the assessment toolbox linda suskie middle states commission on higher education ab tech february...
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The Assessment Toolbox
Linda SuskieMiddle States Commission on Higher
Education
AB TechFebruary 2005
Today...
What is assessment? The assessment toolbox
Rubrics (scoring guides) Prompts (assignments) Multiple-choice tests Reflective writing
Using assessment results to improve teaching
What is Assessment?
Deciding what we want our students to learn
Making sure they learn it!
--Jane Wolfson, Director, Environmental Science & Studies Program, Towson University
The Teaching-Learning-Assessment Cycle
Learning Goals
Using Results
Learning Opportunities
Assessment
1. Learning Goals
What is a good learning goal? Outcomes – what students should be able to do
AFTER they pass the course Observable – action words Clear – no fuzzy terms Skills – thinking, performance Important - meet student/employer needs
2. Aligning Assignments with Goals
3. The Assessment Toolbox
Rubrics
A list of things you’re looking for when you’re grading tests, papers, or projects
Often with guidelines or standards for evaluating them
A scale showing the degree to which the things you’re looking for are present.
Rating Scale Rubrics
More detailed descriptions of each possible rating.
Descriptive Rubrics
Holistic Scoring Guides
A single score that reflects an overall impression of performance
Scores are defined by descriptions or model answers
Write a Rubric!
Prompts: Creating Effective
Assignments
Creating Effective Multiple Choice
Tests
Start with a test blueprint.
Definitions
Objective test Stem Alternatives/
responses/ options
Multiple Choice
Advantages Efficient Fast and easy
to score Options can
diagnose difficulties
Disadvantages Hard to write Often requires
reading skills Guessing Can’t measure
some thinking skills
Use Multiple Choice Items for...
Conceptual understanding Application
Identify correct application or example Analysis
Identify correct cause, effect, or element Identify why something occurs or is best
Interpretive Exercise
= context-dependent item= enhanced multiple choice item
One new stimulus (paragraph, chart)
that students must read or examine
to be able to answer allthe objective items that follow
Examples of Interpretive Material
Reading passage they haven’t seen
Description of lab experiment
Material from historical period (letter, document)
Description of patient’s symptoms
Chart, diagram, drawing
Any scenario (“You are...”)
Use Interpretive Exercises to...
Apply knowledge and understanding to new material or novel situations.
Identify correct generalization, inference, or conclusion.
Use problem-solving and analysis skills.
Prepare for standardized tests.
Writing Good Multiple Choice
Items
More Ways to Make Multiple Choice Tests
Effective
Open-book, open-note Throw out items that half your
students get wrong. Review only items that many
students got wrong. Ask them WHY they got them
wrong.
Reflective Writing
4. Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching
Goals Curriculum Pedagogy Assessments
Look at your learning goals.
Do you have too many goals? Do your goals need to be clarified? Are your goals inappropriate or
overly ambitious?
Look at your curriculum.
Including placement and developmental education.
Does the curriculum adequately address each learning goal?
Look at your teaching methods.
How do students learn best?
Look at your assessments.
Are they poorly written and misinterpreted?
Do they match your key learning goals?
Are they too difficult for most responsible students?
Isn’t Poor Performance the Student’s Fault?
Sometimes, but usually a minority Suskie’s “50% rule”
Time to Reflect!