Transcript Issues of Assessment and Aligning Goals and Assessment.

Issues of Assessment and
Aligning Goals and Assessment.
Aligning goals and
assessment.
Forms and purposes of
assessment.
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At the end of this session…
You will have:
 Specified up to six learning outcomes for one of your
classes.
 Set out assessment tasks associated with those
learning outcomes.
 Know six reasons for assessment.
 Be acquainted with characteristics of good
assessment practices.
 Be able to distinguish between formative and
summative assessment; norm-referenced and
criterion-referenced assessment.
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Overall objective of teaching is to ….?
help students learn.
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Three important learning issues to
consider in course planning.
 Goals
What do you want
students to learn?
 Assessment
1. How will students learn
what you intend them to
learn?
2. How will you, students, and
others know that students
have learned? (and hence
your objective as a teacher
has been met)
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Aligning goals and assessment tasks
– a task for you.
What learning outcomes have you specified
for your class? That is, what specific skills
and knowledge do you want your students
to develop?
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J.W. Harrington UW 2001
‘Geography of International
Trade’
Be able to:
 argue in favor of liberalized trade, to argue its
pitfalls, and to explain who benefits and whose interests
are harmed.
 define "globalization" and be able to critique the various
ways in which the word is used.
 identify current, and to propose alternative, institutional
arrangements toward international economic integration.
 read arguments about trade policy, understanding the
major instruments and organizations of trade policy.
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Lucy Jarosz UW 2003
‘World Hunger and Resource
Development’
Be able to:
 make a good argument, expressed in effective written
expression.
 analyze a national economy, and carry out sector
analysis.
 critique concepts of development/ agrarian
development & reform.
 identify and assess efficacy of local solutions to global
food problems.
 explain ways in which food consumption is politically
determined and socially constructed.
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Geography for the New
Undergraduate (GNU),
Liverpool Hope University.
At the end of this course you will be able to:
 interpret and compare data presented in a variety of
formats; identify trends and comment upon these;
 critically evaluate data and other material;
 critically discuss issues arising from the study of
information;
 develop an effective argument in order to present your
ideas; and
 reflect upon your contribution to the discussion and
evolve strategies to develop this ability.
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GLOOP.
 You might think seriously about looking at the
University of Washington’s Geography Learning
Objectives and Outcomes Project (GLOOP) at:
 http://nalu.geog.washington.edu/gloop/examplesp
age.html
 This site includes links to several courses with full
and carefully considered learning objectives.
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Aligning goals and assessment
tasks.
 What learning outcomes have you specified for
your class? What specific skills and knowledge
do you want students to develop?
 Try setting out no more than six outcomes for
your class, beginning with the phrase:
“At the end of this course students will be able
to: ….”
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What kind of assessment?
 Now, for each outcome, think about how will you
know that students have achieved the learning
outcomes you have specified?
 To do this, specify the kinds of exercises or tests
you plan to use that will allow students to practise
and to demonstrate to you their skills/knowledge.
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Some examples of assessment task.
 Exam.
 Essay.
 Practical work.
 Laboratory report.
 Field report.
 Poster presentation.
 Flyer production.
 Media release.
 Article review.
 Group work.
 Log book.
 Map production.
 Role play.
 Spoken
presentation…..
See Angelo & Cross (1993)
for a wide variety of
others.
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Question.
What are the purposes of
assessment – other than
‘measuring’ learning?
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Why assess?
 Capture student attention and effort.
 Generate appropriate learning activity.
 Provide feedback to students.
 Develop in students ability to monitor own
learning standards.
 Allocate marks.
 Ensure accountability (to show outsiders that
standards are satisfactory).
Gibbs (1999)
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Types of assessment.
 Formative assessment teachers feed information
back to students in ways
that enable the student to
learn better. May carry a
grade.
 Summative assessment attempt to summarize
student learning at some
point in time, say the end of
a course. May be formative
in context of overall program.
Both should
align with
intended
outcomes and
with teaching
content.
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Norm-referenced assessment.
Criterion-referenced assessment.
Increasingly ‘combined’.
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Norm-referenced assessment.
 ‘Grading the curve’.
 Set proportion of
students receive set
grades.
 Work assessed
relative to other
students in class.
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Criterion-referenced
assessment.
Direct link between extent to which
specified criteria fulfilled and result
achieved.
All students can pass or fail…
Does have some problems (see Hay 1995).
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Another Question.
What are the characteristics of
good assessment?
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Assessment should be …
 Timely so that students can use it for subsequent learning
and work to be submitted.
 Prompt so that students can recall what they did and
thought at the time.
 Supportive of learning so students have clear
indications of how to improve their performance.
 Focused on achievement, not effort. The work should be
assessed, not the student
 Specific to the learning outcomes.
 Fostering of independence leading students to being
capable of assessing their own work
 Efficient for staff to do.
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What kind of assessment?
Now revisit the course you are planning:
What forms of assessment will best allow as
many of these ends to be achieved as
possible?
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Useful references.
 Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. 1993, Classroom Assessment
Techniques. A Handbook for College Teachers, 2nd edn,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
 Flinders University 2003, Teaching for Learning Website,
Available: http://www.flinders.edu.au/teach/ (13 May 2004).
 Hay, I. 2002, Communicating in Geography and the
Environmental Sciences, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press,
Melbourne.
 Kearns, R.A. 2003, ‘Understanding assessment criteria’, in
N.J. Clifford & G. Valentine (eds), Key Methods in
Geography, Sage, London, pp. 533-549.
 Nightingale, P., Te Wiata, I. et al. (eds), 1996 Assessing
Learning in Universities, Professional Development Centre,
University of New South Wales, Sydney.
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Work/GFDA/assessment
IH/ih