Which of these best describes the discipline in which you teach?
1. Natural Sciences / Math / Engineering
2. Humanities / Fine Arts 3. Social Sciences
Think of a course in which you expect to be assessing students. How many students will be in this course?
1. 15 or fewer 2. 16 – 30 3. 31 – 60 4. 61 – 120 5. 121 or more
Now think of an assignment in that course that will be challenging to grade. What kind of assignment is it?
1. Test / Exam 2. Homework 3. Short Paper 4. Long Paper 5. Project 6. Presentation 7. Other
Alternative Assessment
The utilization of non-traditional approaches in judging student performance.
Common Characteristics of Alternative Assessments
Asks students to perform, create or produce something
Evaluation criteria and standards are known to the student
Involve interaction between assessor (instructor, peers, self) and person assessed
Provides self-assessment opportunities for students Provides opportunities for both individual and group
work Encourages students to continue the learning
activity beyond the scope of the assignment
Key Features of Alternative Assessments
Assesses a learning process and encourages student self-reflection
Based on authentic task with real-world application
Topics and means of expression are of interest to the students
Assess Process of Learning
Flexible Show development Increases
communication Promotes reflection Provides feedback
Classroom Assessment Techniques
Background Knowledge Probe: short, simple questionnaire given to students at the start of a course, or before the introduction of a new unit, lesson or topic.
Minute Paper: brief response to the following questions: “What was the most important thing you learned during this class?” and “What important question remains unanswered?”
Muddiest Point: jot down a quick response to one question: “What was the muddiest point in [the lecture, discussion, homework assignment, film, etc.]?”
Authentic Assessment
Close to actual practice
Real world scenarios
Relevance outside of class
Larger audience
Student Choice
Choose topic or propose assessment
Help to develop evaluative criteria
Mode of expression Visual Written Multimodal
Genre Media
Questions to Ask Does the assessment meet outcome
goals? Does the assessment enable students to
demonstrate their progress and capabilities?
Do the assessments use authentic, real world tasks?
What options/choices are allowed? Will the assessment be meaningful and
engaging to students so that they will be motivated?
Does the assessment involve real problems, situations, and audiences?
Revamp an Assignment: 3-minute Paper
On the top of your paper write down an assignment that could be revamped into an alternative assessment
Consider ways to make it: Authentic Measure process Reflective Include student choice Engaging and motivating
Denis Rancourt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0HZDN6xXZ8
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/the-two-languages-of-academic-freedom/
What are the purposes of grading?
• Evaluation• Motivation
• Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic• Ranking relative to others• More?
What are the potential problems with grading?
Validity Reliability and Accuracy Fairness Bias Others?
Norm-Referenced Assessment
Obtain information about a learner’s performance in relation to others’. ACT, GRE, MCAT, etc. Can take more than a year for a single multiple choice
question to be approved. Some instructors “curve” test scores for various
reasons Department requirements, personal preference,
compensating for lower than average scores, etc. Is the adjusted distribution fair to all of the students? Do you have other assessments that reflect similar score
distributions for the same students?
Criterion-Referenced Assessment
Define the content for assessment in terms of what knowledge and skills the student must demonstrate
Define a grading scale for judging student performance
Make sure that the assessment requires students to perform the same skills they practiced during their learning activities prior to the assessment
Distribution can take any shape
Potential Problems with Rubrics
Task specific evaluative criteria Excessively general evaluative
criteria Dysfunctional detail Equating the test of the skill with the
skill itself
From “What’s Wrong—and What’s Right—with Rubrics” in Educational Leadership (Oct. 1997)
Class Participation0.
Absent.
1.
Present, not disruptive.
Tries to respond when called on but does not offer much.
Demonstrates very infrequent involvement in discussion.
2.
Demonstrates adequate preparation: knows basic case or reading facts, but does not show evidence of trying to interpret or analyze them.
Offers straightforward information (e.g., straight from the case or reading), without elaboration or very infrequently (perhapsonce a class).
Does not offer to contribute to discussion, but contributes to a moderate degree when called on.
Demonstrates sporadic involvement.
3.
Demonstrates good preparation: knows case or reading facts well, has thought through implications of them.
Offers interpretations and analysis of case material (more than just facts) to class.
Contributes well to discussion in an ongoing way: responds to other students' points, thinks through own points, questionsothers in a constructive way, offers and supports suggestions that may be counter to the majority opinion.
Demonstrates consistent ongoing involvement.
4.
Demonstrates excellent preparation: has analyzed case exceptionally well, relating it to readings and other material (e.g.,readings, course material, discussions, experiences, etc.).
Offers analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of case material, e.g., puts together pieces of the discussion to develop newapproaches that take the class further.
Contributes in a very significant way to ongoing discussion: keeps analysis focused, responds very thoughtfully to otherstudents' comments, contributes to the cooperative argument-building, suggests alternative ways of approaching material and helps class analyzewhich approaches are appropriate, etc.
Demonstrates ongoing very active involvement.
VALUE Rubrics (AAC&U) VALUE: Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education
Intellectual and Practical Skills Inquiry and analysis Critical thinking Creative thinking Written communication Oral communication Reading Quantitative literacy Information literacy Teamwork Problem solving
Personal and Social Responsibility Civic knowledge and engagement Intercultural knowledge and competence Ethical reasoning Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
Integrative and Applied Learning Integrative and applied learning
Self Evaluation
• Create opportunities for self reflection.
• Can you allow students to contribute a self-reflection as part of the assignment?
• Could you allow students to grade themselves?
Revision and Test Correction
Create structured opportunities for learning and improvement. Allow students to revise papers and correct test questions. Before or after assigning grades?
Exercise
Think of an assignment on which you might experiment with some form of alternative grading (3 mins)
Share with your neighbor (5 mins) Ideas?
Resources
Vanderbilt Center for Teaching (http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/assessment/) The CFT is hosting a workshop on January 26 entitled
“Negotiating Student Expectations about Grades and Goals” from 4:10 – 5:30
Furman Center for Teaching (http://facweb.furman.edu/~ctel/rubrics.htm)
RubiStar – rubric templates (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php)
AAC&U VALUE Rubrics http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/)