ACA SummitOctober 15, 2011

Dr. Robin BuchananLees-McRae College

Designing Tasks for Assessment Providing Direction Assessment

When Assess How to Use Assessment Results Types of Assessment Linking Assessment to Instruction

How do we find out?

Previous coursework Previous assignments Review and focus Activate prior knowledge Other methods…

Objectives for the lesson/series of lessons Importance of learning targets in an

online environment Identify the essential part of the objective

for students to learn Write the learning targets in language the

students can understand

Identify what students need to do during the learning to meet the target

Provide understanding of what quality work looks like

Helps professors identify and address gaps between students current performance and desired learning outcomes.

Helps students answer the question: “Where am I going?”

Helps students see what they will know, understand, or be able to do

Why is this important? Difference in online environment and face-

to-face Review all written instructions carefully to

determine different meanings students may make from the written word.

Assignment Sample

All written directions must be very specific All assignments must be very specific If assigning group work, make sure that

each group member has a responsibility

Forum Guidelines

Individual or group? Readings Any discussion? Collaboration?

Discussion group Forum Chatroom

Cooperative Projects Wiki (wikispaces ©) Wix© Glogster© Other Products

Google Docs, Nings

Purposes of assessment Evaluating programs (college/program

assessment) Modify program; reports for accrediting bodies

Monitoring student progress Promote growth

Making instructional decisions Improve instruction

Evaluating student achievement Recognizing accomplishment

Assessment is an ongoing process, not one that occurs just at the end of a period of instruction.

Assessment takes place At the beginning of instruction

Student conceptions and misconceptions During instruction

Inquiry skills Problem-solving skills Critical thinking skills

At the end of instruction Understanding of concepts learned in instruction

Students should be required to show evidence of their learning through formal or informal assessments

Professors should use the results of assessments to modify instruction and guide the improvement of student learning

Diagnostic :■ Used before teaching material to find out

information about student knowledge, interests, abilities, and preferences.

Formative:■ Used during teaching to find out what students are

learning■ Supplies teacher with feedback to modify lesson and

teaching method■ Student participation is key component

Summative:■ Assess what students have learned■ May be used to assign grades, share data with

students, provide progress reports, make decisions about what teaching and learning steps to take next.

Assessment based on three guiding questions:

Where are the students trying to go? Where are the students now? How are students going to get there?

Assessing recall of knowledge Assessing understanding and application

of conceptual knowledge Assessing processes, inquiry procedures,

and attitudes Assessing multiple objectives

Traditional Assessment■ Multiple-choice, true-false, short answer, essay■ Easy to administer and score■ Do not require students to show reasoning■ Essay items can provide professors with

knowledge about how student arrived at answer■ Poor writing skills can mask content

understanding■ Can be used formatively if teacher is careful to

follow through and give feedback Online Quiz example

Informal Assessment ■ Not at planned intervals■ May involve asking questions, listening to what

students say, watching what they do in learning performance, examining products from their performances

■ Involves reading and analyzing what students have written on record sheets, in journals, in forums, in chat rooms

Performance Assessments■ Offers wide range of options for communicating what

students understand and what they are able to do.■ Embedded in instruction■ Often have look and feel of regular hands-on learning

situation■ Have performance that can be observed or product to

be examined◦ Measuring, observing, collecting and organizing data,

constructing a graph, making presentation, explaining procedure

◦ Data tables, graphs, models, reports, written explanations, problem solutions

◦ Product such as brochure, pamphlet, webpage, wiki, etc.◦ Glogster Poster Wix

site

■ Establish trust between you and your students. Students must trust that they will be allowed and expected to make mistakes, and that you will be there to support and help them improve their learning.

■ Use the language of the criteria for success to give oral and written descriptive feedback to students.

■ The feedback should indicate successes and specific suggestions for improvement based upon the learning targets and criteria for success.

■ Descriptive feedback must be used by the student for improvement.

Descriptive Feedback Prompts

■ Focus What students are expected to learn How students can demonstrate that they have

learned it■ Context

Background and question related to objective■ Directions

What students are expected to do Describes final performance or product

■ Scoring Guides Means for judging quality of performance or product

Checklist, rubric, holistic scoring guideSample Rubric Sample Checklist

Teaching and assessing in an online environment requires thorough planning, skillful execution, and careful, constant review and modification.

Learning to use assessment effectively,

whether in a face-to-face environment or an online environment, will help you become a better teacher and your students better learners. It really is worth the effort!

Bass, J.E., Contant, T.L., Carin, A.A. (2009). Teaching Science as Inquiry. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Public Schools of NC (2011). NCFALCON (North Carolina’s Formative Assessment Learning Community’s Online Network).

Van de Walle, J.A. (2009). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

http://edu.glogster.com http://sakai.lampschools./portal/ whttp://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/

CollegeWriting/TEACH/grading.htm#Rubrics www.wikispaces.com www.wix.com

Robin BuchananChair, Division of Education

Lees-McRae CollegeBanner Elk, NC828.898.8747

buchananr@lmc.edu

Assignment Instructions Read Select an article about a research study from a scholarly, peer

reviewed professional journal relating about the use of a particular technology for meeting the needs of diverse students in the classroom.

In the forum, reflect on the article by giving: Brief summary of the study Findings of the study Implications for teachers and the classroom

Be sure to cite your article at the bottom of your post.  As you respond to others' readings, be sure to support your comments with information from your readings.  You may simply cite the author's name (I will see the other bibliographic information in your original post). My purpose for this is that everyone in the class benefit from your reading.  This way we learn about several different studies, but each person only has to read one

Write…

BACK

Each week the assignment will include a class discussion in the Forum Tool in Sakai. Your participation will be your class attendance for the week. There will be specific, guiding questions for you to answer based upon your readings in the textbook or other sources.

Guidelines for participation are as follows: Select two questions to respond to directly, supporting anything you say with information from your

reading. You can simply say the text when you are referring to our textbook. If you are using information from another source, please identify it so other class members or I can read the article if we wish to do so.

Respond to two other posts made by class members in questions you did not choose to answer. Your response should be based upon your reading, again identifying the source of your information. You many refer to personal experiences, but these should be in addition to the information from your readings. If you say that you agree, you must support your agreement with information from your readings (and your experience, if you like). You do not always have to agree with what the class member says.

Please do NOT wait until the next class time (due date) to begin the discussion. Please visit the Forum at least twice during the week so you can read what your classmates are saying. It is not a real discussion if everyone waits until the hour before the posts are due. Each time you write something in the Forum, there is a date and time stamp, so I will know . It is entirely possible that you could answer one question one day and respond to a post by someone else and answer a second question another day and respond to another post.

I will check in during the week and read your discussions. At times, I may interject thoughts, ask questions, or interject further information. I want to be considered as a participant in the discussion.

The discussion in the Forum each week should be deep, rich, and thought-provoking. It should be a learning experience for all of us.

Grades in the Forum will be a participation grade each week, usually worth 10 points. This is 20% of your grade for the class.

BACK

 

After you read the chapter, answer the questions below.   1. Displaying data in picture or graph form is part of the

process of science known as o A. observing. o B. predicting. o C. inferring. o D. communicating.

2 Which of these statements is an observation, rather than an inference? A. Gravity pulled the marble off the table. B. The baby is crying because she is hungry. C. Bubbles are forming at the top of the liquid. D. This boy is obviously older than that one.

3 Hypotheses can be thought of as A. data that needs further interpretation. B. observations that need inferences. C. inferences that need testing. D. predictions that need measuring. BACK

Descriptive Feedback PromptsStrengths

Strength Prompts:

Areas to Improve

Improvement Prompts:

Improvement Strategies

Strategy Prompts:

You can…Your writing tells me…Your thinking shows…One thing you did really well…

Don’t forget, the criteria for success states that you will….What do you think you can do to….You need one more….One thing to improve on….You need less….

How would you go about….You might try….Your next steps might be….You might try….

These are generalized prompts. Remember that effective descriptive feedback should reference specific learning targets and criteria for success for the assignment.Taken from: NC FALCON ModuleNorth Carolina Department of Public Instruction September 15, 2009

BACK

Name

Levels: Emerging Developing Proficient Accomplished Score

Criteria: 1 2 3 4

NC Standard Course of Study

Activity not correlated to either a goal or objective from NCSCS

Correlated with either a goal or objective from NCSCS

Correlated with both a goal and objective from NCSCS

Correlated with both a goal and objective from NCSCS and targets specific sub-objective/learning target

Age/Grade appropriate

Content not appropriate for elementary school

No grade or age level indicated, but content is developmentally appropriate for elementary grades

Grade level or age group indicated and content is developmentally appropriate

Grade level or age group indicated, content is developmentally appropriate and targets specific knowledge/skill

AppearanceLacks color, some fonts not easy to read

Colorful and attractive; some fonts may be difficult to read

Neat, colorful, attractive, clear fonts and computer generated graphics

Extremely neat, colorful, eye-catching, clear, easy-to-read fonts and graphics

InteractiveOnly one or two interactive elements

Includes at least one imbeded video clip, pop-out, graphic, and photo

Includes more than one imbeded video clip, pop-out, graphic, and photo

Fully interactive with multiple video clips, pop-outs, graphics, and photos

Level of Interest

Seems to be topic or idea in which students would not have interest

Topic may or may not appear interesting for students

Topic appears to be one that students would like

Topic or idea appears to be one that would attract students

TOTALComments:

Rubric for Glogster Poster

WEB-PAGE OR WIKI CHECKLIST

Points _____Audiovisual Contents: quality,

specificity/narrowness/depth, appropriateness to course, and originality compared to the textbooks and other students' current knowledge

_____Non-Oral Aids: quality and quantity of pictures, graphs, videos, music, demonstrations, etc. and the methods by which they are presented

_____Organization: clarity and orderliness of presentation; use of topic sentences, appropriate time/length, and transitions

that are oral or visual (graphic markers/symbols or body language)

_____Style: tone--appropriateness, energy, and balance; use of visual cues (e.g., body language or graphic markers/symbols), and appropriateness of words and phrases for the audience

_____Sources: quotations, paraphrases, and bibliography (10-03)

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~jewel001/CollegeWriting/TEACH/grading.htm#Rubrics BACK