1. Assessments Jennifer Muzyka, Centre College Active Learning in Organic Chemistry, 2015

2. What’s the purpose of assessment?

3. Rate students Rate professor & course Motivate students to keep up Feedback to students about learning Feedback to instructor about student learning Provide instructional accountability Improve teaching and learning

4. Problems with assessment

5. Students don’t retain what they learned Test questions not like real life problems Instructor conflict (coach vs. judge) Grades reduce student motivation to learn

6. Problems with assessment Reliability vs. validity Reliability – does the test consistently rank order students Validity – is the test measuring what it intends to measure Problem – many of us focus on reliability and neglect validity What are we measuring and why?

7. Summative Assessment Tests Quizzes Papers Presentations Grades are not an effective motivator for learning

8. Formative Assessment Clickers Nearpod Reading questions In-class activities Formative assessment helps weaker students the most

9. Formative Assessment Formative assessment ferrets out misconceptions and brings them into working memory to address them.

10. Alignment

11. Course goals In-class activities Summative assessment Time spent indicates relative importance Backward design Learning objectives

12. Criteria / Evidence of learning

13. What student behavior indicates “understanding” Criteria for different levels of understanding Rubrics!

16. Misconceptions

17. How do we become aware of them? How do we address them, to help students develop more mature knowledge?

18. Assessment tools Assessment tools resemble active learning activities & accomplish similar goals

19. Assessment tools Ask WHY a lot! Nearpod Moodle – EasyOChem YouTube Group quizzes Group exam questions Homework? Scoring guides

20. Resources Pamela Auburn, Lone Star College Scientific Teaching by Jo Handelsman, Sarah Miller, Christine Pfund, W.H. Freeman, 2007. Introduction to Rubrics by Dannelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi, Stylus, 2005. “From Degrading to De-Grading,” by Alfie Kohn, High School Magazine, March 1999. Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes, by Alfie Kohn, Houghton Mifflin, 1999. “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment,” Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, Phi Delta Kappan, September 2010, 92 (1) 81-90. “Assessment and Classroom Learning,” by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, Assessment in Education, March 1998, 7-74.