The resources below can help you learn about best practices for assessing student learning.
General resources
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From Instructional Assessment Resources at the University of Texas – Austin
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From the Starting Point Project from Carleton College’s Science Education Resource Center
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From Carnegie Mellon, Eberly Center – Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation
Further Links to Student Assessment
Seven Propositions for assessment Reform in Higher Education by David Boud and Associates from Australian Learning & Teaching Council.
ARE THEY GETTING WHAT I THINK I’M TEACHING?!
“Classroom Assessment is an educational innovation that unites efforts to improve both teaching and learning. Classroom Assessment also involves students in active mental processing of new information and makes them more aware of themselves as a learner” (Steadman 23).
MODELING AND MEASURING COMPETENCIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
“Professional and VET learning” is a book series that focuses on professional competencies and identities, but also on conditions and societal frames of job performances. It includes education in economics, medicine, handicraft, ICT, technology, media handling, commerce etc. It includes career development, working life, work- integrated learning and ethical aspects of the professions.
Colleges and universities have long defined and assessed student learning using course-embedded assessments of student learning, such as tests, papers, projects, as well as standardized or “custom” qualitative and quantitative measures. All of these are valid and valuable assessment tools if used properly. In order to reach out more effectively to students and to the public, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education revised its accreditation standards, Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education: Eligibility Requirements and Standards for Accreditation, to refine the requirements and recommendations for establishing learning goals and assessing student achievement. The members also concluded that the process of defining and assessing student learning would assist faculty in their teaching, students in selecting institutions and in managing their own learning, and institutions in planning and supporting students. This handbook serves as a resource for institutions seeking a bridge between the Commission’s standards for accreditation and the practical daily challenges of assessment and continuous improvement.
WRITING GOOD MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAMS
Large classes often necessitate using multiple-choice exams to assess student learning. However, instructors can find it challenging to write good items that ask students to do more than memorize facts and details.
ASSESSING ONLINE LEARNING: STRATEGIES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
As online education moves from the fringes to the mainstream, one question still persists: “How do I know what my online students have learned?” There are no simple answers, just as there aren’t in face-to-face courses, but with a little creativity and flexibility, you soon discover that the online learning environment opens up a host of new student assessment possibilities. And, just as with traditional courses, the trick is finding the right combination that works best for your particular course.
When considering how to assess student learning in a course, most instructors would agree that the ideal assessment would be one that not only assesses students learning; it also teaches students and improves their skills and understanding of course content.
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT TOOLBOX: WHAT IS AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT?
A comparison of traditional (forced-choice) assessment and authentic (performance-based) assessment. Teaching to the test ceases to be a problem when the test involves the performance of meaningful tasks that provide evidence of the understandings desired.
HOW CAN ASSESSMENT WORK FOR US?
An article published in Academe on the AAUP website, arguing that we should embrace the responsibility for critically evaluating our work as teachers assessment should be the property of faculty, it should work for us rather than against us.
ASSESSMENT USING CONCEPT MAPPING
A concept map is a diagramming technique for assessing how well students see the big picture.
ASSESSMENT BY ORAL PRESENTATION
A series of websites providing rubrics, presentation tips, and a host of related topics on student assessment.
HELPING YOUR STUDENTS DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Recommends theoretically grounded and empirically supported strategies to improve the development and assessment of students thinking skills with bibliography.
An overview of using peer review in the classroom, including: planning for peer review, helping students make effective comments, helping students handle divergent advice, sample worksheet and additional information.
Writing good test questions, all kinds from multiple-choice to essays. A site designed for a teacher education course. Includes essays on principles to guide assessment, guidelines for constructing good questions, and help for students taking exams.
Short accessible overview, with several ideas to try.
Journals
Glazer, N. (2014). Formative Plus Summative Assessment in Large Undergraduate Courses: Why Both? International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 26, 276 – 286.PDF
Parkes, K. A. (2010). Performance Assessment: Lessons from Performers. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 22, 98 – 106.PDF
