular point in time. For example, after two weeks in a course, students are asked to perform a particular task. They will be evaluated based on a rubric of standards and then given a grade on the performance. More traditionally, students are often given multiple choice exams to assess their knowledge. However, there are many other ways to determine if students learned a particular objective.

 

Summative assessment is characterized as assessment of learning and is contrasted with formative assessment, which is assessment for learning.

 

Do you...?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously you were asked to think about and list the assessments you use in your course.  Take a moment to look at your list. It's easy to determine if they are varied  - simply look at your assessment types:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sequencing and appropriateness are very specific to your course content. The major point here is to make sure you aren't asking them to do things that are beyond the scope of the class OR that are lower than the standards of the class. Some questions to think about:

 

  1. Are my assessments building upon each other?
  2. Do I have transitional pieces in between these assessments that bridge knowledge?
  3. Am I asking them to do things they are capable of doing?

 

Want to learn more about assessment and the Quality Matters rubric?

 

Technology Tour - Technologies that Facilitate Assessment

 

For in-person, hybrid and online online classes, assessment can take many forms and can use a variety of instructional technologies (student reflection, group work, discussion, mindmapping, document sharing, collaborative writing, web presentations and more). 

 

Use the provided handout and the following descriptions/samples of technologies that can be used to assess student learning.  Use the matrix to identify which tool(s) can be used to facilitate the type of assessment listed.  Place a mark in each appropriate cell.  Work with a partner or in a group of 3 to complete this activity - ask each other questions and use each others' expertise to complete the worksheet.

  

 

 

 

 

Big Nate

Keep 'Em Honest

Students can and will cheat when desperate. Most of us are familiar with the ways in which students cheat in face-to-face courses because most of us have a lot of experience in that environment. When teaching a class hybrid or online, there are other ways in which students can cheat. The best way to approach academic dishonesty is proactively. Design your course so that it keeps them honest. Below are a few ideas for how to do this as well as an article that further fleshes out these ideas:

 

  • Build multiple "check point" assessments
  • Allow open note/book timed tests
  • Have in-class quizzes and tests as well
  • Project-based assessments
  • Portfolio assessments
  • Assign group work in a wiki area that tracks student participation (Google Sites)
  • Provide best practice guidelines for taking exams online– available online from the Student Blackboard Help pages

 

Designing Online Courses to Discourage Dishonesty: Incorporate a multi-layered approach to promote honest student learning: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0348.pdf

 

Want even more information about assessment?  Visit Laura's assessment wiki: http://sites.google.com/site/f2fqmassess/

 

 

Click here to complete the workshop evaluation survey!

 

 

 

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