Using Learning Outcomes Enhancement Plans to Assess Learning in the Classroom

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Using Learning Outcomes Enhancement Plans to
Assess Learning in the Classroom

• Lynne Crosby
• Director of Program Development
• 2008-2009

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Why do Classroom Assessment?
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Classroom Assessment allows us to

• Ask and answer questions like, Are my students
  learning what I think I am teaching?
• Gain more systematic, useful data about the
  effectiveness of teaching strategies
• Formalize a process we all do every day, giving
  us more to share with our colleagues

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Scholarship of Teaching

• Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching
  and Learning

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Workshop Objectives

• To review approaches to classroom assessment,
  including strategies for gathering and analyzing
  assessment data
• To identify strategies for engaging students in
  classroom assessment and promote its value
• To understand what kinds of unexpected results
  might occur, and develop strategies to respond
• To give us all an excuse to talk more about
  teaching and learning!

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LOEP Purpose

• The Learning Outcomes Enhancement Plan is an
  opportunity for faculty to investigate, assess,
  and reflect on ways to improve teaching practice
• Assessment and documentation of learning outcomes
  is an increasingly important aspect of
  institutional accreditation

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Classroom Assessment Cycle
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Elements of a Complete Cycle of Classroom
Assessment Plan

• Goal, problem, or rationale
• Learning outcome(s) to be addressed
• Instructional methods
• Assessment methods
• Results
• Analysis, interpretation, and reflection
• Plan for next year

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Summary of Steps

• Plan
• Select course, learning outcomes, timeline
• Implement
• Implement instructional strategies and learning
  activities
• Administer CATS and other assessments
• Analyze Results
• Analyze the results of CATS, and other assessment
  tools
• Consider how you will use the results to improve
  your teaching and your students learning
• Document
• Describe your implementation, results and
  analysis
• Describe the results and how you plan to use the
  results
• Cycle begins again
• start planning your next classroom assessment
  project

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Work together!

• Compare the two sample LOEPs and discuss their
  strengths and weaknesses

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So what do you want your students to learn?
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Learning Outcomes

• Statements that describe what students are
  expected to know and able to do as a result of
  participation in the teaching and learning
  process

• Two parts
• Action verb - e.g. list apply solve
• Content reference subject matter, topic, or
  concept to be addressed

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Learning Outcomes

• Statements that describe what students are
  expected to know and able to do as a result of
  participation in the teaching and learning process

Educational objective (end result)
Learning outcome (to be achieved in your class)
Performance criteria (how you know the learning
outcome has been achieved?)
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Learning Outcomes
Educational objective
Learning outcome
Performance criteria
Ethical awareness
The student will understand the nature of ethics
in their discipline
The student will be able to describe a
professional code of ethics The student will be
able to analyze the ethical dimensions of a
problem
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Types of Outcomes

• Cognitive outcomes
• Understanding ability to recognize examples
• Application ability to use information in real
  contexts
• Analysis ability to break down problems and
  recognize key elements
• Synthesis ability to use information to create
  something new
• Evaluation ability to determine the value of a
  problem solution
• Affective outcomes
• Do students value their learning?
• Do students see the relevance of their learning?
• Can students identify changes in their beliefs or
  ways of thinking as a result of their learning?

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Types of Outcomes (continued)

• Psychomotor outcomes
• Perception ability to use senses to obtain cues
  needed to guide motor activity
• Set demonstrate readiness to perform a task or
  action
• Guided Response ability to perform under
  supervision or guidance
• Mechanism ability to perform a task to a some
  degree of proficiency or skill
• Complex or overt response ability to perform a
  task to a high degree of proficiency or skill
• Adaptation ability to adapt, alter, revise
  performance or task using previously learned
  related skills
• Origination ability to compose, create, design
  performance or task after having developed skills

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Types of Outcomes (continued)

• Declarative
• factual or conceptual knowledge
• Procedural
• skills, how to perform a task or solve a problem
• Conditional
• judgment, decision-making, when and how to apply
  knowledge and skills

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Where to Find Learning Outcomes

• FCCJ College Course Outlines http//www1.fccj.edu/
  curriculum
• Disciplinary or professional standards
• National Council of Teachers of English
  http//www.ncte.org/college
• AMATYC http//www.amatyc.org
• AACSB http//www.aacsb.edu/
• ABET http//www.abet.org/

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Lets Work Together!

• Compare and discuss a few of the sample learning
  outcomes provided

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Assessment Strategies

• What evidence will you need to determine
  students achievement of the desired learning
  outcome?
• Direct evidence exams, projects, papers,
  in-class and out-of-class assignments
• Indirect evidence surveys, reflective writing,
  grades

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Assessment Strategies

• Examine existing data
• Modify existing grading methods to provide better
  feedback
• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)

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Assessment Strategies

• Examine existing data
• Results on exam items, assignments, papers, or
  projects
• Observations of student performance
• Often provides quantitative data in the form of
  scores, but can also be treated qualitatively
• Analyze by
• looking at percentage of correct and incorrect
  answers
• identifying common problems or patterns of
  incorrect responses
• comparing pre-post tests or assignments from
  early in the term with those later in the term

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Assessment Strategies

• 2. Modify existing grading methods to provide
  better feedback
• Open-ended exam questions
• Multiple-choice questions with explain your
  answer
• Open-ended questions targeting key concepts on
  papers, projects, and assignments what did you
  learn?
• Works-in-progress break large paper or project
  assignments into smaller pieces, review and
  provide feedback as students progress
• Performance-based activities can be
  scored/graded using a checklist or rubric
• Rubrics

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Scoring Rubric
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Assessment Strategies

• 3. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
• Short, non-graded activities
• Often require students to reflect in writing on
  their thinking and learning
• Provide feedback to both you and students on
  their learning
• Can be general or linked to specific course
  activities (good for self-paced or online
  courses)
• Generally provides qualitative data in the form
  of student writing in response to questions or
  prompts
• Analyze by categorizing responses, identifying
  themes, and determining patterns

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Class Feedback

• Please do not put your name on this paper. This
  is feedback for me, not a quiz!
• 1. The key idea we covered in this class was. . .
• 2. One new idea I gained from this class was. . .
• 3. One important question I have that relates to
  class today is . . .

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Post-Paper Reflections

• After completing each paper in the course, have
  students respond to the following questions in a
  few sentences
• Paper 1 I'm most satisfied with . . .
• I'm least satisfied with . . . I'm having
  problems with . . .
• Paper 2 Why did you choose this particular
  organization for your paper? What would you do
  differently if you had more time?
• Paper 3 What in your writing process has changed
  since the beginning of the course?

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Peer Review Feedback Form

• Rating scale
• 4 highly effective 3 effective 2 needs
  improvement 1 not effective

Comments
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Planning and Implementation

• Choose assessment methods that
• Are easy to use and summarize
• Are directly related to targeted learning
  outcomes
• Fit with, incorporate, or enrich existing
  instructional strategies
• Provide rich, useful information about student
  learning

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Planning and Implementation

• Use multiple assessment methods to provide the
  most informative data
• Assess your targeted outcome during the course as
  well as at the end
• Use both direct and indirect methods of
  assessing outcomes

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Engaging Students in the Assessment Process

• When possible, choose assessment methods that
  also serve as a learning experience
• Help students practice skills they may have never
  tried before
• Use indirect methods of assessment along with
  direct methods to help students reflect on the
  value of what they are doing

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Case Studies

• We will select a case study to examine together.

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Questions to Guide Analysis

• Questions about Your Students
• How many students are learning well and how many
  are not?
• Which students are learning well and which are
  not?
• What do successful learners do that other
  learners dont do, or dont do as well?
• What do less successful students do which might
  account for their failures?

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Questions to Guide Analysis

• Questions about Course Content
• How much of the course content are students
  learning?
• Which elements of the course content are students
  learning?
• How well are students learning the various
  elements of the course content?
• How well are students integrating the various
  elements of the course content?

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Questions to Guide Analysis

• Questions about Teaching
• How does my teaching affect student learning,
  positively and negatively?
• What, specifically, could I change about my
  teaching to improve learning inside the
  classroom?
• What, specifically, could I change about my
  teaching to improve learning outside the
  classroom?

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Questions to Guide Interpretation

• Does your data indicate how well (or poorly)
  students achieved the learning outcome or goal?
• Can you interpret why you got the results that
  you did?
• What follow-up questions would help you
  understand the results?

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Questions to Guide Reflection

• In what ways has your project affected your
  teaching in the class you focused on?
• In what ways has it affected your students
  learning in that class?
• What surprised you most in doing the project?
• What have been the most enjoyable aspects of the
  project?
• What have been the least enjoyable aspects?
• What would you do differently next time?
• From Angelo, T. A., Cross, K. P. (1993).
  Classroom Assessment Techniques. San Francisco,
  CA Jossey-Bass, John Wiley Sons, Inc.

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Summary of Steps

• Plan
• Select course, learning outcomes, timeline
• Implement
• Implement instructional strategies and learning
  activities
• Administer CATS and other assessments
• Analyze Results
• Analyze the results of CATS, and other assessment
  tools
• Consider how you will use the results to improve
  your teaching and your students learning
• Document
• Describe your implementation, results and
  analysis
• Describe the results and how you plan to use the
  results
• Cycle begins again
• start planning your next classroom assessment
  project

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What can I accomplish with Classroom Assessment?

• Celebrate success
• Identify challenges and barriers to student
  learning
• Help determine if new or existing instructional
  strategies are effective
• Engage students in teaching and learning process
• Help students become more aware of their thinking
  and learning and its value

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Contact Information

• Lynne Crosby
• lcrosby_at_fccj.edu 632-5066 MCCS 446
• Assessment Webpage
• http//www.fccj.edu/campuses/mccs/instruction/prog
  ramdev/assessment/classassess.html

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Additional Workshops

• LOEP Collaboration
• LOEP Online software program

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Another CAT One-Minute Paper

• Please write brief responses to the following
• What was the most useful idea you gained from
  todays workshop?
• What questions or concerns do you still have?
  What additional resources or information would
  help you be successful?

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Five Minute University