Formative Assessment

Fink’s Integrated Course Design

 Fink asks:  What are the important situational factors in a particular course and learning situation?  What should our full set of learning goals be?  What kinds of feedback and assessment should we provide?  Are all the components connected and integrated? Are they consistent with and supportive of each other? Fink’s Course Design Model

 The first step in designing assessments is ….  Identify the learning goals.  What do you expect students to learn by completing this assignment?  What kinds of intellectual skills do you expect them to practice or acquire by completing this assignment?  Are your goals for students, in terms of their learning, explicit? Assessment

 Audit-ive vs. Educative Assessment Fink

 Not a single event, but a continuous cycle.  An open process.  Promotes valid inferences.  Employs multiple measures of performance.  Measures what is worth learning, not just what is easy to measure.  Supports every student’s opportunity to learn important _______ (fill in the blank) Principles for Assessment (Steen, 1999)

 Clearly stated learning outcomes; share them with students.  Match assessment to what you teach and vice versa.  Use multiple measures and different kinds of measures.  Teach students how to do the assessment task.  Engage and encourage your students.  Interpret assessment results appropriately.  Evaluate the outcomes of your assessments. Fair Assessment Practices (Suskie, 2000)

Assessment Formative  Provides timely feedback about performance or attainment of goals  Interactive  Low stakes  Administered continuously  Fosters life-long learning  It is empirically argued that it has the greatest impact on learning and achievement Summative  Focused on achievement  Provides grades  High stakes  Administered at intervals  Standardized or formalized  Huba & Freed, 2000

Assessment Examples Formative  Project (including group projects, collaborative learning)  Experiment  Development of a product  Performance  Community-based experience (service learning)  Exhibition  Case study / Critical incident  Clinical evaluation  Oral exam or presentation  Interview  Comprehensive exam  Portfolio Summative  a midterm exam  a final project  a paper  a recital

 As a result, consider the following when planning assessment  Differentiate feedback from assessment  Make the focus on learning, not just summative assessment  Encourage students to reflect on their learning and experiences in class Assessment

 Consider assessing your students’ prior knowledge before giving out assessments.  Students come to class with a variety of learning experiences and different backgrounds.  These all should be considered before you plan your assessments. Prior Knowledge

 Questions to consider:  What facts and concepts should students know?  What procedures and steps should students be familiar with?  What metacognitive practices should students be aware of?  How is knowledge and skills applied in real world contexts and problems in my discipline? Do my assessments reflect the complexities of the field, or are students assessed out-of- context? Prior Knowledge

 CATs are quick assessments that enable both you and students to check their comprehension of important information, concepts and details for your course.  CATs are easy to administer and relatively easy to grade.  Angelo & Cross, 1993 Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)

 Knowledge & Skills  The Muddiest Point  The One-Minute Paper  Chain Notes  Student Generated Test Questions  Focused Listing  One Sentence Summary  (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Haugen, 1999) Examples of CATs

 Reflection & Self-Assessment  Journals  Blogs  Reactions to Instructional Methods  Exam Evaluations  Suggestion Box  Personal Course Feedback Forms  (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Haugen, 1999) Examples of CATs

 What types of assessment do you use in your classes?  What types of assessment that you are not using do you envision yourself using?  For the next workshop session, please bring an assessment you currently use or a draft of an assessment idea you are thinking about using.  We will use these assessments to design a rubric. Assessment

 Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Assess teaching & learning. Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation. Carnegie Mellon. Retrieved from  Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  Gross-Davis, B. (2009). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Haugen, L. (1999). Classroom assessment techniques. Center for Teaching Excellence. Iowa State University. Retrieved from  Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses - Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.  Steen, L. A. (1999). Assessing assessment. St.Olaf College. Retrieved from  Suskie, L. (2000). Fair assessment practices: Giving students equitable opportunities to demonstrate learning. The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, May. Retrieved from kie.pdf kie.pdf References