Assessment Strategies:

1
Assessment Strategies

• An Integral Part of the Learning Process

Click on the arrows at the bottom of each screen
to move through the tutorial
2
Your take away

• A working definition of assessment
• Guidelines for assessment selection
• Examples of formal and informal assessments
• Tips for constructing effective tests
• Ideas on how to weight graded items

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Objectives

• In this tutorial you will
• Analyze the use of assessment as a process to
  promote student learning
• Compare assessment selection and construction
  guidelines to currently used assessments
• Implement formal and informal assessment
  techniques in your courses
• Evaluate current assessment practices as they
  relate to promoting student learning

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Handout

• If you havent done so already, print out a copy
  of the handout to accompany this tutorial HERE

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5
What is Assessment?

• Assessment is a process for obtaining
  information that is used for making decisions
  about students, curricula and programs, and
  educational policy(American Federation of
  Teachers, National Council on Measurement in
  Education, NEA)

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Arent we missing something?

• That definition didnt mention anything about
  grades

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One part of the process

• Determining grades is only one part of the
  assessment process
• Well talk more about grades down the road a bit

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Another viewpoint

• Weimer (2002) describes evaluation as the process
  to generate grades but more importantly as a
  process to promote learning

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What is Assessment?

• Two key points of the definition go hand-in-hand
  for instructors. Assessment helps us
• obtain information about student learning
• make decisions about our teaching

- in order to promote learning!!
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Assessment as process

• Assessment, then, is a cyclical process that
  involves reflective decision-making throughout

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Decisions, Decisions

• Shavelson Stern found that teachers often make
  decisions about students at the rate of one every
  2 to 3 minutes!!! (1981)

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What kinds of decisions? (Nitko 2001)

• Before
• During, and
• After teaching

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Decisions Before Teaching

• What content do I need to cover?
• What abilities of my students do I need to take
  into account?
• What materials will I need?
• What learning activities will stimulate learning?
• What objectives do I want my students to achieve?
• How should I organize and arrange students in my
  class?

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Decisions During Teaching

• Is the lesson going well?
• Are they getting it?
• What should I do to improve what is happening?
• What feedback should I give them about their
  learning?
• Are they ready to move onto the next topic?

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Decisions After Teaching

• Are they achieving the short and long-term
  objectives?
• What strengths and weaknesses can I report about
  each student?
• How will this be reflected in the students
  grade?
• How effective was my teaching?
• How effective was the curriculum/ material ?

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Use the worksheet in your handout to complete
  this activity
• What could you add to the before, during, and
  after lists?
• Activity 1
• Reflect on these lists before you teach your next
  class
• Use them before, during, and after your class
• Write down things you hadnt noticed before in
  your teaching process
• What modifications could you make to your next
  lesson based on what you have learned?

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Getting Answers

• to the
• before
• during, and
• after teaching questions is part of the
  assessment process and helps us to make effective
  instructional decisionsthat support student
  learning

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Supporting Student Success

• These answers should give us information about
• student progress AND
• the effectiveness of our instruction

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Sound Decisions?

• We take this information and make decisions about
  our instruction
• To make sure our decision-making process is
  sound, we need
• accurate information
• sound assessmenttechniques

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Where to start?

• Start by selecting the right kinds of tests/test
  items to assess the knowledge, skills, abilities
  you want your students to demonstrate
• Construct effective exams/projects
• Select graded elements carefully
• Weigh individual grade elements appropriately
• Use informal assessment techniques to assess
  student learning between exams

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Five guidelines forassessment selection(Nitko
2001)

• 1) Be clear about what you are assessing
• What skill, knowledge, performance are you
  looking for?

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Guidelines forassessment selection (Nitko 2001)

• 2) Match the assessment technique to the skill,
  knowledge, performance you are looking for
• Are you looking for evidence of problem-solving
  skills?
• Then the assessment should be a problem to solve
  that documents the process, not a T/F exam

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Guidelines forassessment selection (Nitko 2001)

• 3) Choose assessments that give students
  information about their learning
• How close are they to the target performance you
  have set for them?
• What do they know and what needs improving?

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Guidelines forassessment selection (Nitko 2001)

• 4) When possible, use multiple indicators of
  performance
• Measuring learning is a complex task
• Each type of assessment has its limitations
• Assess important skills in multiple ways to
  capture and document the true complexity of
  learning

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Guidelines forassessment selection (Nitko 2001)

• 5) Interpret results with care
• Even if we do everything according to the
  guidelines, students can have an off day
  emotionally or physically
• Our assessments may still need some tweaking
• Follow the guidelines and then make the best
  decisions you can about learning and instruction

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Use the worksheet in your handout to complete
  this activity
• Activity 2
• Take one of your recent assessments and compare
  it to the 5 guidelines just presented
• Is there anything that you could improve upon? If
  so, what?

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Kinds of Assessment

• Well look at two broad types of assessments
• Informal assessments
• Formal assessments

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Informal Assessments

• May take the form of
• Oral questions, one-minute papers, Classroom
  Assessment Techniques, polls, surveys
• Usually do not count towards a grade
• Are used to find out whether students are
  getting it or not
• May be done anonymously

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Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)

• CATs are an important example of an informal
  assessment type
• Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross published in
  1994 the defining text on (CATs) for use in
  higher education
• A copy of this text is available in the CTL
  Reserve section of the library on each campus

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More about Classroom Assessment
Techniques(Bright Joyner 2004)

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are used
  by teachers to find out what students know.
  Teachers use this information to make more
  effective instructional decisions
• Classroom assessment is a strategy that directly
  links teaching with learning

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Why Classroom Assessment? (Bright Joyner 2004)

• Bright Joyner examined over 250 research
  studies on the use of CATs
• They found that this type of assessment led to
  significant learning gains that are among the
  largest ever reported for educational
  interventions

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Classroom Assessment(Bright Joyner 2004)

• When teachers understand what students know and
  can do, and when teachers use that knowledge to
  make more effective instructional decisions, the
  net result will be greater learning for students
  and a greater sense of satisfaction for teachers

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Engaging Students

• CATs are meant to engage students in their own
  learning
• They give students regular and timely feedback
  about
• what they should know
• what they currently know and
• ways to close the gap
• They help students to become partners in the
  learning process

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Informal Assessments

• Read more about CATs by clicking HERE
• Print the pages and select one or two of the
  techniques to use in the activity which follows

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Activity 3 (Use the handout worksheet)
• Select one of the Classroom Assessment Techniques
  described in the web article (or from another
  source such as Angelo Cross text).
• Use them in a class (or how you would use them if
  you are not currently teaching)
• Describe what you did and how it went
• What did it tell you about your students
  learning?
• Will you modify your next lesson because of it?
  If so, how?

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Formal Assessments

• May take the form of
• Tests, exams, quizzes, portfolios, presentations,
  written work
• Usually count toward a students grade
• Click on and print the information contained in
  the links below to read more about formal
  assessment types
• Link 1
• Link 2 Pros/cons and tips for each

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Formal Assessments(Shepard 2003)

• According to Shepard (2003), the single most
  important shared characteristic of assessments
  should be their alignment with curriculum
  standards
• The tasks, problems, and projects in which
  students are engaged should represent the range
  and depth of what we say we want students to
  understand and be able to do

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Activity 4 (Use the handout worksheet)
• Take a moment to consider the pros and cons of
  these assessment items relative to your content
  area
• Multiple Choice
• True/False
• Essay
• Matching
• Problem Sets
• Oral Exams
• Performance Tests
• Take Home Exam
• Open Book
• Portfolio - PSU Portfolio Gallery
• How can you use them more effectively to promote
  student learning in your courses? Are they
  aligned with your course objectives?

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The next step

• When you have
• taught your lessons
• used informal assessments to gauge student
  progress in class
• modified your instruction as needed
• thought about the kinds of assessment you will
  select that will help students demonstrate their
  learning and that match your objectives
• Then its time to give a formal assessment

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Constructing Effective Exams

• Lets look at some tips on constructing an
  effective exam

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 1) Prepare new exams each time you teach a
  course
• Keeps you up to date with the exact material
  covered and the topics emphasized

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 2) Make up test items throughout the term
• This ensures that test items match the material
  actually covered in the course

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 3) Ask students to submit test questions
• This gets students involved in the learning
  process
• Students have to think about what is important
• Faculty can help build academic skills by
  discussing the student-generated questions in a
  reflective way
• What did they leave out and why?

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 4) Ask to use items from colleagues' exams at
  other institutions
• Be careful about using those from your own
  campus. Students may be familiar with those exams

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 5) Consider making your tests cumulative
• Requires students to review and reinforce their
  learning
• Gives students a chance to integrate and
  synthesize material

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 6) Prepare clear instructions
• Test them by asking a colleague or friend to read
  them for clarity

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 7) Try out the timing
• Allow
• one-half minute per item for true-false tests
• one minute per item for multiple-choice tests
• two minutes per short-answer
• ten or fifteen minutes for a limited essay
• about thirty minutes for a broader essay question
• five or ten minutes for students to review their
  work
• time to distribute and collect the tests

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 8) Include a few words of advice and
  encouragement on the exam
• Suggest how much time to spend on each section
• Wish them good luck!

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 9) Put some easy items first
• Helps to overcome nervousness
• Builds confidence
• Helps you to identify who is really struggling
  with the material
• 10) Challenge your best students
• Include one question that really makes them think
• Include it near the end of the exam

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Constructing Effective Exams (Davis 1999)

• 11) Give some thought to the layout of the test
• Use margins, spacing, and white space to make it
  easy to read
• Group similar types of questions together
• Leave enough space for students to complete short
  answer and essay questions

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Use the worksheet in your handout to complete
  this activity
• Activity 5
• Compare a recent exam you constructed to the
  information in these tips
• Can you improve upon the construction of your
  exams? How?

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Afterwards Using exams topromote learning
(Weimer 2002)

• Dont simply go over the exam afterwards
• Debrief exams to reinforce and promote learning
• Let students work in groups to solve some of the
  more difficult problems the exam presented
• If students challenge certain questions,
  encourage them to prepare a rational,
  evidence-based argument
• Celebrate successes and use them to build
  confidence

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Afterwards Using exams topromote learning
(Shepard 2001)

• Shepard (2001) states that feedback is most
  effective when it focuses on correcting mistakes
  in relation to the learning goals
• A key role of the scaffolder is to summarize the
  progress that has been made and point out
  behaviors that led to the successes One type of
  feedback is pointing out the distinction between
  performance and the ideal another type of
  feedback is attributing success to effort and
  explicitly restating the concept that has been
  learned

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Fostering a Learning Environment (Shepard 2001)

• Shepard gives the following suggestions for
  fostering a learning environment
• Focus efforts on developing competence
• Provide diverse opportunities to demonstrate
  mastery
• Adapt instruction to students knowledge and
  understanding

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Fostering a Learning Environment (Shepard 2001)

• Contd
• Provide opportunities for students to take
  responsibility for learning
• Make thinking visible in classroom discourse
• Treat errors and mistakes as a normal part of
  learning

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Fostering a Learning Environment (Shepard 2001)

• Contd
• Evaluate progress as well as outcomes
• Help students learn the meaning of criteria for
  good work
• Provide opportunities for students to improve
  competence based on feedback
• Work to change student attitudes from getting
  grades to increasing learning

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A moment about grades (Nitko 2001)

• Grades communicate more than student progress
• They communicate your values about what goes on
  in your classroom
• Think about this Do you
• Give grades for attendance?
• Give cumulative exams?
• Offer more than one kind of way to earn a grade?
  
• What do your grading practices say regarding your
  values about learning?

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The downside about grades (Weimer 2002)

• Pressure for good grades can lead to extensive
  cheating
• Grades can influence students beliefs about
  themselves. They may associate the grades they
  get with their overall ability, not understanding
  the role of effort in academic success

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The downside about grades (Weimer 2002)

• Precision of grades can be compromised by
  different grading standards within a
  course/department/school
• Students may do work just to get the grade,
  grade grubbing How many points is this
  worth? vs. What am I going to learn?
• Do our grading practices promote learning or in
  fact hinder it?

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Grades and power(Weimer 2002)

• Grades have power They may act as gatekeepers
  to transfer and graduate schools, certification
  processes, and jobs

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Whats it worth?

• So how do we decide what weight to give each
  assignment?

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Weighting the components of a grade (Nitko 2001)

• Components that assess more of the important
  learning objectives should be weighted more
• Components that focus on what you spent the most
  time teaching should get more weight

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Weighting the components of a grade (Nitko 2001)

• Components that require students to integrate and
  apply what they learned should be weighted more
  heavily than those that require memorization
  only
• If two assessments overlap the same objectives,
  their total weight should be calculated
  accordingly

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Weighting the components of a grade (Nitko 2001)

• Be careful of bias in assessment items and adjust
  as needed
• Components that are less reliable and less
  objective should have less weight
• consider using rubrics to increase reliability
  and objectivity

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Alignment (Shepard 2003)

• Alignment is related to the weighting of elements
  in your course
• Shepard (2003) states, that the single most
  important shared characteristic of assessments
  should be their alignment with curriculum
  standards
• It follows then, that the tasks, problems, and
  projects in which students are engaged should
  also be weighted accordingly in the grading
  structure

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Use the worksheet in your handout to complete
  this activity
• Activity 6
• Review the way you have your graded elements
  weighted
• Are you satisfied with them?
• Will you modify anything? How?

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Review Why Assess?

• To gather information about student learning
• To make decisions about your teaching
• To promote learning

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Assessment A reflective,on-going process

• Its cyclical. You
• teach
• assess formally and informally
• evaluate the data
• give students feedback on their learning
• adjust your teaching as needed
• promote student learning

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Lastly

• Choose assessment types carefully to match your
  learning objectives
• Weight graded elements accordingly
• Use assessments as teaching tools to promote
  learning

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Stop to reflect and apply

• Activity 7 (Use the worksheet handout)
• Reflect on the assessment strategies that you
  currently use
• Do they support and promote student learning?
• If so, how? If not, what changes can you make?
• What topics would you like to know more about
  regarding assessment?

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To find out more

• Resources
• American Federation of Teachers, National Council
  on Measurement in Education, National Education
  Association (1990), Standards for teacher
  competence in educational assessment of students.
  Washington, DC National Council on Measurement in
  Education.
• Angelo, T. A., Cross, K. P. (1993) Classroom
  assessment techniques A handbook for college
  teachers, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
• Bright, G.W. Joyner, J.M. Classroom Assessment
  in Secondary Mathematics NRC Assessment of
  Learning Workshop Proceedings of The National
  Academies, May 16-18, 2004 http//hub.mspnet.org/i
  ndex.cfm/12407
• Davis, B. G., (1999) Tools for teaching,
  Jossey-Bass. Reprinted with permission at
  http//honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/Fac
  DevCom/guidebk/teachtip/quizzes.htm

72
To find out more

• Resources
• Nitko, A.J. (2001) Educational assessment of
  students (3rd Ed.) Prentice Hall Saddle River,
  NJ.
• Shavelson, R. J., Stern, P. (1981) Research on
  teachers pedagogical thoughts, judgments,
  decisions, and behaviors. Review of Educational
  Research, 51, 455-498.
• Shepard, L.A. NRC Assessment in Support of
  Learning Assessment of Learning Workshop
  Proceedings of The National Academies, February
  1, 2004 http//hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/12407 .
• Weimer, M. (2002) Learner-centered teaching Five
  key changes to practice, Jossey-Bass, San
  Francisco.

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To finish up

• Please complete and return as directed
• the evaluation of the tutorial
• the completion check sheetand worksheets
• located at the back of your handout
• Once these have been received, your certificate
  of completion will be sent to you
• Thanks for participating!!

74
Questions?

• If you have further questions, please contact me
  at
• Suzanne C. Shaffer
• Instructional Designer
• Montgomery College
• Center for Teaching Learning
• 7600 Takoma Avenue/ SS324
• Takoma Park, MD 20912
• 301-650-1677
• suzanne.shaffer_at_montgomerycollege.edu
• http//www.montgomerycollege.edu/sshaf
• "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting
• a great battle" Philo of Alexandria