Assessing Students’ Learning
What is Assessment? Why is it important?
Assessment is a core component of all teaching, learning and curricular activities. Assessments provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate how deeply they are engaging with the subject matter, how effectively they use course materials, how proficiently they practice tasks designed by instructors and finally, how effectively they integrate feedback towards further growth.
Current research on teaching and learning suggests that we may consider three approaches to assessment: i) assessment for learning; ii) assessment of learning; and iii) assessment as learning. Examples of assessment methods in relation to these three approaches are listed below.
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i) Assessment for Learning
This approach to assessment typically involves tasks that generate feedback that is then incorporated by students into deeper learning to advance their overall performance. In this approach, formative assessment methods and techniques are used to generate information from students about how well they are developing knowledge and skills.
Questions to consider:
- How well are my students progressing in my course?
- How are students approaching learning?
- How are they developing understanding of the concepts and ideas?
- What methods of instruction will help each student to reach their full capacity?
Methods and Techniques:
- Classroom assessment techniques (e.g.muddiest point)
- Projects with phases and feedback loops where students use the feedback to improve
- Critical reflections that include self-assessment of progress and action plans
ii) Assessment of Learning
Assessment of learning typically includes summative assessment tasks that show the depth of learning and the effectiveness of instruction. These assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate what they have learned over the course of a semester.
Questions to consider:
- How well did my students integrate the concepts of this discipline?
- How proficient are my students in analyzing and synthesizing the literature?
- What theory and practice did students demonstrate in their final exam?
- How did students demonstrate critical thinking about issues?
- How confidently did my students perform the skills taught in this course?
Methods and Techniques:
Summative assessment tasks typically show evidence of learning (and of teaching) at the end of a course. These might include:
- Final essays, exams and reports
- Research projects
- Case analysis
- Team projects
- Capstone projects
- Portfolio pieces
iii) Assessment as Learning
Assessment as learning includes tasks that engage students in their own learning processes aimed at strengthening self-assessment and self-regulation where students know their strengths and areas requiring further learning. Instructors guide, and provide opportunities for students to develop their capacities to deal with ambiguity and to self-monitor.
Questions to Consider:
- How are my students learning about themselves and what they need?
- How are my students using feedback to improve their work?
- What are students doing to practice reflection and critical thinking needed in this discipline?
- How are my students recording their individual and group problem solving skills?
- How are my students identifying their own weaknesses and seeking help?
Methods and Techniques:
Assessment activities that invite students to self assess, record evidence of learning and report their own learning are:
- Self-assessments
- Journaling
- Portfolio
- Peer reviews
- Feedback uptake
What is Formative and Summative Assessment?
- Formative assessments focus on how well students are progressing at particular intervals over time. Formative assessments foster feedback opportunities towards improvement. This student-centred practice assists instructors to reflect upon and make “just in time” teaching modifications or revisions as needed to enhance student learning. Examples include (1) Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo and Cross, 2012), short, low stakes, active learning activities that invite students to demonstrate their developing knowledge, skills and ways of thinking or (2) assignments that invite students to hand in the outline of a paper or an initial draft for peer or instructor feedback early on in the semester.
- Summative assessment practices assist instructors to judge the overall performance of their students at the end of the semester. Summative assessments are often integrative, complex and afford students the opportunity to demonstrate depth. There are many methods for assessing student learning that can be effectively implemented in different contexts and a range of modalities.
What key considerations will make a difference to students and instructors?
When assessing students’ learning consider these ideas:
- Clarify the role of instructor and students in assessment (e.g. Will you or your TAs provide feedback on early drafts of student papers? Will students provide each other with peer feedback?)
- Consider how students will complete the assignments: Do they need to work independently or can they collaborate in teams?
- Design equitable and accessible assessment options.
- Ensure all assessment tasks are designed to support all students to demonstrate their developing knowledge and skills.
- Invite students to demonstrate the complexity of their understanding by doing case studies rather than multiple choice exams.
- Clearly define performance expectations on each assessment task.
- Use rubrics with criteria to communicate expectations and provide feedback.
- Share a sample “A” paper and discuss how students work towards this achievement.
- Clearly communicate what is passing performance.
Where to from here?
- Reflect on your experiences with assessment of learning and lessons learned.
- Have a conversation with colleagues about assessment in your discipline: How do students demonstrate that they are ready for professional life in the discipline at the end of their degree program? How does assessment in the program help students to transition to real world settings?
- Consider how assessment impacts students’ motivation to learn deeply.
- Apply a scalable assessment strategy that fosters academic integrity.
- Wish to learn more….book a consult via our webform.
Practical Resources
Assessment for Learning - Strategies for Peer Assessment, Group Work, Assessing Produced Materials such as Media and Podcasts (University of Alberta, Centre for Teaching and Learning)
Patricia Cross Academy - Teaching and Assessment Technique Library (e.g. dyadic essays, class book, digital stories)
Guiding Principles for Assessment of Student Learning - a Guide - University of Calgary
Principles of Assessment - University of Sterling
Try This...
- Build in a formative assessment task within the first three to four weeks of the course.
- Incorporate peer feedback or small group feedback into major assignments such as papers, presentations and posters.
- Assign credit for peer feedback (typically pass-fail).
- Choose authentic assessment tasks that prepare students for practice in their discipline (e.g. policy papers, creating promotional videos, time limited group assignments or design projects).
Example
48 Hour Case Report (Business Administration Program)
Five to seven students work together as a team to respond to a complex case study and propose a solution within 48 hours. The assignment mimics the limited amount of time typically available for similar projects in business settings and allows students to both demonstrate their ability to collaborate in a diverse team to come up with a viable solution to a real life case.
Teams are assigned randomly by the instructor, so students have an opportunity to work with peers with diverse skill sets. The 48-hour report is a common format throughout the program, typically assigned in one to three courses each semester, so students work with six to eight groups before graduation. Ability to collaborate effectively in diverse teams is a key learning outcome of the program. As part of the assignment students are asked to reflect on the process of group collaboration, their own contributions, and to identify goals for improvement for the next assignment.
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