Designing%20Assessments%20into%20Activities%20that%20Meet%20Learning%20Goals

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Designing Assessments into Activities that Meet
Learning Goals

• Michelle Hall-Wallace

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Think

• Spend 2 minutes writing the questions or concerns
  you have about assessment. These questions could
  be related to your classroom teaching or your
  online resources.

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Questions/Concerns

• What do we we want to assess--role of goals?
• Why assess at all? Who benefits? For planning? To
  give grades?
• To get input from students and others to guide
  design/redesign (Are they doing what we think
  they are doing?)
• Where are the human resources for
  assessment--faculty time issues?

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Questions/Concerns

• How to separate assessing of CT from content
• How to move assessment from artificial or
  punitive to an authentic tool for learning
• Role of summative and formative assessment
• Strategies for assessing on the web (distance
  learning concern)

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Good Assessment Depends on

• Clear goals
• Creative approaches
• An emphasis on reinforcing learning rather than
  separating the wheat from the chaff

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Formative Assessments - Part of the Learning
Process

• to give students feedback
• to guide student effort
• to diagnose problems in learning
• to encourage students
• to give students experience with diverse
  assessment methods
• to help direct the teaching effort

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Summative Assessment - Measure Performance

• to discriminate between students
• to provide quality assurance checks both within
  the institution and externally
• to motivate students
• to judge student progression
• to award marks and enable a final degree
  classification

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Guiding Questions for Resource Design

• What is worthy and requiring of understanding?
• What is evidence of understanding?
• What learning experiences and teaching promote
  understanding, interest and excellence?

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Guiding Questions for Assessment Design

• Are students learning what you expect?
• Are they learning it in ways (using the methods)
  that you like?

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Creative Assessment

• Knowledge (terms, principles, procedures)
• List the evidence for plate tectonics
• Comprehension (understanding terms and
  principles interpretation)
• Summarize the evidence for and against the
  expanding Earth theory
• Which of these examples represents the principle
  of
• Application (solving problems, applying concepts
  and principles to new situations)
• Assuming Airy isostasy, calculate the elevation
  of the continent in the given model.
• Predict an outcome

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Creative Assessment (cont.)

• Analysis (recognition of facts, inferences,
  unstated assumptions, logical fallacies)
• What are the facts supporting Wegners hypothesis
  for continental drift and what are the underlying
  assumptions?
• Synthesis (integrate learning from different
  areas or solve problems with creative thinking)
• Design a monitoring system for geologic hazards
  in the Seattle area.
• Evaluate (judging or assessing)
• Evaluate the evacuation plan for Seattle assuming
  that flooding will be associated with the next
  major earthquake or volcanic eruption.

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How are Online Assessments Different?

• Allows for test-study-retest - promote mastery
• Can be done outside the classroom setting
• Allow for animations, dynamic model analysis,
  color imagery
• Rapid feedback with guidance on reading or
  problem sets to remediate gaps
• Motivation and reinforcement
• Can be embedded throughout the learning
  experience
• Requires access to technology
• Provides data for analysis of resource and
  assessments

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In small groups of 7

• Describe your most creative / effective or best
  assessment strategy. Explain why it is your best.
• How can this type of assessment strategy be used
  with online resources?