1. Reshaping Assessment for Todays Learners Faculty of Health Sciences Semester 2, 2009 Paula Williams eLearning Consultant from ACU

2. About this workshop 9.00 Welcome 9.05 Icebreaker: VARK, (Paula) 9.45 Diversifying assessment strategies (Trevor) 10.00 Types of assessment (Paula) 10.15 Brainstorm 10.30 Break

3. About this workshop (2) 10.45 Blackboard quizzes (Trevor) 11.00 Writing quiz questions (Paula) 11.20 More things about quizzes (Trevor) 11.40 Rubrics and BB gradebook (Trevor) 12.00 Ways to save time marking (Paula) 12.20 Process of redesign (Paula) 12.30 Evaluation & Close (lunch)

4. VARK Visual Auditory Read/Write Kinesthetic We have 15 minutes to talk about VARK

5. Example: think of a simple learning activity Aim: teach your students correct activity eg could be a clinical technique/procdure Task: In groups, write learning outcomes and design assessment task Discuss: how would your assessment task suit different VARK styles? We have 20 minutes for this activity

6. Diversifying Assessment Strategies Focus on written assessment is flawed Assessment in universities based on elite And yet…focus on written assessment is really, really important Two reasons to diversify assessment: 1.More diverse assessment benefits more diverse learners 2.More diverse assessment strategies makes it easier to focus on the development of written assessment skills We have 15 minutes to talk about diversifying assessment

7. Learner Benefits of Diverse Assessment ACU assessment policy says: Assessment tasks … should be of different types to address students differing learning styles. As well as addressing students learning style differences, diverse assessment strategies builds diverse skill development. Including the development of written skills.

8. Developing written – and other – assessment skills 1.We know that written skills are important and are a mark of the university-educated person 2.Marking and providing feedback on written work is very time consuming for staff 3.Written assessment may not be the only – or indeed best – way of assessing some learning objectives

9. Diversifying assessment (for the visually oriented) Written Assessment Quizzes Oral Recording Photo Story } Reduced marking time } Focused marking time

10. Types of Assessment Remember VARK? Assessment that suits: – Visual learners? – Auditory learners? – Read/write learners? – Kinesthetic learners? We have 15 minutes to talk about types of assessment

11. Types of assessment (2) Visual examples: – Draw a diagram or flowchart – Create a webpage – Photo story Auditory examples: – Make a podcast – Give a presentation

12. Types of Assessment (3) Read/write example – Definitions, Dictionaries and glossaries – Essays Kinesthetic example – Trial and error, hands-on activities – Displays, Dioramas, posters, task cards

13. Brainstorm In pairs, brainstorm the types of assessment you could use in your unit for 5 minutes, then swap Challenge: try to think of examples that are not writing-based We have 15 minutes to talk brainstorm

14. Time for a break

15. Blackboard quizzes Blackboard quizzes – MCQs … and more – Calculated – Combination – Fill in the blank – Matching

16. Examples of quiz types Lets do it in Blackboard

17. Writing quiz questions In groups, write quiz questions that will assess some aspect of handwashing Challenge: try to create auto-marked questions that are not multiple choice

18. A few more things about quizzes Quiz scores can be weighted –they do not all have to be equal Quiz questions can be designated according to our marking scheme Short activity: are your questions: Pass, Credit, Distinction, High Distinction level?

19. Rubrics

20. Blackboards Gradebook

21. Ways to save time Marking Quiz Rubrics Peer assessment Talking is faster than writing: – Multimedia – Audio assessment and feedback

22. How to go about Redesigning your Assessment Allow around 1.5 days in total 1.Initial idea, chat to someone about it 2.Redesign (expect to take a full day) 3.Consult with others to get feedback 4.Revise on basis of feedback

23. Follow-up activities Paula around this afternoon and tomorrow Website available in Sharepoint Blog it!

24. Thank you This is the end of Reshaping assessment for todays learners. Please complete an evaluation.