principles and practices of effective student assessment

1
Assessing Student Learning

• principles and practices of effective student
  assessment
• A workshop developed for
• Bilkent University by
• Gordon Suddaby

2
Rationale

• Students can, with difficulty escape from the
  effects of poor teaching, they cannot (by
  definition if they wish to graduate) escape the
  effects of poor assessment. (Baud, p.35 in
  Knight, 1995)
• Assessment is at the heart of student learning.
  (Brown and Knight, 1994).

3
An assessment riddle!

• Why do we measure with a micrometer, mark with
  chalk, and cut with an axe?

4
Why we assess?

• Crooks identified 8 reasons
• Selection and placement
• Motivation
• Focusing learning
• Consolidating and structuring learning
• Guiding and correcting learning
• Determining readiness to proceed
• Certifying and grading achievement
• Evaluating teaching
• Crooks, 1988.

5
Assessment as part of learning

• There are two critical factors
• Formative approaches to assessment
• Summative approaches to assessment
• Scriven, 1967.

6
Formative assessment

• Biggs and Tang note
• Formative assessment is provided during learning,
  telling students how well they are doing and what
  might need improving (p.97)
• In formative assessment, the results are used for
  feedback during learning. Students and teachers
  both need to know how learning is proceeding.
  Formative feedback may operate to both improve
  the learning of individual students and to
  improve the teaching itself. (p.163)

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Assumptions related to formative assessment

• It is a powerful teaching and learning activity
• It promotes growth
• It encourages autonomy
• Factors
• Involves intrinsic motivation
• Encourages reflection
• Requires prompt feedback
• Requires clear criteria
• Requires shared understanding

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What formative assessment activities do you use?

• I would like to record these on the board

9
Summative Assessment

• Biggs and Tang
• ...summative assessment is provided after
  learning, informing how well students have
  learned what they were supposed to learn (p.97)
• In summative assessment, the results are used to
  grade students at the end of a course or to
  accredit at the end of a programme. Summative
  assessment is carried out after a teaching
  episode has concluded....That result, the grade,
  is final. (p.164).

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Assumptions related to summative assessment

• Represents reliable and valid sample and
  judgement
• Its purpose is explicit
• Factors
• It is taken seriously
• It grades and ranks
• It sums up achievement
• It is an endpoint

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Activity 8Who are assessment stakeholders?

• Identify an end user of your assessment other
  than the student?
• What sort of information does that user need?
• Is that what they get?
• How do you know?
• Compare that information with that which the
  student wants/gets?
• Discuss with colleagues sitting nearby and
  compare differences and similarities

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The assessment stakeholders?

1. The student
2. Other students
3. Teachers
4. Mentors
5. Employers
6. University management
7. Funders
8. ...

13
Some assessment issues

• If we are not careful our assessment practices
  may
• Tend to focus on what is easiest to assess/mark
• Influence students approach to learning (surface)
• Encourage a focus on grades
• Encourage students to seek cues
• Not reveal misconceptions
• Encourage students to focus ONLY on what is
  assessed

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Some principles of effective assessment

• Assessment should foster improvement
• Students need self-assessment skills
• We should only assess what really matters
• Assessment should enhance motivation
• Assessment should encourage cooperation
• Assessment shouldnt be a burden
• Think about assessment due dates
• Think about flexibility!
• Requirements need to be explicit
• Crooks, 1993
• How do your assessment practices measure up
  against these?

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Activity 10 The big lie

• It doesnt matter what I think, write what you
  believe!
• Or should this be?
• It doesnt matter what is said or written, just
  make sure you learn the stuff that will be
  assessed!
• Remember, the students are always looking for
  cues and clues!!!
• So make a note of the messages you give students?

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Activity 11

• Task specification
• Make a paper dart from the paper supplied
  completing the task within 3 minutes
• Stipulation
• The dart must fly
• The dart must look like a paper dart

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Assessment criteria

• Now
• Develop a schedule for marking and grading the
  finished product

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Assessment criteria

• Now
• Develop a schedule for marking and grading the
  finished product
• Give your dart to a colleague to assess using
  their assessment schedule (you will mark another
  colleagues dart using your schedule)
• Mark 2 other colleagues darts using your schedule
• Compare grades
• What comments can you make about the marking
  process?

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Issues

• What assumptions have been made in relation to
  this task?
• What were the difficulties encountered in
  carrying out the task?
• What would have made the task more do-able?
• What difficulties were there in assessing the
  outcomes?

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Assumptions

• You know what a dart is and looks like
• You have some knowledge of dart-making
• You know what the assessor is looking for
• Everyone has the same perceptions of standards
• i.e. There is an understanding of the assessment
  criteria

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Seven Principles of good feedback

• From the conceptual model and the research
  literature on formative assessment it is possible
  to identify some broad principles of good
  feedback practice. A provisional list might
  include the following seven.
• Facilitates the development of self assessment
  (reflection) in learning.
• Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around
  learning.
• Helps clarify what good performance is (goals,
  criteria, standards expected).
• Provides opportunities to close the gap between
  current and desired performance.
• Delivers high quality information to students
  about their learning.
• Encourages positive motivational beliefs and
  self-esteem.
• Provides information to teachers that can be used
  to help shape the teaching.
• From Juwah, Macfarlane-Dick, Matthew, Nicol,
  Ross and Smith for the Higher Education Academy

22
Examples of criteria

• Appearance
• Flying ability
• Paper usage
• Shape
• Decoration
• Distance flown
• Size
• Complexity
• ...

23
Formative assessment

• Using assessment to improve learning.
• It is assessment provided during the teaching
  process.
• Strongly linked to processes of evaluating own
  teaching

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Guiding principles

• Effective Assessment should
• Promote and reward desired outcomes
• Distinguish between essentials and extras
• Recognise workload implications
• Reflect consistency of standards
• Communicate requirements to students
• Provide effective feedback
• Combine marks with care
• Give weight to professional judgement
• Crooks, 1993.

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Levels of assessment criteria

• Implicit to the tutor (I know one when I see
  one!)
• Known to the tutor, but not revealed to the
  student
• Revealed to the student, but what counts as
  evidence isnt!
• Criteria and examples of what counts as evidence
  revealed to the students

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How do the students know what is important?

• Clarify criteria
• Tell the students what is important in the
  beginning, as you teach it, and at the end.
• Tell them what is important when you set your
  assignments
• Tell them why you are giving them a particular
  assignment
• Tell them what the marks will be awarded for

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Dont be afraid to use a variety of approaches

• Tests
• Assignments
• Case Studies
• Projects
• Journals
• Orals (vivas)
• Seminars
• Posters
• Learning contracts
• Debates and presentations
• Artifacts/products

• Lab work
• Using a digital presentation
• Clinical observation
• Workbooks
• Portfolios
• Examinations
• Open Book Exercises
• Reports
• Simulations/role Plays
• Scenarios
• Field work

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Reflecting on assessment

• Do you provide/develop clear, explicit criteria
  for your own courses?
• Is there a performance component associated with
  the criteria?
• Are you clear as to what constitutes evidence
  that indicates the criteria have been met?
• Are the students aware of this?
• What additional information would help your
  students do a better job?
• What questions remain in your mind?

29
Aligning assessment and learning

• From our students point of view, assessment
  always defines the actual curriculum ,
  (Ramsden, 1992), its the tail that wags the
  dog!!!! - the term used to describe this is
  backwash.

30
Constructive Alignment

• A concept developed by Biggs
• Constructive because it is based on
  Constructivist theory i.e reflects Shuells
  statement that
• What the student does is actually more important
  in determining what is learned than what the
  teacher does (Shuell, 1986)
• Alignment demonstrates that the intended learning
  outcome, the teaching and teaching activity, and
  the assessment are all aligned

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Designing constructively aligned teaching and
assessment

• Describe the intended learning outcome in the
  form of a verb (learning activity), its object
  (the content) and specify the context and
  standard to be attained
• Create a learning environment using appropriate
  teaching/learning activities that address the
  verb and therefore are likely to bring about the
  outcome
• Use assessment tasks that contain that verb thus
  enabling judgment using rubrics as to how well
  students performances meet criteria
• Transform these judgments into standard grading
  criteria
• Biggs and Tang, pp. 54 - 55.