Assessing for Learning Workshop

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Assessing for Learning Workshop

• Presented at
• CCRI
• February 23, 2005
• Peggy Maki, Ph.D.
• PeggyMaki_at_aol.com

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Topics Covered

• Anchoring the Commitment
• Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Assessing
• Collective Articulation of Learning Outcome
  Statements
• Development of Maps and Inventories
• Identification and Alignment of Assessment
  Methods

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Anchoring the Commitment

• Assessment?

Its simple you figure out what they want find
the quickest, least damaging way to respond send
off a report and then forget it.
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Origin of the Commitment
Internal

• External

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How do you learn?

• List several strategies you use to learn
• ________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  _____________________

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Research on Learning that Anchors the Commitment

• Learning is a complex process of
  interpretation-not a linear process
• Learners create meaning as opposed to receive
  meaning
• Knowledge is socially constructed (importance of
  peer-to-peer interaction)
• National Research Council. Knowing What
  Students Know, 2001.

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• People learn differentlyprefer certain ways of
  learning (learning inventories)
• Deep learning occurs over timetransference
• Meta-cognitive processes are a significant means
  of reinforcing learning (thinking about ones
  thinking)

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• Learning involves creating relationships between
  short-term and long-term memory
• Transfer of new knowledge into different contexts
  is important to deepen understanding
• Practice in various contexts creates expertise

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Integrated Learning.
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Specific Questions that Guide Assessment

• What do you expect your students to know
• and be able to do by the end of their program
  of study or by end of their education at your
  institution?
• What do the curricula and other educational
  experiences add up to?
• What do you do in your classes or in your
  programs to promote the kinds of learning or
  development that the institution seeks?

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Questions (cond)

• Which students benefit from various
  teaching/learning strategies or educational
  experiences?
• What educational processes are responsible for
  the intended student outcomes the institution
  seeks?
• How can you help students make connections
  between classroom learning and experiences
  outside of the classroom?

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Questions, cond

• What pedagogies/educational experiences develop
  knowledge, abilities, habits of mind, ways of
  knowing/problem solving?
• How are curricula and pedagogy designed to
  develop knowledge, abilities, habits of mind,
  ways of knowing?

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• How do you intentionally build upon what each of
  you teaches or fosters to achieve programmatic
  and institutional objectivescontexts for
  learning?
• What methods of assessment capture desired
  student learning--methods that align with
  pedagogy, content, curricular and instructional
  design?

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Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Assessing

• Pedagogy
• Curricular design
• Instructional design
• Educational tools
• Educational experiences
• Students learning histories/styles

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Example of a Principles of Commitment Statement

• Scholarly teaching is an intellectual
  activity designed to bring about documented
  improvements in student learning. Scholarly
  teaching reflects a thoughtful engagement and
  integration of ideas, examples and resources,
  coupled with pedagogically informed strategies of
  course design and implementation to bring about
  more effective teaching and learning. Scholarly
  teaching documents the effectiveness of student
  learning in a manner that models or reflects
  disciplinary methods and values.

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The Scholarly Teacher.

• exhibits curiosity about his/her students,
  student learning and students learning
  environments
• identifies issues/ questions (problems) related
  to some aspect of student learning
• develops, plans and implements strategies
  designed to address/enhance student learning

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• documents the outcomes of his/her strategies
  using methodology common to the discipline
• reflects upon and shares with others his/her
  ideas, designs, strategies, and outcomes of
  his/her work

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• consistently and continually builds upon his/her
  work and others (i.e., process is iterative)
• (Statement developed by the University of
  Portland 2002 AAHE Summer Academy Team and
  contributed by Marlene Moore, Dean, College of
  Arts and Sciences)

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Collective Articulation of Learning Outcome
Statements

• List the desired kinds of knowledge,
  abilities, habits of mind, ways of knowing, and
  dispositions that you desire your students to
  demonstrate
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------

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What Is a Learning Outcome Statement?

• Describes learning desired within a context
• Relies on active verbs (create, compose,
  calculate)
• Emerges from our collective intentions
  over time

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• Can be mapped to curricular and co-curricular
  practices (ample, multiple and varied
  opportunities to learn over time)
• Can be assessed quantitatively or qualitatively
  during students undergraduate and graduate
  careers

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• Is written for a course, program, or institution

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Levels of Learning Outcome Statements
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Distinguishing between Objectives and Outcomes

• Objectives state overarching expectations such
  as--
• Students will develop effective oral
• communication skills.
• OR
• Students will understand different
• economic principles.

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Example from ABET

• Design and conduct experiment analyze and
  interpret data

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Compare

• Students will write
• effectively.

to

• Students will compose a range of
  professional documents designed to solve
  problems for different audiences and purposes.

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Compare

• Students will write
• effectively.

to
Students will summarize recent articles on
economics and identify underlying economic
assumptions.
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Example from ACRL

• Literate student evaluates information and
  its sources critically and incorporates selected
  information into his or her knowledge and value
  system.
• ONE OUTCOME Student examines and compares
  information from various sources in order to
  evaluate reliability, validity,accuracy,
  timeliness, and point of view or bias.

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Ways to Articulate Outcomes

• Adapt from professional organizations
• Derive from mission of institution/program/departm
  ent/service
• Derive from students work that demonstrates
  interdisciplinary thinking, ways of knowing, or
  problem solving

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• Derive from faculty to faculty interview process
• Derive from exercise focused on listing one or
  two outcomes you attend to

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Characteristics of A Good Outcomes Statement

• Describes learning desired within a context
• Relies on active verbs (analyze, create, compose,
  calculate, construct)
• Emerges from our collective intentions
  over time

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• Can be mapped to curricular and co-curricular
  practices (ample, multiple and varied
  opportunities to learn over time)
• Can be assessed quantitatively or qualitatively
  during students undergraduate and graduate
  careers

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Write several outcome statements that capture
what students should achieve based on your
interdisciplinary focus
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How well do your outcome statements meet
characteristics of a good statement?
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Development of Maps and Inventories

• Reveal how we translate outcomes into educational
  practices offering students multiple and diverse
  opportunities to learn
• Help us to identify appropriate times to assess
  those outcomes
• Identify gaps in learning or opportunities to
  practice

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• Help students understand our expectations of them
• Place ownership of learning on students
• Enable them to develop their own maps or learning
  chronologies

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How will you use maps and inventories?

• Discuss team how you will go about the process of
  developing a curricular or curricular-co-curricula
  r map and how you will label peoples entries
• Discuss how you might use inventories

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Approaches to Learning

• Surface Learning
• Deep Learning

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List of Attachments

• Questions that examine the educational practices
  that underlie learning outcome statements
• Checklist for outcome statements
• Dissemination of outcome statements
• Curricular-co-curricular map
• Inventories of assessment and educational
  practices

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Works Cited

• Maki, P. (2004). Assessing for Learning
  Building a Sustainable Commitment Across the
  Institution. Sterling, VA Stylus Publishing,
  LLC, and the American Association for Higher
  Education.
• National Research Council. (2001). Knowing What
  Students Know The Science and Design of
  Educational Assessment. Washington, D.C.
  National Academy Press