1. The Power and Potential of Formative Assessment
GRAD 602
Spring 2010

2. Session Objectives By the end of this class, you should be able to
Identify the important areas for consideration when reflecting on, and planning your course
Recognize the value of aligning your assessments / evaluations with learning objs.
Identify the key functions and components of classroom assessment
Create you own classroom assessment techniques

3. Individual student evaluation and classroom assessment are pretty much the same thing—the difference being scale.
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree

4. How often do you conduct simple, non-graded, in-class activities to get feedback on how students are learning.
Several times per class period
Once per class period
Once a week
Once per testing cycle
Never

5. How often do you assess your students’ prior knowledge of a topic / concept before you teach?
Several times per class period
Once per class period
Once a week
Once per testing cycle
Never

6. I often provide rubrics to my students to help them self-assess and self-adjust as they are developing their assignments.
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
What the hell is a rubric?

7. Which one of the following is the biggest obstacle that prevents you from using more CATs in your course(s)?
I don’t know what they are!
My class size is too big
Too much content to cover in class
Not enough time to prepare and grade
Some combination of all of the above
Other

8. Assessment: Formative & Summative
Course Design
Learning Objectives
Course Goals
Learning Activities
Assessment: Formative & Summative

9. What can you do in the classroom that you can’t do anywhere else?

10. What’s the difference between talking and teaching?

11. Inside the Black Box by Paul Black & Dylan Wiliam
“We start from the self-evident proposition that teaching and learning must be interactive.”

12. Formative vs. Summative
Feedback
Informal
Continuous
Process
Divergent
Assessment
Audit
Formal
Final
Product
Convergent
Evaluation

13. Characteristics of CATs
Formative
Learning-Centered
Teacher-Directed
Mutually Beneficial Feedback
Context Specific Activity (Authentic)
Ongoing (future-oriented)
Grounded in Good Teaching Practices

14. Examples of CATs Minute Paper Think / Pair / Share
Just In Time Teaching (JiTT)
Concept Mapping
Knowledge Survey
Pick your Poison
Splash Activity

15. CATs Can Also Serve as Evidence of Faculty Development
Data can be used for Teaching Portfolios
Data can be used for promotion and tenure
Data can be used for the SoTL
Data can be used for institutional change
Data can be used to improve teaching and learning

16. What are the Reasons for Formative Assessment
Improve Student Learning
Cognitive
Affective
Psychomotor
Receive Student Input on Instructional Strategies
Teaching techniques
Pace, breadth, depth
Learn about Student Perspectives on their own Learning
Self Awareness
Progress

17. Timing
Pre
Pre and Post
Post
On the Fly Assessment

18. Sources of Feedback Professional – Instructor Peer – fellow students
Debrief, Lecturette, Guidelines
Peer – fellow students
Peer assessment
Group assesment
Self – Assessment
Rubric
Learning log / journal / blog
Reflection paper
360 feedback ideal (seek, don’t wait)

19. Student Learning Cognitive (making thinking visible / audible)
(Pre) Knowledge Survey, JiTT
(Pre and Post) CPS question series – misconception
(Pre and Post) minute paper – development
(Pre and Post) T / P / S – both
(Pre and Post) Concept Map - both
(Post) minute paper, pick your poison
(On the Fly) T/P/S, CPS, concept map (tablet), Twitter, Google Moderator
Lower level vs higher level thinking

20. Student Learning Affective (making feelings visible / audible)
Knowledge Survey, JiTT
CPS question
minute paper
T / P / S
Learning Log, Reflection paper, Blog

21. Now it’s your turn! Identify / Create a Learning Objective
Create an authentic activity that will help you (and them) determine if they are nearing the learning objective
How, when, what kind, from whom, will they receive feedback
Anticipate your next steps based on what you might learn?