Evaluating Student Achievement

How do you measure if your students are learning?

Agenda

• Explore methods of formative evaluation.

• Explore methods of summative evaluation.

Formative and Summative Assessment

• Formative Assessment is intertwined with your teaching, it happens all the time.

• Summative Assessment happens at the end of a unit, chapter, class and measures the students level of learning at that specific moment in time.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Your Evaluation Has to Match Your Objectives

Evaluation Make judgments

Synthesis Creates meaning

Analysis Break it down

Application Use a concept

Comprehension Understand meaning

Knowledge Recall or recite

What do your students need to learn?

Formative Assessment

• Formative Assessment lets the student know how well they are grasping the material

• Formative Assessment lets YOU identify the gaps between what is being taught and what is being learned.

Examples of Formative Assessment

• Just ask

• One minute paper

• Toughest point

• One sentence summary

• Application cards

• Mind Map

• Stop/Start/Continue

Just Ask

• This by far the most common formative assessment we use because it is fast and easy.– “does this make sense?”– “did you all get that?”– “is this clear?”

• It works, but we can dig a little deeper.

The One Minute Paper

• Sixty seconds to answer a question

– Most important thing today?– Most important question unanswered?– Why is this important?

The Toughest Point

• What was the “toughest” point about the lesson?

• What are you having trouble with?

One Sentence Summary

• How well can learners summarize the important points?

• One long sentence

Application Cards

• Write one real-world application of the major concept

• Index cards, threaded discussion

Mind Map for Evaluation

• Have the students try to draw a conceptual outline.

Evaluating Students

Formative Summative

Just askOne minute paperMuddiest pointOne sentence summaryApplication cardsMind Map

Start/Stop/Continue

• Let students conduct a formative evaluation on your teaching.

• On index cards and ask them to list three things:

1. What should I start doing?

2. What should I stop doing?

3. What should I continue doing?

Do this early and often

Wrapping Up Formative Assessment

• Try an Application Card

• Take a index card or sheet of paper and write down how you can use three of these formative assessments in your upcoming class.

Summative Assessment

• How do we conduct most of our summative assessment?

Examples of Summative Assessment

• Here a few of my favorite summative evaluation techniques.

• Test – we will save for another day• Portfolios• Product-Based • Performance-Based• Journals & Learning Logs• Quiz and Test

Advantages for the student

• Allows for a broad range of demonstration of knowledge

• Allows for legitimate self assessment.

• Individual strengths and abilities are recognized.

• Goals (objectives) are clearly stated in the beginning of a unit of study.

Advantages for the Teacher

• Learning goals (objectives) are shared with students before material is introduced. Students know exactly what you want them to learn.

• Tests all 6 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

• Gives a clearer and broader picture of each students abilities, strengths and knowledge.

Challenges

• Will you accurately evaluate students?

• Will your assessment tool provide you with information that is useful for improving instruction?

• How do you know the student did all of their own work?

• How do you develop new assessment tools?

Alternative Assessment

Let’s Begin with

Portfolio Assessmen

t.

Portfolios• Focuses on students ability to

produce a quality product

• Integrates and produces knowledge

• Provides meaningful tasks

• Provides framework for learning

• Provides evidence of conceptual understanding

Portfolio Time Frame

• The time frame depends on your purpose.

• Semester?• Unit?• Labs only?• Research?• Reflections?

Reflective Thinking

• Portfolios should include a reflection component.

• Being a reflective thinker is a learned process. Students must actively engage in the thought process to become proficient at it.

• This encourages self evaluation, the highest cognitive process.

Reflective Thinking Continued

• Reflective Starters

• I can demonstrate that I understand _______________ by evaluating it on _______________

• I am most proud that I know ____________.

• The section I most need to improve is __________________.

Product Based Assessments

• Investigate a controversial issue using a debate format

• Multimedia presentation• Oral report with visuals• Poster Board • Collections• Slide show or Photo essay• Video production• What are some more…

Product Based Assessments

•As with all evaluation you need to let the students know what you expect of them.

•Share your objectives.

Performance Based Assessment

This is where

and when your

student can show you their“stuff’.

Performance Based Assessment

• Demonstrate lab techniques

• Demonstrate observation skills in the field

• Oral explanations of processes

• Debates

• Defend a scientific investigation procedure, demonstrating techniques and equipment

Journals & Learning Logs

• Lab notes• Research notes• Reflective thinking• Field observations• Reference material• Syllabus

How do I grade all this?

• The best way I have found to grade these assessment tools is with the use of a rubric.

• The rubric will give clear instructions on what you expect of the students and how the work will be graded.

• Valid because it includes objectives and reliable because it uses a scoring rubric.

Steps in Rubric Development

• Determine learning objectives.

• Each rubric item should focus on a different skill.

• Evaluate only measurable criteria.

• Ideally, the entire rubric should fit on one sheet of paper.

• Reevaluate the rubric. (Did it work?)

Terms for measuring range

Needs Improvement….Satisfactory….Good…Exemplary

Beginning..Developing..Accomplished..Examplary

Needs work…. Good…. Excellent

Novice…. Apprentice…. Proficient…. Distinguished

Basic…. Proficient…. Advanced

Numeric Scale ranging from 1 to 5, for example

Steps in Rubric Development

• After you write your first paragraph of the highest level, circle the words in that paragraph that can vary. These words will be the ones that you will change as you write the less than top level performances.

Steps in Rubric Development

• Concept words that convey various degrees of performance

• Depth…Breadth…Quality…Scope… Extent…complexity…Degree

• Presence to absence• Complete to incomplete• Many to some to none• Major to minor

Steps in Rubric Development

Remember:• Adapt your rubric to the task at

hand.• Apply the scoring system that best

suits you.• Start small and keep adding and

changing when necessary.• Give the students the rubric

before, or when you give the assignment.

Quiz and Test

• True/False

• Multiple Choice

• Fill in the blank

• Short answer

• Essay

Wrapping Up Summative Assessment

• Let’s try a quick formative assessment technique.

• We will try to expand our Mind Map we made earlier to include Formative Assessment.

Mind Map

Evaluating Students

Formative Summative

Just askOne minute paperMuddiest pointOne sentence summaryApplication cardsMind MapStop/Start/Continue

PortfoliosProject-BasedProduct-BasedJournals & Learning LogsTest & Quiz

Measure these using a rubric

And After All That Work…

• Evaluate your evaluation techniques?

• Do you use a variety of evaluation techniques?

• Do they measure student learning?

• Revise, and try it again.

Wrapping Up Evaluation

• Two major points on evaluation

1. Use Formative and Summative Assessment to evaluate student learning.

2. Keep objectives, teaching, and evaluation in line with each other.

Wrapping Up Today

• The three major points for today

1. Develop clear objectives.

2. Align teaching with objectives.

3. Build evaluation around objectives.