The Role of Assessment in Enhancing

Students’ Learning

Developed for Clackamas CC

Professor Terry Doyle
Ferris State University
Doylet@Ferris.edu
www.learnercenteredteaching.com
Assessment and Students’ Learning

The purpose of
assessment is to guide
practice.
 Definition of Assessment
(Angelo, AAHE Bulletin, November, 1995
• Assessment is an ongoing
process aimed at understanding
and improving student learning.
• It involves making our
expectations explicit and public;
• setting appropriate criteria
and high standards for learning
quality;
• systematically gathering,
analyzing, and interpreting
evidence
• to determine how well
performance matches those
expectations and standards;
• and using the resulting
information to document,
explain, and improve
performance.
 Definition of Assessment
• When it is • examine our
assumptions, and create
embedded a shared academic
effectively within larger culture dedicated to
institutional systems,
assuring and improving
assessment can help us
the quality of higher
focus our collective
education (Angelo, AAHE
attention, Bulletin, November, 1995
 Definition of Assessment
• "Assessment is defined as the systematic basis for
making inferences about the learning and
development of students.

• More specifically, assessment is the process of

defining, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing,
interpreting, and using information to increase
students' learning and development"
(T. Dary Erwin, Assessing Student Learning and Development, Jossey-Bass, 1991, see pp.14-19).
  

Using Assessment to Drive Learning 

Assessment is
conducted to
inform practice
leading to
improve
performance.
 
 Learning is when Neurons Wire

• Learning is a change
in the neuron-
patterns of the
brain.
(Ratey, 2002)

www.virtualgalen.com/.../ neurons-small.jpg
 Use it or Lose it
• When new material is
not practiced the new
dendrite tissue is
reabsorbed by the brain
to conserve resources.

(Dr. Janet Zadina)

Teachers’ Definition of Learning?

Learning is the ability to use information after

significant periods of disuse
and
it is the ability to use the information to solve
problems that arise in a context different (if only
slightly) from the context in which the information
was originally taught.

(Robert Bjork, Memories and Metamemories, 1994)

Assess these Cookies
 Assessment can be used to Drive Students 'Learning 

 
1. Establishing clear,
measurable expected
outcomes of students’
learning.

Example-- competency levels

in math or reading or
departmental exams in
content subjects.
 
 
What do we want our students to learn?
What would make us happy (from all that we taught
—the skills, content and behaviors) that our students
remembered and could use one year after they
finished our class?
 Using Assessment to Drive Learning 

2. Ensuring that students

have sufficient
opportunities to achieve
those outcomes.

Rewriting
Retesting
Revising
 
 Time
• Does the course time fit A 3 credit course that
the amount of content meets for 15 weeks—3
or number of skills hours per week
students are being
asked to learn? Gets 1.7% of the
students’ time each
week to deliver the
learning.
 Using Assessment to Drive Learning 

3. Systematically
gathering, analyzing,
and interpreting
evidence to determine
how well student
learning matches our
outcomes/expectations
 
Examples of Gathering Information
• Summative Forms
• Pre-test --Post test
• Initial writing sample—
final writing sample
• Portfolio of progress
• Weekly quizzes
• Cumulative exams
• Written explanations of
understandings
Examples of Gathering Information
• Formative Forms
• Classroom discussions
• Individual students
questioning
• Self ( student) evaluation
• Recoding of course
information
• Classroom assessment
techniques (CAT)
 Using Assessment to Drive Learning 

• 4.Using the resulting

information to
understand and
improve student
learning.
 Examples
• Making changes in test
questions based on post-
test analysis.

• Revising assignments to
better match learning
outcomes.

• Rethinking the best use of

your time in the classroom.
 Benefits of Assessment to Students

 
Clearly defined learning
outcomes help students
focus their time and
energy.
 

 
 Benefits of Assessment to Students
• Grades are a motivator
 

• Regular feedback helps

students to know their
strengths and
weaknesses.
 
 Feedback of Progress is Vital
Feedback allows for a
feeling of making progress.

A feeling of making
progress is what allows
students to deal with
tasks, especially tasks they
don’t necessarily like to
do.

(James Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain, 2002 )

 Benefits of Assessment to Students
• Assessment
information can
document what
students have learned
for use in job
applications, grad
school etc.
Do grades have a place in assessment?

 
Yes—“They can be useful evidence of students’
learning if they are based on direct evidence of
students’ learning (tests, papers, projects etc.)
that are truly linked to major learning goals
and clearly delineated, consistent standards
through test blueprints or rubrics” (Suskie, 2004)
nfo.umuc.edu/.../ image005.gif )
i
 However, grade have limitations
Grades fail to clearly tell us about large
learning—
 
Critical thinking skills
 
Problem solving abilities
 
Communication
skills/oral/written/listening
 
Social skills

Emotional Management skills

 
www.thrall.org/ criticalthinking/title.gif
 
Grades struggle to tells us about Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses
 

A grade of “B” in organic

chemistry says the
student has probably
learned a great deal of
the information but we
don’t know what she has
or has not mastered.
members.aol.com/ profchm/chmjugl2.gif
Grading Standards Across Courses
How precise are the
grading standards ?

Do standards differ
from teacher to
teacher?
 Grading Standards Across Courses
Grading holistically

Grading using a rubric?

Grading giving points

Grading giving percentages

 
 Example of Using Grades
• If in class A
All scores below 60 are
considered an F and
4 test of equal value are
given—potentially a
student could earn two
grades of F and two
grades of A to = C in the
course.
 Example of Using Points
• In class B
If four 100 point tests are
given and a student earns
the following grades

• Test 1 = 39 points
• Test 2 = 93 points
• Test 3 = 57 points
• Test 4 = 95 points

• AVG = 71 or a D grade
 Testing Standards are often Inconsistent

 
Does the tests clearly
match the content
taught, the level of
thinking taught and the
skills taught in the
class?
 Role of Grading in Assessment

 
Grades are often based
on more than just what
the students have
learned as measured by
tests, papers, projects,
presentations etc.
 
 Other Issues that Impact Grades
• Grades may be
impacted by students’
effort, attitude,
behavior or
participation.
 
 Other Issues that Impact Grades
• Grades may also be
impacted by course
rules that lower grades
for being late or absent
from class or turning in
late work.
 Grades
• These may all be
appropriate classroom
management tools but
they illustrate how
grades may not reflect
what a student has
learned –as defined in
the courses learning
outcomes.
 What is Testing?

 
Testing  is
systematically
gathering and analyzing
evidence of
achievement of student
learning outcomes –It
is one part of
assessment.
 Limits of Tests
Are the test questions
precise enough and
consistent enough with
what we taught to be
an accurate measure of
the learning?
 
 50 Minutes
How many questions
covering how many
parts of what was
taught can be answered
by students in 50
minutes?
 Formative Assessment
• Black and Wiliam [3]
consider an assessment
‘formative’ when the
feedback from learning
activities is actually
used to adapt the
teaching to meet the
learner's needs.
 Formative Assessment Tools

• Classroom Assessment Techniques—these are a variety of

informal short activities to assess how students’ learning is
progressing. They can be done daily, weekly, monthly etc .
( Angelo and Cross, 1993)

– One minute paper

– Muddiest point
TOOLS
– One sentence summary
– Background Questionnaire
– Content Inquiry
•  
 Formative Tools
• Written Feedback

• Oral Feedback/ individual student meetings

 
• Peer feedback

• Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID)

 
• Recitation/ Questioning/Recoding
 
• Discussion

• Observations
 Self Assessment
Self assessment of
work- builds
metacognition skills.

It is students judging
their own work based
on explicit criteria in
order to do better in the
future( Rolheiser & Ross, 2000).
 Summative Tools

• Essay tests

• Objective tests, true-false, multiple choice,

fill-in-the blanks, matching
• Cases

• Open book tests

• Take home tests

• Group tests

• Retesting

• Daily/weekly quizzes
 Summative Tools

• Pop quizzes
• Oral presentations-power
point, web pages or sites
• Written reports
• Written term papers
• Written essays
• Group presentations
• Speeches
• Role plays
• Performances
 Summative Tools

• Simulations
• Games, like College Bowl,
Jeopardy
• Debates
• Trials
• Point-Counter Point
• Town Meeting
• Create video or DVD
• Interviews
• Teach a lesson
 Summative Tools

• Annotating reading
• Writing case studies
• Solving problems
• Creating mind maps-content maps
• Create images or drawings
• Reflective Journals
• Discussion/participation
• Problem
sets/math/chemistry/physics
/accounting
• Answer questions from readings
• Write summary or notes of reading
• Puppet Show
 References
• Bers, T., Davis, B. D., & Mittler, M. (2001). Assessing the Achievement of General Education Objectives in the Community College: A Project Across the Disciplines [Electronic
Version]. Assessment Update, 13, 6-13. See http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jissue/86511668.
• Biggs, J. (2006). OBTL (Outcomes-based Teaching and Learning) at CityU in the Hong Kong context. See http://celt.ust.hk/obe/links/references/OBTL%20at%20CityU%20in
%20the%20Hong%20Kong%20Context(PP03).ppt Boud, D., & Falchikov, N. (2006). Aligning assessment with long-term learning. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 31(4), 399-413. Brown, G., Bull, J., & Pendlebury, M. (1997). Assessing student learning in higher education. London ; New York: Routledge. Coates, H. (2007).
Excellent measures precede measures of excellence. Journal of Higher Education, 29(1), 87-94.
• Cross, P., & Angelo, T. (1988). Classroom Assessment Techniques. A Handbook for Faculty. See
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/20/15/f6.pdf
• Gan Che, N., Heskin, K., & Sharma, R. (1993). Quality of Student Outcomes: Concepts and Issues of Measurement. See http://www.aair.org.au/jir/Nov93/Ng2.pdf Hernon, P.
(2004). Selecting from the Assessment Tool Chest. In P. Hernon & R. E. Dugan (Eds.), Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education Westport: Libraries Unlimited. Hernon, P. &
Dugan, R. (Eds.). (2004). Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education: Views and Perspectives. Westport: Libraries unlimited. Hinett, K., & Knight, P. (1996). Quality and
assessment. Quality Assurance in Education, 4(3), 3-10. (Also relevant for Quality Assurance, Implementation)
• Hunt, S. (2000). Community College Strategies: Using a Capstone Course to Assess General Education Outcomes. Assessment Update, 12, 8-9. See
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/101521998/PDFSTART
• Kift, S. (2002). Harnessing Assessment and Feedback to Assure Quality Outcomes for Graduate Capability Development: A Legal Education Case Study. See
http://www.aare.edu.au/02pap/kif02151.htm
• Murphy, R. (2001). A Briefing on Key Skills in Higher Education, Assessment Series No 6, Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) Generic Centre. See
http://www.palatine.ac.uk/files/967.pdf
• Rolheiser, C., & Ross, J. A. (2000). Student self-evaluation - what do we know? Orbit, 30(4), 33-36.
• Seybert, J. (1994). Community College Strategies: Assessing Student Learning [Electronic Version]. Assessment Update, 6, 8-9. See http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-
bin/fulltext/114134718/PDFSTART. Seybert, J. (2002). Assessing Student Learning Outcomes. New Directions for Community Colleges(117), 55-65.
• T. Dary Erwin, Assessing Student Learning and Development, Jossey-Bass, 1991, see pp.14-19).
• Yeo, S. (2004). Embedding Graduate Attributes in Assessment Tasks. See http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/link/pdf/Jul2004.pdf (Also relevant for Staff Development,
Conceptualisation
• http://www.aacu.org/resources/assessment/index.cfm
• http://www.glencoe.com/ps/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/9
• http://www.stanford.edu/group/ncpi/unspecified/assessment_states/instruments.html
• http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED399925&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED3999
25
( AAHE Reference to Definition of Assessment)