High impact learning with assessment

High-Impact Learning Through Assessment

Dr. Bernard Bullbernard.bull@cuw.edu

What are the most important questions to answer if you want to

provide a high-impact learning experience?

The 5 Most Important Questions for Designing a High-Impact Learning Experience

1. Who are the learners (individually and collectively)?

2. What do they need to learn?3. How will I know when/if they learned it?4. How will they get frequent and meaningful

feedback on their progress?5. How will I help them learn it?

To what extent do you have a culture of learning versus a culture of earning?

The Syllabus Experiment

20% - participation40% - 4 exams

30% - daily homework / activities / assignments10% - quizzes

Syllabus for a Doctrine Course

40% Reading Response Papers20% Midterm Exam

40% Final Exam

New Testament History Syllabus

• Paper I 20%• Paper II 20%• Paper III 20%• Paper IV 40%

The Syllabus Experiment

20% - participation40% - 4 unit tests

30% - daily homework / activities / assignments10% - quizzes

Unit Test Scores – 40, 80, 90, 95, = 76%

Unit Test Scores – 85, 85, 85, 85 = 85%

The Syllabus Experiment

20% - participation40% - 8 unit tests

30% - daily homework / activities / assignments10% - quizzes

What is the highest possible grade while

knowing little?

What is the lowest possible grade while

knowing a great deal?

The Research Paper Experiment

Content (20 points) – length, appropriate for audience, central point, organized, relevant informationVisual Aids (20 points)Sources (30 points) – relevant and scholarly, proper citations, etc.Mechanics & Format (20 points) – spelling and grammar, etc.

http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/hurley/Ling102web/Research-Report/RR5_rubric.pdf

How do students in your courses get feedback on their progress prior to

getting graded?

Formative vs. Summative Assessment

Autopsy vs. Checkup

Low Stakes vs. High Stakes

Practice vs. The Big Event

Entry & Exit Tickets(Socrative.com)

Assessment & Academic Honesty

• Formative assessment• Increased self-efficacy through “early wins”• Frequent testing and assessment• Praise mastery instead of performance

“There are only so many hours in the day. How does a normal, human being/teacher provide students with ample formative

feedback?”

Feedback Sources

• Instructor• Peer• Self• Computer-generated• Computer-generated & adaptive• People beyond the academy

Culture of earningvs

Culture of Learning

Assessment of Learning

Assessment for Learning

Assessment as Learning

Mediator Effectiveness Hypothesis (Pyc & Rawson, 2010)

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6002/335.abstract

“test restudy practice”54% versus 34%

learning experience

feedback on progress

learner monitors

this feedback

learner adjusts

thoughts or actions

Assessment as Learning Questions

• Why am I learning this?• What is my prior knowledge about it?• How can I grow in my knowledge or skill in this area? • How am I doing? • What do I understand well?• What am I misunderstanding? • What mistakes am I making?• What do I need to do to adjust…to improve my

knowledge or skill?

What is the role of the teacher?

Design

Demonstrate

Mirror

Mentor

A Tour of Assessment Types

Competency-based Assessment1. It provides more granular feedback on

student learning.2. It gives students feedback they can use.3. It increases student/instructor awareness of

strengths and gaps in learning.

Narrative Assessment

1. Be conversational, but professional.2. Keep the goal in mind.3. Make sure that your feedback is focused on

the goal.4. Include examples and illustrations.5. Give suggestions.

Peer Assessment

1. They need a shared vocabulary.2. They need to know what to focus upon in

their feedback.3. They need clear expectations.4. They need practice and modeling.5. It is easy to do with Good Drive / Google

Docs or your Learning Management System.

Self-Assessment

• They need a checklist or guide at first.• They need modeling.• They to keep the end goal in mind.

Portfolio Assessment

• Shows progress over time.• Provide “artifacts” that demonstrate learning.• Involves / engages students in the assessment

process.

Authentic Assessment

• Increases the transfer of knowledge to contexts outside of the class/school.

• Increases student motivation.• Is best created by asking, “What is the best

possible evidence that….?”

High-Impact Learning Through Assessment

Dr. Bernard Bullbernard.bull@cuw.edu