Assessment in the College Classroom Carrie Zelna, Ph.D. Director, Office of Assessment Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs

What brings you here today…..Classroom, Course or Both?  Why would you like to learn more about course/class assessment?

Why Do Course Assessment?  Determine whether the learning outcomes are being met by measuring student performance  Determine whether the overall course design and materials and procedures are efficient and effective  Determine whether and how students’ attitudes toward the course and the discipline or field have changed  Identify students for remediation and exemption  Summative  May include more than one section of a course  Focused on pedagogy and curriculum Diamond, R.M. (2008). Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula (3rd Ed.). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Pgs

Why Do Classroom Assessment?  Determine what students are learning in the classroom and how well they are learning it  Learner-centered  Teacher-directed  Mutually beneficial  Formative  Context Specific  On-going Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Pg. 6.

Session Outcomes Participants will:  Identify possible connections between course assessment and program assessment  Align course outcomes with activities and assignments  Identify appropriate formative (classroom)assessments  Identify summative (course) assessments

Stages of Assessment Four Steps of Assessment Establish Learning Goals (Plan) Provide Learning Opportunities (Act) Assess Student Learning (Observe) Use the results (Reflect) Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (2nd Ed.). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. Pg 4. Linda Suskie on 4/4/2008 to the Assess listserve: “….understand that assessment is action research, not experimental research. While it is systematic, action research is context-specific, informal, and designed to inform individual practice. As such, it doesn't have the precision, rigor, or generalizability of experimental research. “

Key Issues  Embedded vs. Add-on Assessment  Value Added/Pre-Post Measures  Direct vs. Indirect Evidence  Authentic Assessment (Performance or Alternative Assessment)

Curriculum Map: Alignment: Program Assessment and Course Products  Identifies where concepts are taught  Highlights potential issues in the curriculum  Identifies possible key courses that may have course products for assessment

Genetics

Course Map: Alignment: Course Outcomes and Activities/Assignments  Identifies where/how concepts are taught  Identifies where/how concepts are measured  Highlights key course products for assessment

Exercise  Draft a Course Map  Include course-level outcomes  Pedagogy/Activities such as “Lecture”, “Case Studies”, and other in or out of class activities.  Major assignments

Techniques: Adapt, not Adopt  Add-on  Embedded

Add-on Assessments (Usually Classroom) Often short and anonymous Prior Knowledge and Recall  Background Knowledge Probe  Application Cards  Documented Problem Solutions  Focus Listing  Empty Outlines  Memory Matrix  Minute Paper  Muddiest Point Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Analysis & Critical Thinking Defining Features Matrix Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers (2 nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Add-on Assessments (continued) Institutional Assessment Course/Classroom Assessment Instructor-designed Large Samples Sophisticated statistical data Focused on classroom teaching Analytic Memo: One to two pages, analysis of a problem, present specific roles-students role and the audience.

Add-on Assessments (continued)  Synthesis & Creative Thinking  One-Sentence Summary: Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why? WDWWWWHW  Approximate Analogies: Formative Assessment is to Summative Assessment as Training is to a Triathlon

Add-on Assessments (continued)  Skill in Problem-Solving  Problem Recognition Tasks  What’s the Principle?  Create a list of principles taught in the class and a list of problems. The students identify which principle is related to each problem.

Embedded Assessments (Usually Course)  Selected-Response  Constructed-Response  Product/Performance Authentic Assessment Toolbox: created by Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology, North Central College, Naperville, IL

Selected-Response: Measuring Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills Traditional Test Questions  True/False  Matching  Multiple Choice  Course Assessment: Look for patterns in the answers

Constructed Response  Short-Answer Essay Questions  Concept Maps  Identifying Themes  Making Predictions  Summaries  Explain Your Solution Course Assessment: Checklist, Rubrics

Product/Performance “...reveals their understanding of certain concepts and skills and/or their ability to apply, analyze, synthesize or evaluate those concepts and skills” * Research Paper Capstone Project Article Reviews Film Analysis Case Study Error Analysis Panel Discussion Fishbowl Discussion Oral Presentations Course Assessment: Rubrics *

Rubric: No Descriptors, weighted CriteriaPoor (1)Good (2) Excellent (3) Number of Sources x1 Historical Accuracy x3 Organizationx1 Bibliographyx1

Apply critical thinking skills to solve problems, make informed decisions, and interpret events. Designing Rubrics for Assessing Higher Order Thinking by William Peircehttp://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/Designingrubricsassessingthinking.htmlWilliam Peirce

Data for Decisions

The Aggregate……

University of Virginia  Example

Decisions  What types of decisions might you make with this type of data?

Resources  AACU Rubrics: CFID= &CFTOKEN= CFID= &CFTOKEN=  Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.  Authentic Assessment Toolbox: htm created by Jon Mueller. Professor of Psychology, North Central College, Naperville, IL. htm  Diamond, R.M. (2008). Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula (3rd Ed.). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.  Suskie, L Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (2nd Ed.). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.