2. Assessment
Provides evidence to instructor and student as
to how well the students have learned what
we intend them to learn.
What we want students to learn and be able
to do should guide the choice and design of
the assessment.
3. Formative Assessment
Low stakes assessments for students and
instructors that gather feedback to guide
improvements in the ongoing teaching and
learning context.
Examples:
Asking students to submit one or two sentences
identifying the main point of a lecture
Have students submit an outline for a paper.
Early course evaluations
4. Summative
Obtained at the end of an instructional unit to measure the
level of success or proficiency (comparing it against some
standard or benchmark.)
Examples:
Assigning a grade to a final exam
Critique of a Senior recital
University Faculty Course Evaluations
The outcome of a summative assessment can be used
formatively, however, when students or faculty take the results
and use them to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent
courses.
5. What kind of assessment?
What will the student’s work on the activity (multiple
choice answers, essays, project, presentation, etc) tell
me about their level of competence on the targeted
learning objectives?
How will my assessment of their work help guide
students’ practice and improve the quality of their work?
How will the assessment outcomes for the class guide my
teaching practice?
6. Align with objectives
Are you assessing what you are teaching (what you
want them to learn?)
When objectives and assessments are misaligned,
many students will focus their efforts on activities
that will lead to good grades on assessments,
rather than focusing their efforts on learning
Use different kinds of activities so that students have
multiple ways to practice and demonstrate their
knowledge and skills.
7. Objectives should be
Written clearly and succinctly
Measurable
Depending on Content, identify where in the
Bloom’s level is most appropriate
9. Benjamin Bloom
University of Chicago; educator, researcher, examiner
Classified educational objectives – became Bloom’s
taxonomy (1956)
3 domains:
Cognitive
intellectual capability, ie., knowledge, or 'think'
Affective
feelings, emotions and behavior, ie., attitude, or 'feel'
Psychomotor
manual and physical skills, ie., skills, or 'do'
10.
11.
12. Taxonomy: 6 levels
1. Remember / Knowledge • Define
Information gathering • Describe
• Label
Exhibit memory of previously- • Locate
learned materials by recalling facts, • Identify
terms, basic concepts and answers
• Name
• Select
• State
13. Taxonomy: 6 levels
2. Understand /
• Explain
Comprehension
• Predict
Confirming • Defend
• Illustrate
Demonstrative understanding of • Paraphrase
facts and ideas by organizing,
• Match
comparing, translating,
interpreting, giving descriptions, • Summarize
and stating main ideas
14. Taxonomy: 6 levels
• Apply
3. Apply / Application • Change
Making use of knowledge • Solve
• Produce
Using new knowledge. Solve • Prepare
problems to new situations by • Interpret
applying acquired knowledge,
facts, techniques and rules in a • Classify
different way • Sketch
• Dramatize
15. Taxonomy: 6 levels
4. Analyze / Analysis • Analyze
Taking apart • Categorize
• Separate
Examine and break information • Differentiate
into parts by identifying • Compare
motives or causes. Make • Contrast
inferences and find evidence to • Classify
support generalizations
• Construct
16. Taxonomy: 6 levels
5. Evaluate / Synthesis • Develop
Putting Together • Produce
• Construct
Compile information together • Combine
in a different way by combining
elements in a new pattern or • Formulate
proposing alternative solutions • Hypothesize
17. Taxonomy: 6 levels
6. Create / Evaluation • Critique
Judging the outcome • Summarize
• Judge
Present and defend opinions by • Weight
making judgments about
information, validity of ideas or • Solve
quality of work based on a set of • Recommend
criteria • Assess
19. Ask yourself:
What do you want them to learn?
How will you know that they’ve learned it?
Backwards Design
Begin with assessment
Work backwards to activities
(See the Backward Design presentation)
20. References
Bloom B. (ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the
classification of educational goals – Handbook I: Cognitive Domain New
York, NY: McKay
Center for Academic Success, New Bloom’s pyramid, retrieved March 4,
2012 from Louisiana State University, http://www.cas.lsu.edu
Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence (n.d.) Design & teach a course.
Carnegie Melon University. Retrieved online from
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching
Pohl, M. (2000) Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn. Victoria, Australia:
Hawker Brownlow Education Pty Ltd.