Embedded Files
How do you assess student learning?
How do you assess student learning?
“Setting appropriate assessment tasks is a principle of good teaching” (Ramsden, 2003, p 96)
Five Important Messages to consider when you are planning how to assess your students
1. Different assesments drive different types of learning
A variety of assessments allows students to demonstrate different types of learning. Giving students a choice of assessment methods within a module empowers students to play to their strengths and is often described as an inclusive approach to assessment. UCD has developed a series of resources and publications to assist staff in implementing this approach, based on the UCD ‘Choice of Assessment Methods’ project:
- APractitioner's Guide to Choice of Assessment Methods within a Module encompasses seven UCD case studies, research publications, evaluation tools and implementation suggestions.
- A Choice of Assessment Student Questionnaire devised for evaluating this approach to capture students’ views on choice of assessment methods (including the PEAMC scale)
- A Student Information & Equity Template : is available to assist in designing in equity and communicating the choices to students.
- The Seven Step Quick Guide , 7 Steps to Implement Choice of Assessment Methods within a Module: A Quick Guide for Lecturers.
- The Supporting Equity Subscale. Following factor analysis, this sub-scale of the PEAMC, in 2 above, specifically measures students’ views on the equity of their assessment choice.
It is vital to link the assessment methods to learning outcomes. It is useful to think about the abilities or graduate attributes that you would like your students to demonstrate.
Matching Learning Outcomes to Assessment Types
Matching Learning Outcomes to Assessment Types
( Adapted from Nightingale et al. ,1996)
In light of the students’ previous experiences of assessment, when introducing new forms of assessment, remember that you need to:
- Communicate to students how these forms of assessment work and what type of knowledge they are assessing.
- Consider the transition between second level and third level education.
2. Be aware that you don’t over-assess!
- Too much assessment may lead to superficial approaches to learning (surface learning )
- Consider your assessment tasks as part of the overall assessment workload for the student (students are doing several modules, not just your own module)
- Use both formative and summative assessment , combined in continuous assessment to assess student learning. Formative assessment involves giving feedback during the module so that students can continuously develop and improve. Summative assesment sums up achievement and counts towards the final grade
- Too much assessment may not allow you to provide constructive and timely feedback to students on the assessment task. A number of practical ideas are discussed in
- Plan the way you give feedback see: How to make your feedback work in three easy steps.http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/documents/Make%20FeedbackWork.pdf
3. Consider assessment for your module in the context of the whole programme
Get a picture of students’ overall assessment for each year of the programme. Look at the assessment of all modules. We advise you to make a table which clearly shows the students and lecturers the variety of assessments, the timing of assessments over the year and the overall student workload. This can be easier where there are a large number of core modules.
4. Use a variety of methods of assessment as students have different learning styles
There are many approaches to assessing student learning, each with advantages and disadvanatages. Phil Race examines the advantages and disadvantages of 15 types of assessment. See Assessment Compendium, http://phil-race.co.uk/?page_id=813 (pp 37-77)
5. Reviewing asessments can help you as a lecturer to plan your future teaching
For example you can review which questions do most students choose or avoid, what asesssments do students learn a lot from completing, what concepts do students still find difficult etc. This review is about both reviewing your assessment strategies and learning outcomes.
Google Sites
Report abuse