Formative Assessment

Fink’s Integrated Course Design 5 minutes (including next slide)

Fink’s Course Design Model Fink asks: What are the important situational factors in a particular course and learning situation? What should our full set of learning goals be? What kinds of feedback and assessment should we provide? Are all the components connected and integrated? Are they consistent with and supportive of each other? Assessments are an integral part of course design and are ultimately related to the learning activities we use with students and the learning goals that we have. Furthermore, Fink suggests that we need to determine situational factors that will influence these aspects of course design. It is also important to determine what our learning goals should be as well as the types of feedback and assessment we should provide for students. Finally, we need to determine whether these components are connected and integrated, and do they support each other.

Assessment The first step in designing assessments is …. Identify the learning goals. What do you expect students to learn by completing this assignment? What kinds of intellectual skills do you expect them to practice or acquire by completing this assignment? Are your goals for students, in terms of their learning, explicit? 7-10 minutes (including next slide) Fink suggests that in all of these steps, we need to first consider the learning goals. What do we expect students to learn by completing this assignment, and what kinds of skills will they be practicing. Additionally, we should also see if we are making these goals explicit to the students. If students are aware of the goals and outcomes, they should have a better sense of the steps that are needed to attain that outcome.

Fink Audit-ive vs. Educative Assessment Fink cites Grant Wiggins as a proponent of educative assessment. That is, we traditionally think of assessment as testing. Although testing is important and provides some degree of what students have learned, it only serves one purpose– to audit the knowledge that students have remembered/learned. This type of assessment, according to Fink and Wiggins, only focuses on backward-looking assessment, or reviewing what has been covered over the last few weeks. On the other hand, reviewing the educative aspects of assessment helps students master the learning process and focuses on the components of learning. According to Fink, educative assessment has 4 components which include focusing on what students should be able to do, enabling them to assess themselves, developing standards and criteria for the assessment, and providing feedback that is Frequent, immediate, discriminating, and delivered lovingly. We will focus more on feedback later on.

Principles for Assessment (Steen, 1999) Not a single event, but a continuous cycle. An open process. Promotes valid inferences. Employs multiple measures of performance. Measures what is worth learning, not just what is easy to measure. Supports every student’s opportunity to learn important _______ (fill in the blank) 5 minutes (give participants this hand-out)

Fair Assessment Practices (Suskie, 2000) Clearly stated learning outcomes; share them with students. Match assessment to what you teach and vice versa. Use multiple measures and different kinds of measures. Teach students how to do the assessment task. Engage and encourage your students. Interpret assessment results appropriately. Evaluate the outcomes of your assessments.

Assessment Formative Summative Focused on achievement Provides grades Provides timely feedback about performance or attainment of goals Interactive Low stakes Administered continuously Fosters life-long learning It is empirically argued that it has the greatest impact on learning and achievement Focused on achievement Provides grades High stakes Administered at intervals Standardized or formalized Huba & Freed, 2000 5-7 minutes (with next slide) Review the different types of assessment from Huba and Freed with participants– note that formative assessment aligns more with the principles for assessment and fair assessment practices. While there are times when we need summative assessment or we may be mandated to provide these kinds of assessments for programmatic purposes, formative assessment, it has been argued, helps to facilitate and foster life long learning.

Assessment What is the value of summative assessments? What can they tell us? What is the value of formative assessments? How do you incorporate both types of assessments in your class? Discuss these with a small group, and then share with the class. 10-15 minutes

Assessment Examples Formative Summative a midterm exam a final project a paper a recital Project (including group projects, collaborative learning) Experiment Development of a product Performance Community-based experience (service learning) Exhibition Case study / Critical incident Clinical evaluation Oral exam or presentation Interview Comprehensive exam Portfolio Here are some examples of formative and summative assessment. Ask participants if they use any of these, or if they have a preference for using any of these types of assessment in their classes.

Assessment As a result, consider the following when planning assessment Differentiate feedback from assessment Make the focus on learning, not just summative assessment Encourage students to reflect on their learning and experiences in class

Prior Knowledge Consider assessing your students’ prior knowledge before giving out assessments. Students come to class with a variety of learning experiences and different backgrounds. These all should be considered before you plan your assessments. 5-7 minutes

Prior Knowledge Questions to consider: What facts and concepts should students know? What procedures and steps should students be familiar with? What metacognitive practices should students be aware of? How is knowledge and skills applied in real world contexts and problems in my discipline? Do my assessments reflect the complexities of the field, or are students assessed out-of-context? While we typically think of assessment as a post action, we can also use assessments as a pre-measure to assess what students come in to our classes knowing. We may already have some of our goals and skills necessary for our courses. We can then assess what knowledge and experiences students bring to our classes to see how we can possibly integrate their prior knowledge with our own objectives and goals. We know that students use their prior knowledge to make connections with new learning opportunities. Furthermore, we also know that sometimes prior knowledge can interfere with new learning opportunities. Students may have learned improper techniques or hold conflicting conceptions of ideas. As a result, it is important to identify possible gaps, interfering ideas, or strengths that students possess on which we can build their knowledge and ideas for our classes. These questions from Fink help to clarify our ideas and thinking about students prior knowledge.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) CATs are quick assessments that enable both you and students to check their comprehension of important information, concepts and details for your course. CATs are easy to administer and relatively easy to grade. Angelo & Cross, 1993 5-7 minutes (with next slide)

Examples of CATs Knowledge & Skills The Muddiest Point The One-Minute Paper Chain Notes Student Generated Test Questions Focused Listing One Sentence Summary (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Haugen, 1999)

Examples of CATs Reflection & Self-Assessment Journals Blogs Reactions to Instructional Methods Exam Evaluations Suggestion Box Personal Course Feedback Forms (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Haugen, 1999)

Assessment What types of assessment do you use in your classes? What types of assessment that you are not using do you envision yourself using? For the next workshop session, please bring an assessment you currently use or a draft of an assessment idea you are thinking about using. We will use these assessments to design a rubric. Discussion/reflection to end

Assessment What types of assessment do you use in your classes? What types of assessment that you are not using do you envision yourself using? For the next workshop session, please bring an assessment you currently use or a draft of an assessment idea you are thinking about using. We will use these assessments to design a rubric. Discussion/reflection to end

References Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Assess teaching & learning. Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation. Carnegie Mellon. Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/index.html Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Gross-Davis, B. (2009). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Haugen, L. (1999). Classroom assessment techniques. Center for Teaching Excellence. Iowa State University. Retrieved from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/cat.html Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses - Shifting the Focus from Teaching to Learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Steen, L. A. (1999). Assessing assessment. St.Olaf College. Retrieved from http://www.stolaf.edu/people/steen/Papers/assessment.html Suskie, L. (2000). Fair assessment practices: Giving students equitable opportunities to demonstrate learning. The American Associationfor Higher Education Bulletin, May. Retrieved from http://uncw.edu/cas/documents/FairAssessmentPractices_Sus kie.pdf