The Missing Link: Assessment to Instruction

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The Missing Link Assessment to Instruction

• Alan D. Wanamaker Jr. and
• Jeffrey C. Owen

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What do Exam Scores Mean?
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Possible Interpretations

• The majority of students new the material very
  well
• The teaching led directly to the desired level of
  understanding
• The exam was easy or tested only superficial
  material
• The review session covered exam questions
• A copy of the exam was circulated

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What about this one?
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Possible Interpretations

• The teaching didnt lead to the desired level of
  understanding
• The exam was too hard
• The exam didnt match the instruction
• Students didnt study the right material or the
  right way

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Or this one
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Meaning?

• The majority of students new the basics
• The exam allowed the students who really new it
  or who really didnt to be recognized
• Many of the questions tested concepts the way
  that the students expected

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But what if someone had given a pre-test to the
students?
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Does the meaning of the exam scores change?
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Or, to be extreme..
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Questions one is left asking

• Quality of the Test
• Did the test focus on what the students perceived
  to be most important?
• Did the questions actually test what they were
  supposed to test?
• Quality and Appropriateness of Instruction
• What gain in student understanding occurred
  during the class?
• Were the biggest gains in areas that were most
  important?

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Our Objectives

• To establish the links between quality
  assessments and quality instruction
• To illustrate a process for establishing a formal
  assessment program

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A Common Instructional Sequence
Instruct
Design Assessments
Assess
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Instructional Planning Model
Design Assessments
Articulate Goals
Instruct
Evaluate Process
Assess
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What is meant by assessment?Continuum of
Assessment Methods
Observation and Conversations with students
Quizzes , Exams and Lab Investigations
Academic prompts, thought questions
Individual or Group Projects
Informal
Formal
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Where does assessment fit? Once course and
daily goals are clearly articulated to students

• the course assessments must accurately measure
  those stated goals

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How do quality assessments measure stated
learning goals?

• By using questions and activities that have been
  shown to elicit student understanding
• from a variety of learning styles (validity)
• about specific learning goals consistently
  (reliability)
• to the desired depth of knowledge (validity)

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An example of different levels of knowing
Blooms Taxonomy
Upper Level Extended
Increasing Sophistication
Lower Level - Foundation
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When are assessments used to measure learning
goals?

• after instruction to establish a students grade
• before and after instruction to measure the gain
  in student understanding
• before and after instruction to monitor
  appropriateness and quality of the instruction

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Assessment to Instruction

• Now that your quality assessments have been
  designed, whats next?
• Determining the most appropriate instruction that
  will yield the desired level of learning

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Pre- Post Instruction Assessments - Interested?

• Keep it simplemaybe try it for just one
  essential topic initially
• Keep it manageablecreate it such that you can
  conduct it and review the data
• Al and Jeff are available as resources if you
  want help

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Acknowledgements

• The Center for Science and Mathematics Education
  Research
• Professor Steve Norton, Department of Geological
  Sciences