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Student AssessmentCOL Alex Heidenberg

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Assessment• What is it and why do we talk about

it so much?

• What is the difference between assessment and evaluation?

• Are our students learning?

• What kind of learning is taking place?

• Am I an effective teacher?

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What is Assessment?

• Assessment – Process of gathering information pertaining to performance or achievement

Formative – (ongoing) to improve learning

Summative – (final) to gauge quality

• Evaluation – Comparing student achievement with a set of standards (criterion-referenced) or other students (norm-referenced).

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Quote of the day

“…testing and grading are not incidental acts that come at the end of teaching but powerful aspects of education that have an enormous influence on the entire enterprise of helping and encouraging students to learn.” --Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do

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Assessment Cycle

Articulate Goals

Design Strategies

Use Results for Improvement

Gather Assessment

Data & Analyze

Select Assessment Strategies

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Why Assess?

Changing the name of a test doesn’t matterGet info about how we’re doing and use the infoTo give the students and class a time to stop, reflect, and synthesizeTesting doesn’t have to be at the end of a chapter (synthesis may happen later than that)To motivate studentsIndicate expectationsMeasure how effective the teacher is (institutional/program)Measure prior knowledgeFigure out what I’m going to do in class todayAccreditation (see tomorrow’s session on program assessment)Let the students know where they areNeed to assign a grade

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Why Assess?

• It is a chance for students to know where they are at.

• It is a chance for the instructor to know where their students are at.

• It is a chance to pause, reflect, gather, and make connections.

• Build Confidence.

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How Do We Assess Students?

Ask QuestionsQuizzes (can do group quizzes) (consider doing daily—occasionally make it a “buddy quiz”)Put the answer on the test—show all of the work for full creditExams—open resource or not? (study sheets)HomeworkJournal-type questions (write detailed solution with explanation)Group work and then presentWatch the students’ body languageClicker questionsWork on the board and observeWalk around and look at students’ workNotice student questionsProjects (real world applications)Green cup or red cup on top (each student has one of each)Head nod: Yes/no (Caution—can be misleading)Index card—anonymous at end of class (turn in)Muddiest point

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Which Techniques Assess Deep Learning?

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing Evaluating

Creating

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Which Techniques Assess Deep Learning?

• Compare our list from 2 slides ago—at what level of Bloom’s Taxonomy are they? Can there be deep learning at that level? (Discuss)

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Fundamental Question (Bain)

What kind of intellectual and personal development should my students achieve in this class, and how can I collect evidence of that?

Subquestions• Is the material worth learning?• Are my students learning what the

course is supposed to be teaching?• Am I helping and encouraging the

students to learn?

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A few student assessment ideas

• Two-minute paper• Students self-assess their intellectual

growth• Every exam cumulative and replacing the

previous one• Students write a paragraph describing

their problem-solving process (turned in with the problem)

• Ungraded journals (conversation-starter! Math autobiography!) Bain and MAA Notes #49

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Thoughts from Joseph Lowman

• Don’t overemphasize grades (by being too stringent or too lenient, or by testing too frequently).

• Take grading seriously; it is of less consequence than what the students learn.

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Thoughts from Joseph Lowman

• Let students know where they are at regarding their learning by sharing peer work or showing the distribution of scores.

• Exams should be critiqued and revised. The best time for this to happen is immediately after grading it and hearing student feedback.

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Questions?

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References• To Improve the Academy , Douglas

Robertson• What the Best College Teachers Do,

Ken Bain• Mastering the Techniques of

Teaching , Joseph Lowman• Assessment Practices in

Undergraduate Mathematics, edited by Bonnie Gold, Sandra Keith, and William Marion