Jon Mueller Professor of Psychology North Central College

Types of Assessment  Authentic Assessment Performing real-world tasks  Traditional Assessment Selecting a response on a test

Types of Authentic Assessment  Constructed-response items Constructed-response  Products  Performances

4 steps of Authentic Assessment  Identify the outcomes  Select an authentic task  Identify the criteria  Create a rubric

Step 1: Identify an Outcome  Select Core Concept(s) Not currently assessing  6-15 course outcomes 2-5 process outcomes  Sample course outcomes? Google: syllabus +outcomes +”cost accounting”

Step 2: Select an authentic task  E.g., Constructed-response items Make thinking visible  Core Concepts – skill development Requires lots of practice Constructed-response tasks

Skill Development  Instruction/modeling  Practice  Feedback  Reflection Reflection

Example: Scientific Thinking  Ex: Correlation/CausationCorrelation/Causation Informal discussion Formative assessments ○ Brief assignments Brief assignments ○ (+) / (-) grading Summative assessments ○ Paper Paper ○ Department exam Department exam Rubrics

Create a task  Select a Core Concept  Where would they ever use this knowledge or skills? Real world contexts?

Example:  “Demonstrate information literacy”  Want to read a critique of a candidate’s views – where would you find it?  Embed questions in assignment which asks students to describe How they found sources How they evaluated accuracy, relevancy, currency, bias of sources

Step 3: Identify the Criteria  Characteristics of good performance  Examples from your tasks  What makes a good persuasive essay?  A good McDonald’s employee?  Your task

Step 4: Create a rubric  Criteria + Levels of Performance  Examples – from Toolbox site  Media critique Media critique  “Do lunch well”  Your task

Questions?  Bonus! Jon Mueller at  Slides:  roosevelt.ppt roosevelt.ppt  Good luck!