View
214
Download
0
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
LEARNING AND TESTING
John TaggParker UniversitySeptember 13, 2012
PLEASE HAVE AVAILABLE:
Paper and writing implement Index cards marked A, B, C, and D
DO YOU GIVE EXAMS?
a. Yesb. No
WHAT IS THE MAJOR FUNCTION OF YOUR EXAMS, IF YOU GIVE THEM?
a. To assign gradesb. To reinforce previous learningc. To get students to study before the
examd. To guide students to study after the
exame. Other
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL OF YOUR TEACHING?
a. To maximize learning at the time of the exam
b. To maximize learning at the end of the semester
c. To maximize learning a year laterd. To maximize learning five years later
TYPES OF TESTS AND APPROACHES TO LEARNING—NOEL ENTWISTLE
Essays—Encourage a deep approach Multiple-choice—Encourage a surface
approach Short-answer—Can encourage a deep
approach if well designed. Noel Entwistle, Teaching for Understanding
at University: Deep Approaches and Distinctive Ways of Thinking, 2009
FEEDBACK OR EVALUATION?
Testing for Grading = Evaluation Testing for Learning = Feedback
TESTS CAN PROMOTE LEARNING
“A constantly growing body of research demonstrates that tests are themselves learning events. The retrieval processes triggered by tests enhance subsequent recall, sometimes to a much greater degree than do comparable opportunities to restudy the information in question.” Vered Halamish and Robert A. Bjork, “When Does
Testing Enhance Retention? A Distribution-Based Interpretation of Retrieval as Memory Modifier,” Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2011.
Physical Science
Original Final Exam Score
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96
PS100 (BOTH SEMESTERS) N=126
Skewed Left Distribution
Mean 77
Physical Science
Retaken Final Exam Score
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96
Approaching Standard Normal
Mean 47
PS100 (BOTH SEMESTERS)
Physical Science
Original Retaken DifferenceMean 77.2 46.7 30.4
PS100: Original vs Retaken ScorePS100: Original vs Retaken Score
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 88 96
Score
Fre
qu
en
cy
OriginalRetaken
Physical Science
PS100: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND RETAKEN MEAN SCORESPS100: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND RETAKEN MEAN SCORES
A -34
B -28
C -16
A students forgot most
B students less
C students least
A students forgot most
B students less
C students least
HOW DO STUDENTS STUDY ON THEIR OWN?
“Surveys of college students show that most of them study almost entirely by rereading, with self-testing relatively rarely employed.” Doug Rohrer and Harold Pashler, “Recent
Research on Human Learning Challenges Conventional Instructional Strategies,” Educational Researcher, 2010.
BUT
“Recent studies. . . Have shown that a combination of study and tests is more effective than spending the same amount of time reviewing the material in some other way, such as rereading it.” Rohrer and Pashler, 2010
RETRIEVING IS MORE VALUABLE THAN REVIEWING
“Retrieving an event can be a more potent learning opportunity than restudying it, which flies in the face of educational wisdom that studying creates learning and testing merely measures it.” Henry L. Roediger III and Jeffrey D.
Karpicke, “Intricacies of Spaces Retrieval: A Resolution,” 2011
SELF-THEORIES—OR MINDSETS
Are field-dependent, different in different domains,
Are not reducible to self-confidence or self-esteem,
Are theories about how your intelligence or ability works when applied to challenges in a given domain.
FIXED AND GROWTH MINDSETS
Fixed Mindset
Ability is fixed, by heredity or early experience, and cannot be changed.
Growth Mindset
Ability is malleable, can be increased or decreased by effort and application.
ACADEMIC CHALLENGE
“Entering a challenging scholastic setting with a belief in fixed intelligence seems to set students up for self-doubt, anxiety, and drops in achievement. The [fixed mindset] theory puts a premium on immediate demonstrations of intellectual ability rather than on mastery over time”
--Carol Dweck, Self-Theories: Theoir Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development, 2000
SELF-THEORIES IN PRACTICE
College students were given one of two articles, advocating fixed or growth mindsets,
Then asked to work a set of problems, then another set.
After feedback, given a chance to take a tutorial.
STUDENTS WHO DID WELL ON THE FIRST SET OF PROBLEMS
Those who read the article advocating a growth mindset theory
73.3 % chose the tutorial
Those who read the article advocating a fixed mindset theory
60% chose the tutorial
STUDENTS WHO DID POORLY ON THE FIRST SET OF PROBLEMS
Those who read the article advocating a growth mindset theory
73.3% chose the tutorial
Those who read the article advocating a fixed mindset theory
13.3% chose the tutorial
HOW DOES TESTING AFFECT MINDSET? Testing for pure evaluation reinforces a
fixed mindset. Testing for feedback reinforces a
growth mindset. Embedded testing in interactive
lectures—classroom response system—radically challenges a fixed mindset.
HOW DOES TESTING AFFECT THE TIME HORIZON FOR LEARNING?
WHAT KIND OF TEST DO YOU GIVE MOST FREQUENTLY?
a. Recognitionb. Recallc. Constructed Responsed. Other
WHICH WILL MORE EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT MEMORY?
a. Recognitionb. Recallc. Constructed Response
HOW CAN YOU COMBINE RECOGNITION, RECALL, AND CONSTRUCTIVE RESPONSE?
Classroom Response Systems
TESTS OF RECALL SUPPORT MEMORY BETTER THAN TESTS OF RECOGNITION
“[E]xplicit retrieval, as required by a recall task rather than a recognition task, strengthened knowledge better than a multiple-choice test even when the final test itself involves multiple choice—and thus the effect is not attributable to a simple principle that practicing a given type of test best enhances performance on the same type of test.” Rohrer and Pashler, 2010
TWO KINDS OF TESTS
Blocked (aaabbbccc): problems or questions are grouped with other problems or questions of the same type.
Interleaved (abcbcacab): problems or questions are intermixed with other types of problems or questions.
WHAT KIND OF TEST DO YOU GIVE MOST OFTEN?
a. Blockedb. Interleaved
WHAT KIND OF TEST BEST SUPPORTS RECALL?
a. Blockedb. Interleaved
HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR PROGRAM RETEST INFORMATION FROM PAST SEMESTERS?
a. Frequentlyb. Occasionally c. Never
LONGER DELAY IN REVIEW=LONGER RETENTION
“If a person wishes to retain information for several years, a delayed review of at least several months seems likely to produce a highly favorable return on the time investment—potentially doubling the amount ultimately remembered. . . .” Nicholas J. Cepeda, et al., “Spacing Effects
in Learning: A Temporal Ridgeline of Optimal Retention,” 2008.
HOW CAN TESTS PROMOTE A HOT COGNITIVE ECONOMY?
If students see testing as a process of feedback, then they will use them to reinforce learning.
If students see tests as pure evaluation, then they will be more likely to take a surface approach.
If students see tests as repeatable, they will view them as feedback; if they see them as final, they will view them as evaluation.
THE FINAL EXAM
Final: “Not to be altered or undone; coming at the end: being the last in a series, process, or progress.” Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
HOW CAN WE FRAME TESTS AS FEEDBACK?
Repeat them Interleave questions from previous
units Revise them— “Buy back” questions or
revise answers Make them preparation for another
assignment or another test Make every exam an “interim exam”—
a step toward future application of tested learning.
Recommended