Assessment by Design

Geometry proofs – I must admit I don’t often ponder geometry.  In fact, I can honestly say I work hard not to think much about geometry.  But I recently heard someone compare decisions that we make every day to if/then geometry proofs.  IF we make this decision, THEN this is the outcome. It made me consider what kind of if/then proofs I would make for assessment.  I came up with three, but I think there are many more.  Here are mine: If you are interested in student success in your courses and programs…then you should be assessing student performance. If you are always trying to improve as a teacher…then you want to assess your students. If you want greater satisfaction in your student’s performance…then you need to assess. So as classes are underway and you consider student success, improved pedagogy, and student performance; consider how assessment can help meet your if/then needs this academic year.  

One of the most important philosophies in my office is that we are a support office for assessment activities at the College.  Assessment is “driven” by faculty and we are here to encourage, cajole, resource, and generally meet the needs of faculty.  Sitting as we are in the backseat of assessment as the faculty drive the car, I have a few observations about the most common mistakes faculty make when approaching assessment activities. Sometimes faculty make assessment about themselves.  It’s not!  It is not faculty evaluation; it is not a reflection on how “good” you are.  It is about student learning in your classroom. Some faculty or departments like to compare themselves favorably to others.  I don’t really care how English is doing compared to Computer Science, and neither should the faculty.  Generally speaking, departments don’t know anything about the assessment plans for the other programs, the assessment instrument, or the goals of the initiative. Some faculty or departments approach assessment Continue reading The View from the Backseat→

Since summer is almost here, I know many are thinking some of my brain cells may have received a bit of frostbite during the long and frigid winter the Midwest experienced. My brain cells are quite alright; however, just like the seasons, assessment is cyclical in nature. There is a reason we talk about the Cycle of Assessment so much in our office. If help is needed with any part of the cycle, please consider taking our Assessment by Design Workshop: June 22, 2018 for external faculty or August 13, 2018 for JCCC faculty. Remember, winter is coming and it’s good to be prepared. External Faculty The ABD workshop guides participants through the Cycle of Assessment with a goal of developing an assessment plan for the upcoming academic year. This experience focuses on using the Cycle of Assessment as a unifying conceptual framework for organizing assessment efforts at all levels and promotes decision-making that leads to improvement in student learning. The Continue reading Winter is Coming→

There have been several articles published recently about the usefulness and efficacy of assessment in higher education. I won’t join the debate, partly because so much is dependent on the system of assessment that the culture of the institution has established. Assessment by its very nature is not monolithic. I will however, share some thoughts on how to make assessment meaningful here at JCCC: in your program and in your classroom.   To make Assessment meaningful and not a matter of compliance, I recommend focusing on three things:   Focus on the good it can provide students, rather than the work it generates. I am not denying assessment can take additional time to implement and evaluate, but a good assessment can help identify places in the curriculum where students are struggling and can lead faculty to develop additional resources and teaching practices to support student learning. Additionally, a strong assessment can fully integrate into the curriculum plan of the course; it shouldn’t and doesn’t have to stand Continue reading Assessment Debate→

Somethings are worth revisiting – frequently!  We have previously done posts in the blog about Bloom’s Taxonomy, but I recently gave a presentation on using Bloom’s to build test questions on the appropriate learning level to a great group of CTE instructors. I thought it would be helpful to share again, both with those who are familiar with Bloom’s and those who may be unfamiliar with Blooms.  Below are some of the informational highlights.  What is Bloom’s Taxonomy? Simply speaking, a tool used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition –  thinking, learning, and understanding.  How does Blooms Work? Before you can understand a concept, you must remember it. To apply a concept, you must first understand it. To evaluate a process, you must have analyzed it. To create an accurate conclusion, you must have completed a thorough evaluation.  What can you do with Bloom’s? Educators have typically used Bloom’s taxonomy to inform or guide the development of assessments (tests and other evaluations of student learning), curriculum (units, lessons, projects, and other learning activities), and instructional methods.  For example, if you are teaching an introductory course which is designed to build student’s foundational knowledge of a subject, your test questions should remain in Continue reading Down & Dirty with Bloom’s Taxonomy→

The start of a new year is always an exciting time; the beginning of something fresh and new.  At least as of New Year’s day I hadn’t done anything yet to mess up my new year – I count that as success. In the new year we make resolutions and promises to ourselves of things we will do “right” this year.  I’m going to clear out my attic and make more healthy home-cooked meals.  I did not make a resolution about losing 15 pounds; that’s like a lifelong commitment! However, thinking about new year resolutions makes me wonder what types of resolutions might be made about assessment practices.  Below are a few of the ones I thought about, what can you add to the list? I resolve to take a look at my assessment results and do a trend analysis of all the data I’ve collected and ignored for the last 3 years. I resolve to align my assessment instrument Continue reading New Year, New Day, New Assessment→

I recently led an assessment workshop that included both 2-year and 4-year faculty participants.  As part of the workshop, we discuss the assessment toolbox.  We discussed common tools like pre/posttests, embedded assessments, portfolios, standardized tests, and rubrics.   While all the tools can assist faculty in assessment activities, rubrics are a popular tool for both grading and assessment. One faculty member raised a question concerning whether or not to share rubrics with the students?  There was some lively discussion among the faculty on their practices and it was fairly evenly split between those who always shared their rubrics and those that didn’t.  I don’t have a strong stake in the decision to share rubrics, with one caveat – if the faculty members decides not to share a rubric, is there another document or description of the project that shares the requirements with the students?  Whether in the form of a rubric or a description within the syllabus, the most important task Continue reading Full Disclosure→