Assessments Formative and Summative

Assessments Formative and Summative June 13, 2013 Carol Kerry Patrice Kris

Objectives • Students will: • Define formative and summative assessment • List types of formative and • Design a formative assessment for their class • Design a summative assessment (or a question or two) for their class • Think Pair Share – share one assessment strategy you use with a partner

http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/ta-handbook/teaching-and-learning-principles/alignment-modelhttp://www.cidde.pitt.edu/ta-handbook/teaching-and-learning-principles/alignment-model

aligning with learning objective

formative • Adjective – of and relating to a person’s development • of and relating to a person’s development • Synonyms • Developmental • Growing • Malleable • Impressible • Determining • influential • developmental • growing • malleable • Impressionable • determining • influential • shaping

What might you want to assess?

From Classroom Assessment TechniquesAngelo and Cross • “Questions about your students • How many students are learning well and how many are not? • Which students are learning well and which are not? • What do successful learners do that other learners don’t do • What do less successful students do that might account for their failures? • Questions about course content • How much of the course content are students learning? • Which elements of the course content are students learning? • How well are students learning the various elements of the course content? • How well are students integrating the various elements of the course content? • Questions about teaching • How does my teaching affect student learning positively and negatively? • What specifically could I change about my teaching to improve learning inside the classroom? • What, specifically could I change about my teaching to improve learning outside the classroom?”

Areas for AssessmentFrom Classroom Assessment Techniques • Course related Knowledge and Skills • Prior knowledge, recall and Understanding • Skills in Analysis and Critical Thinking • Skills in synthesis and critical thinking • Skills in problem solving • Skills in application and performance • Learner Attitudes, Values and Self-Awareness • Students’ awareness of their attitudes and Values • Student’s Self-Awareness as Learners • Course related Learning and Study Skills, Strategies and Behaviors • Learner Reaction to Instruction • Learner Reactions to Teachers and Teaching • Learner Reactions to Class Activities, Assignments and Materials

How do you assess? List common assessment methods One minute paper Muddiest point Clicker questions Empty Outlines One sentence summary Productive Study-Time Logs Misconception/Presumption Check

Example from Biodefense Lab Methods • Problem based learning • Objectives • Identify the pros and cons of random vs directed sampling • Apply the appropriate sampling method to an authentic problem • PBL assignment – white powder - Las Vegas or Daschle’s office • Multiple choice quiz – formative – points for completion

Try this In one sentence summarize what you have learned

How do you do this? • Plan • Start small (and easy) with your CAT • Implement • Responding (students need feedback – does not need to be individual) • “Five Suggestions for a successful start • If a CAT does not appeal to your intuition and professional judgment as a teacher, don’t use it • Don’t make CAT into a self-inflicted chore or burden • Don’t ask your students to use any CAT you haven’t previously tried on yourself • Allow for more time than you think • Make sure to “close the loop””

You try one Design a formative assessment for one of your objectives

Summative Assessment “Summative assessment is cumulative in nature and is utilized to determine whether students have met the course goals or student learning outcomes at the end of a course or program”. http://activelearning.uta.edu/facstaff/formsum.htm

Types of Summative Assessments Please list Exams Portfolios Grant proposals Poster presentation Capstone project

Example from Kris’ EID course

Castle Model for online course Instructor directed activities Narrated power point Short videos, Podcasts, multimedia Summative assessment – take home exam Student-led threaded discussion Student mp3/4 files, reading Student directed activities

exam question types • Objective • Constructed • Multiple Choice • True / False • Matching • Short Answer • Completion • Essay • Problem Solving • Advantages, Disadvantages and Construction (handout)

taxonomies and question types

exam writing guidelines/tips • examine early and often (low  high stakes) • compose exam questions immediately after you cover material in class to ensure appropriate “coverage” • use learning objectives to guide the writing of exam questions • start the test with some warm-up questions • ask a colleague (ta) to evaluate the exam for clarity, content and alignment with your learning objectives • proofread! • give detailed instructions and allow students sufficient time to complete each question (instructor time x 4) • use a variety of question types

your turn • Pick one of your learning objectives • Categorize it in a learning taxonomy framework (e.g. Bloomit, Fink it) • Identify (or write) an exam question to assess that learning objective • Rewrite your question in at least two other formats

How do you grade an essay, a project, a grant proposal? Rubrics!!!!!

Summary Last activity – write down the “muddiest point” of this presentation Summative “evaluations used to assign grades” Formative “evaluations used to inform teaching and improve learning rather than assign grades”

Assessments Formative and Summative