COA suggests using course embedded direct methods of assessment as much as possible, selecting student work that they produce as part of the curriculum. Identify and critically examine the work products your students produce as part of the course curriculum, and determine which of these are relevant, valid, and reliable assessments of your learning outcomes.
- Written Work
- Demonstrates knowledge of important content on an exam or in a paper
- Shows analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation capabilities
- Displays writing skills
- Produces reflections on what, how, when, and why they learned
- Portfolios of student work
- Are assessed systematically using a rubric.
- May be evaluated to determine student learning over time, or may be composed of the student’s best work.
- Encourage student self-reflection
- Visual or audio recording of oral presentations or performances with self, peer, and or instructor evaluations using a rubric; may include recordings of subsequent performances to document improvements
- Capstone Projects
- Field or service learning projects
- Performance on in-class tests (or portion of a larger exam), assuming they are valid, reliable and objective
- Presentations
- Demonstration of acquired skills
- Demonstration of ability to work collaboratively
- Surveys can reveal your students’ attitudes and opinions about what they learned, which may also help you evaluate your outcomes.
- Course Evaluations that you create to garner specific information from students
- Entrance and/or Exit tickets, for example
- Curriculum and Syllabus Analysis
- Self or faculty/student group
- Colleague or Industry Professional
Last Updated: June 14, 2017
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There are various assessment tasks that can be used to gauge both student learning, and the efficacy of the learning process.
Formative Assessment
This occurs in the short term, as learners are in the process of making meaning of new content and of integrating it into what they already know. Feedback to the learner is immediate (or nearly so), to enable the learner to change his/her behavior and understandings right away. Formative Assessment also enables the teacher to "turn on a dime" and rethink instructional strategies, activities, and content based on student understanding and performance. His/her role here is comparable to that of a coach. Formative Assessment can be as informal as observing the learner's work or as formal as a written test. Formative Assessment is the most powerful type of assessment for improving student understanding and performance.
Examples: a very interactive class discussion; a warm-up, closure, or exit slip; a on-the-spot performance; a quiz.
Interim Assessment
This takes place occasionally throughout a larger time period. Feedback to the learner is still quick, but may not be immediate. Interim Assessments tend to be more formal, using tools such as projects, written assignments, and tests. The learner should be given the opportunity to re-demonstrate his/her understanding once the feedback has been digested and acted upon. Interim Assessments can help teachers identify gaps in student understanding and instruction, and ideally teachers address these before moving on or by weaving remedies into upcoming instruction and activities.
Examples: Chapter test; extended essay; a project scored with a rubric.
Summative Assessment
This takes place at the end of a large chunk of learning, with the results being primarily for the teacher's or school's use. Results may take time to be returned to the student/parent, feedback to the student is usually very limited, and the student usually has no opportunity to be reassessed. Thus, Summative Assessment tends to have the least impact on improving an individual student's understanding or performance. Students/parents can use the results of Summative Assessments to see where the student's performance lies compared to either a standard (MEAP/MME) or to a group of students (usually a grade-level group, such as all 6th graders nationally, such as Iowa Tests or ACT). Teachers/schools can use these assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses of curriculum and instruction, with improvements affecting the next year's/term's students.
Examples: Standardized testing (MEAP, MME, ACT, WorkKeys, Terra Nova, etc.); Final exams; Major cumulative projects, research projects, and performances.
There are key similarities and differences between the 3 aspects of classroom assessment: assessment for learning (for teachers), assessment as learning (for students) and assessment of learning (for teachers).
There are 3 approaches to assessment that contribute as a whole to student learning:
- assessment for learning
- assessment as learning
- assessment of learning.
These phrases are used instead of the older terms: diagnostic, formative and summative.
Assessment for learning involves teachers using evidence about students' knowledge, understanding and skills to inform their teaching. Sometimes referred to as ‘formative assessment', it usually occurs throughout the teaching and learning process to clarify student learning and understanding.
Assessment as learning occurs when students are their own assessors. Students monitor their own learning, ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can do, and how to use assessment for new learning.
Assessment of learning
Assessment of learning assists teachers in using evidence of student learning to assess achievement against outcomes and standards. Sometimes referred to as ‘summative assessment', it usually occurs at defined key points during a unit of work or at the end of a unit, term or semester, and may be used to rank or grade students. The effectiveness of this for grading or ranking depends on the validity and reliability of activities - and its effectiveness as an opportunity for learning depends on the nature and quality of the feedback.
Traditionally, the focus of classroom assessment has been on assessment of learning - measuring learning after the fact, using the information to make judgements about students’ performances, and reporting these judgements to others.
During the 1990’s a groundswell of research emphasised the importance of assessment for learning (formative assessment). Teachers were using assessment for learning when they built in diagnostic processes, formative assessment, and feedback at various stages in the teaching and learning process. It was, however, often informal and implicit.
From the noughties onwards, assessment for learning was separated into assessment for learning, and assessment as learning, to emphasise the role of the student in the assessment process.
Systematic assessment as learning - where students become critical analysts of their own learning - is an important form of assessment that needs to go beyond incorporating self-assessment into teaching programs. It has become an assessment practice that is systematically used to develop students’ capacity to evaluate and adapt their own learning.
A teacher and his/her students need to know who reaches (and exceeds) important learning targets - thus … assessment of learning, has a place in teaching. Robust learning generally requires robust teaching … and assessments for learning are catalysts for better teaching. In the end, however, when assessment is seen as learning - for students as well as for teachers - it becomes most informative and generative for students and teachers alike. Tomlinson (2008)
Tomlinson (2008) summarises these approaches as:
- informing teaching
- informing learning
- judging performance.
Regardless of the assessment approach, what matters most is how the information is used to improve student learning.
When making decisions about classroom assessment, it's necessary to understand the key similarities and differences between the 3 approaches so they can be incorporated into the planning assessment strategies process. Considerations when planning assessment include:
- what is the purpose?
- what will be the timing and location?
- what is being assessed?
- how will the assessment information be gathered?
- how will the assessment information be used?
1. Purpose - for teachers to:
- gather evidence to determine what students know and can do
- decide where students need to go next
- determine how best to get them there.
2. Timing: prior to, and frequently in an ongoing manner during instruction while students are still gaining knowledge and practising skills.
3. Strategies: a range of strategies in different modes that make students’ skills and understandings visible.
4. Use of information:
- plan instruction and assessment that are differentiated and personalised
- work with students to set appropriate learning goals
- monitor students’ progress towards achieving overall and specific expectations
- provide timely and specific descriptive feedback to students (what they are doing well, what needs improvement and how to improve)
- scaffold next steps
- differentiate instruction and assessment in response to student needs
- provide parents/carers with descriptive feedback about student learning and ideas for support.
Assessment as learning - by students
1. Purpose - for students to:
- gather evidence to monitor their learning
- use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can do
- identify next steps in their learning.
2. Timing: prior to, and frequently in an ongoing manner during instruction with support, modelling and guidance from the teacher
3. Strategies: a range of strategies in different modes that elicit students' learning and metacognitive processes.
4. Use of information:
- provide descriptive feedback to other students (peer assessment)
- monitor their own progress towards achieving their learning goals (self assessment)
- make adjustments in their learning approaches
- reflect on their learning
- set individual goals for learning
- report about their learning.
Assessment of learning - by teachers
1. Purpose: for teachers to gather evidence of student learning to assess achievement against outcomes and standards at defined key points.
2. Timing: at or near the end of a period of learning. May be used to inform further instruction.
3. Strategies: a range of strategies in different modes that assess both product and process.
4. Use of information:
- summarise learning at a given point in time
- make judgements about the quality of student learning on the basis of established criteria
- assign a value to represent that quality
- communicate information about achievement to students, parents, and others.
References
- Ontario Ministry of Education (2014), Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappius (2007) and Earl & Katz (2006).
- Earl, L. & Katz, S. (2006). Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind.
- Ontario Ministry of Education (2014). Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario's Schools.
- Stiggins, R. J. & Arter, J. A. & Chappuis, S. & Chappius, S. (2007). Classroom assessment for student learning - Doing it right. Doing it well. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
- Tomlinson, C. A. (2008). Learning to Love Assessment. Educational Leadership, 65, 8 - 13.