Assignment Design Goal: To ensure that the assignment unavoidably elicits a demonstration of the desired behavior Vertical and horizontal alignment of student learning outcomes Progression – initial supports or scaffolds, gradually removed

Key Concepts Formative assessment Summative assessment Direct Indirect A way for students to learn A way for faculty to learn what’s working Potential for immediate impact: chance to improve outcomes Summative assessment Provides evidence of students’ final mastery level Direct Students’ demonstration of learning Indirect Students’ perception of their learning Supports direct measures Quantitative/Qualitative Multiple measures Performance vs. Competence Patterns of performance

Peter Ewell (2013) Assignment Template Essential features of an assignment designed for assessment What is the central task and SLO addressed? What level of competence is expected? How should the task be done and how should the results be communicated? How extensive should the response be? How much evidence should be provided? Vertical and horizontal alignment of student learning outcomes Progression – initial supports or scaffolds, gradually removed

Desirable Characteristics of Assignments: Form Simple and easily understood Focused, with minimum distractions from the main task Contains appropriate information needed to frame a good response Does not address too many outcomes Appropriate balance between ISLO and course/discipline outcomes

Desirable Characteristics of Assignments: Content Engages student interest and supports learning Helps student see underlying structure of the problem Reflects the actual learning experiences that students have had Provides opportunities for small successes within the main task (e.g. for partial credit) Provides opportunities for correction after feedback Is unbiased with respect to student backgrounds and circumstances Allows originality in response

Desirable Characteristics of Assignments: Level of Challenge o Is appropriately located on a developmental continuum o Contains scaffolding appropriate to the level of challenge o Might be a series of related assignments with ascending levels of challenge as the student progresses through them o Can determine what level of performance signifies mastery of the proficiency

Assignment Design Tips Clearly link each assignment to the course goals and learning objectives. Aim the assignment just slightly above students' current expertise. Design assignments around real-world issues and events to engage and motivate students Break large, high-stakes assignments into multiple, low-stakes assignments. Provide model responses and be explicit about what makes them successful. Provide grading guidelines for the assignment in the form of rubrics . Provide supporting structures - templates, peer review, examples, multiple drafts, guidelines for library research, etc.

Productive questions for assignments How is the assignment related to course goals? How is it related to larger program goals? Is the assignment clear to students? How might they misconstrue it and what can be done to raise the likelihood of a successful response? What do students learn from doing the assignment? Is the assignment pitched at the right level, given students’ preparation and experience? How could the assignment more effectively motivate students to do their best work? Are the criteria used for assessing student performance clear and explicit? What does a good student response look like? Are there aspects of the assignment you’d like to reconsider or redesign? What kind of feedback (from whom) would help you strengthen this assignment? Source: DQP

Research Based Teaching Methods for Critical Thinking Have students write about and discuss what they are learning Encourage faculty-student contact, in and out of class Get students working with one another on substantive tasks, in and out of class Give prompt and frequent feedback to students about their progress Communicate high expectations Make standards and grading criteria explicit Help students to achieve those expectations and criteria Respect diverse talents and ways of learning Use problems, questions, or issues as points of entry into the subject Make courses assignment-centered rather than the text/lecture/coverage centered. Then focus on helping students successful complete the assignments

Scaffolding assignments   What it is: Scaffolding assignments involves structuring parts of a single assignment or designing a sequence of assignments so that they gradually increase in cognitive complexity. For example, the first part of an assignment might ask students to summarize an argument; the second might ask students to identify assumptions anchoring the argument; and the third might ask them to compare and evaluate several arguments on the same topic. Why it might be worth trying: Recent studies focusing on the development of expertise suggest the importance of “deliberate practice.” One important feature of deliberate practice is its graduated structure: it involves mastering easier tasks before tackling more difficult ones. Importantly, deliberate practice also gives the student ample opportunity to receive and act on feedback.

Examples:   Breaking up an assignment into several parts. For example, rather than handing in one research project at the term’s end, students are asked to write three short papers. In the first they define a problem and identify two or more positions on the problem; the second asks them to evaluate the evidence and assumptions behind each position; the third asks them to draft an argument endorsing an existing position or creating a new one. Keeping assignment constant but increasing the difficulty of material (readings, arguments, problems, etc.). For example, students are asked to summarize articles for each week’s readings, but the readings themselves increase in complexity and abstraction. Creating a scaffold within a single assignment. An art history professor teaching a freshman class assigns a paper asking students to 1) Describe DeKooning’s painting Woman,I; 2) Explain how it is that the painting represents a woman (or all women); 3) Connect specific formal properties of the painting to ideas about women; and 4). Reflect on their own arguments in numbers 2 and 3 and identify some assumptions about art or creativity.

Formative Assessment: CAT’s Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) Simple, non-graded, anonymous, in-class activities Feedback on the teaching-learning process as it is happening. Examples of CATs include the following. Background Knowledge Probe Minute Paper  Muddiest Point  What’s the Principle? Defining Features Matrix Concept Maps The Background Knowledge Probe is a short, simple questionnaire given to students at the start of a course, or before the introduction of a new unit, lesson or topic. It is designed to uncover students’ pre-conceptions. The Minute Paper tests how students are gaining knowledge, or not. The instructor ends class by asking students to write a brief response to the following questions: “What was the most important thing you learned during this class?” and “What important question remains unanswered?” The Muddiest Point is one of the simplest CATs to help assess where students are having difficulties. The technique consists of asking students to jot down a quick response to one question: “What was the muddiest point in [the lecture, discussion, homework assignment, film, etc.]?” The term “muddiest” means “most unclear” or “most confusing.” The What’s the Principle? CAT is useful in courses requiring problem-solving. After students figure out what type of problem they are dealing with, they often must decide what principle(s) to apply in order to solve the problem. This CAT provides students with a few problems and asks them to state the principle that best applies to each problem. Defining Features Matrix: Prepare a handout with a matrix of three columns and several rows.  At the top of the first two columns, list two distinct concepts that have potentially confusing similarities (e.g. hurricanes vs. tornados, Picasso vs. Matisse).  In the third column, list the important characteristics of both concepts in no particular order.  Give your students the handout and have them use the matrix to identify which characteristics belong to each of the two concepts.  Collect their responses, and you’ll quickly find out which characteristics are giving your students the most trouble.

What, so what now what? http://www.napavalley.edu/people/jhall/Documents/JHallUsing%20Critical%20Reflection%20Exercises%20F2012.pdf

Resources for Assessment learningoutcomesassessment.org http://assessmentcommons.org/ http://www.aalhe.org/ Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bloom, B. S., et al. (1994). Excerpts from the "Taxonomy of educational objectives, the classification of educational goals, handbook I: Cognitive domain." In L. W. Anderson & L. A. Sosniak (Eds.), Bloom's taxonomy: A forty-year retrospective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Resources Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (JoSOTL) http://www.iupui.edu/~josotl Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PESTLHE) http://www.pestlhe.org.uk/ Illinois State Univ SoTL website http://www.sotl.ilstu.edu/ Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/CASTL/highered/index.htm Indiana Univ SoTL website http://www.indiana.edu/~sotl/ Visible Knowledge Project and Index http://crossroads.georgetown.edu/vkp Univ of Wisconsin System SoTL website http://sotl.uwm.edu/ The Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) web site a resource for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) instructors. http://www.flaguide.org/intro/intro.php Vanderbilt Center for Teaching's SOTL page www.vanderbilt.edu/cft/resources/teaching_resources/theory/sotl.htm Activity finding an applicable resource for something- add to their toolkit

NILOA Assignment Design Charrette Form: o Simple and easily understood o Focused, with minimum distractions from the main task o Contains appropriate information needed to frame a good response o Does not address too many course outcomes or institutional student learning outcomes (ISLOS) o Appropriate balance between ISLOS and course/discipline outcomes Content: o Engages student interest and supports learning o Helps student see underlying structure of the problem o Reflects the actual learning experiences that students have had o Provides opportunities for small successes within the main task (e.g. for partial credit) o Provides opportunities for correction after feedback o Is unbiased with respect to student backgrounds and circumstances o Allows originality in response Level of Challenge: o Is appropriately located on a developmental continuum o Contains scaffolding appropriate to the level of challenge o Might be a series of related assignments with ascending levels of challenge as the student progresses through them o Can determine what level of performance signifies mastery of the proficiency