Designing Authentic, Quality Assessments

Office of Learning & TechnologyPurdue University North Central

Outline

We will cover: Levels of assessment in our courses Aligning objectives to assessment Formative vs. summative learning

assessment The meaning behind “authentic

assessment” Using technology to enhance our ability

to assess effectively

Assessment Refers To…

Accomplishment of learning objectives Quality of interaction or project work

(measured with rubrics) Knowledge (measured with tests and

exams) Knowledge application (measured with

essay or advanced-level tests) Experience with technology Course Instructor

Formative and Summative Assessment

FORMATIVE

Helps you get a handle on how the course and/or students are doing at any given point

Gives you a chance to correct something if it’s not going as planned

SUMMATIVE

Usually done at the end of a unit or course

Provides a final look at how things went

Determines whether students “pass” or have attained the necessary skills to move on

Should You Assign a Grade to Everything?

Unfortunately, human nature is such that we will typically only do what we have to

Only students that are intrinsically motivated will tend to go beyond

Experience and research shows that most students tend toward extrinsic motivation and perform best when: A grade is involved Completion of a major course requirement is

contingent on participation

Something to Try – Self-Reflection

When students have a chance to reflect on themselves as learners, they may be more inclined to grow and achieve more

Try one of these surveys in class or as an assignment/discussion and see the reaction Felder’s Index of Learning Styles:

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

Biggs’ Study Process Questionnaire: http://www.johnbiggs.com.au/academic/students-approaches-to-learning/

Consider Your Goals

What do you want your students to get from your lesson? How do your students know what is expected from them?

Jot down your list of things that you want your students to know or be able to do before they leave you at the end of the semester, in no particular order or format

You might then be able to organize them by the type/level of learning that will be involved in meeting each goal

Bloom’s Taxonomyof the Cognitive Domain

• Evaluationmake judgments based on criteria

• Synthesiscompile information in a new way

• Analysisbreak down information into parts

• Applicationuse information in a new situation

• Comprehensioninterpret information

• Knowledgerecall information

Lower Order Thinking Skills

Higher Order Thinking Skills

Writing Objectives

An objective is simply a way to state a measurable outcome or goal of your lesson/course

Without the ability to measure a goal, it’s not easy to develop assessments for

How do you measure a student’s ability to appreciate poetry or artwork? How do you measure a student’s understanding of the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics?

Let’s Take a Closer Look…

For example, take an objective such as: “Write at least five measurable, student-centered learning objectives using appropriate action verbs”

What level is this objective on Bloom’s?

Could it be rewritten to achieve a different level?

http://cstep.csumb.edu/Obj_tutorial/bloomwheel.html

Thinking skill

Action verbs

Student products

Levels of Assessment

There are many schools of thought on how learning assessment should be done

Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels model is one of the more popular models used in business but can also apply to education

Kirkpatrick’s Levels of Evaluation

Level One: Reaction How did the learners feel about the course? Typically done in course evaluations but don’t have

to end there Level Two: Learning

How well did students learn? Level Three: Transfer

How much can they use what they learned in other classes or on the job?

Level Four: Impact How does your course impact the program,

department, university?

Level One: Reaction

Allows for reflection on the course delivery and what learners take away

Provides student perspective on how course is going

Examples: Midterm or periodic course evaluations

(how am I doing? surveys) Reflective discussions or quick essays

about the course

Level Two: Learning

Tells us whether students are learning and how much

For most academic courses, this is where we stop assessment - it is fairly important of course!

Examples: Tests Presentations Projects Discussions Papers

Level Three and Four

We often don’t have a chance to do Level Three and Four evaluation as faculty teaching courses

Level Three can be valuable to assessing students at a program level – how are they transferring what they learned in specific classes into their program at large?

Level Four can be useful to the department for assessing a program’s strengths and weaknesses overall

Authentic Assessment

We often refer to real-world application of knowledge and skills as “authentic”

Students have the chance to use what they learn in a practical way

Any assessment can be authentic as long as it measures what you really want it to

Add Variety and Better Understanding

Instead of a multiple-choice test of knowledge, try an essay test, a file response test, a project, or a paper

Instead of a case study, try having students go out into the field to find their own case

Provide a problem without a known solution and ask students to explore possibilities

Ask students to interpret concepts through presentations or multimedia creation

Tools for Authentic Assessment

Students can create and publish projects and presentations using a variety of helpful – and often free – tools Discussion forums Multimedia (text + images, video, etc) Presentation tools Digital video and audio E-books, wikis, blogs

Free Tools Websites

BlackBoard discussion, blog, wiki, Kaltura media tools

Google Docs: http://drive.google.com Prezi: http://www.prezi.com MS Office Templates:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/ Screencast-o-matic:

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com Jing and Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com Wordpress: http://www.wordpress.com SimpleBooklet: http://simplebooklet.com/index-

edu.php

Creating Rubrics

Rubrics are a comprehensive way to grade projects, written work, multimedia, and other non-test assessments

When students know what you’re looking for, they’re much more likely to perform well

Use your lesson objectives to determine what performances you’re looking for, and decide on what describes good performance vs. not so good

Example and Model Rubrics https://www.uwsto

ut.edu/soe/profdev/rubrics.cfm

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/rubrics.html

http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/examples/authentictaskexamples.htm

Rubrics in BlackBoard

You can grade using rubrics right within BlackBoard!

Creating and using rubrics video tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8_ynm8GzogBUOpgD4PLg8Ak8t8Il44g

Assessment Resources

Writing good learning objectives: http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/learningdesign/objectives/writingobjectives

A great help with coming up with verbiage for your rubrics: http://rubistar.4teachers.org

Kathy Schrock’s guide for educators: http://www.schrockguide.net/authentic-learning.html

Workshop in scenario-based learning and authentic assessment examples: https://sites.google.com/site/workshopctandsblresourcesite/home

Thanks!

Reach us at: pncolt@pnc.edu Twitter and Facebook: @PNCOLT http://www.pnc.edu/distance for all

workshop notes, links, and training needs