HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN
OUR STUDENTS ARE
LEARNING?
Strategies for Evaluating Learning
Workshop Goals
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Faculty explore the various types of formative
assessments available to enhance student learning
and instruction
Faculty become proficient in the use of different
online tools available for them to use in the
classroom to expand assessment options
What is formative assessment?
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Formative assessment provides faculty with an
opportunity to check student understanding along
the way.
It helps faculty be more aware of the learning
process and provides impetus to modify his/her
instruction if necessary
It is an assessment of the learning process
Why is Formative Assessment Important?
Little variation in teaching,
results in great variation in
student learning
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
Mastery Learning Process
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Bloom suggests classroom assessments be used as learning
tools, followed by feedback and corrective procedures.
For example: students who are successful academically look
up their mistakes on an assessment, ask the instructor for
clarification, and refer back to texts and resources to ensure
understanding
Instructors should provide and facilitate this type of
learning. Teaching and activities should be instructionally
aligned to objectives.
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
Just-in-time Feedback
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Feedback is diagnostic and corrective.
"Just-in-time" feedback helps connect students with
needed resources they need
Second formative assessments are recommended to
assess student gains
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
Bloom’s Mastery Learning Process
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
Correctives
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Correctives provide students with alternative
approaches to learning and address different
learning modalities.
Following feedback, the instructor can group
students for peer teaching, cooperative learning
activities, or instructor remediation/clarification in
small groups
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
Reducing the Achievement Gaps
Greater variation in
teaching, results in
less variation in
student learning
Guskey, T. (2005, April). Formative classroom assessment and Benjamin S. Bloom: Theory, research, and
implications. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Montreal, Canada
South Florida Initiative
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Following the General Faculty Meeting, all course
syllabi will identify a minimum of one formative
assessment for the course
By including this in the syllabus, faculty are holding
themselves accountable to this assessment
The goal is to create a culture of assessment at our
campus
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
IDEAS
Use Quizzes
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Quizzes test student’s knowledge by posing
questions
Create quiz questions that are true-false, matching,
multiple choice, completion, and short-answer, or
essay.
Be sure to connect questions to specific learning
objectives.
QuizStar for Teachers
quizstar.4teachers.org
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QuizStar allows instructs to create formative quizzes
that users take online.
Students can compare their answers with the desired
responses, and see their overall scores
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It's best to use QuizStar as a learning tool, rather than for
final assessment
Include an unlimited number of multiple choice, true or
false, and short answer questions.
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Advanced options also organize students by class name
and permit the teacher to activate and deactivate the
quizzes.
Formative Assessment
Weekly Quiz
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal
protection of the law for:
A. minorities only.
B. public employees only.
C. private employees only.
D. all citizens
Formative Assessment
Weekly Quiz
An effective sexual harassment policy
should have all but which of the following
features?
A. A statement of possible sanctions
against those who harass others.
B. A workable definition of sexual
harassment.
C. Prompt investigation of every claim,
no matter how trivial.
D. A disclaimer of responsibility for
coworker behavior.
Formative Assessment
Weekly Quiz
What are the minimal conditions needed for
effective learning to take place?
1) Motivate the trainee to improve his/her
performance.
2) Clearly illustrate desired skills.
3) Allow the trainee to participate actively.
4) Provide an opportunity to practice.
5) Provide timely feedback on the trainee's
performance.
6) Provide some means for reinforcement while
the trainee learns.
7) Be structured from simple to complex tasks.
8) Be adaptable to specific problems.
9) Encourage positive transfer from the training
to the job.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Cognitive Domain Objectives
Knowledge/Remembering - define, list, memorize, recall
Basic
Comprehension/Understanding – classify, explain, review
Application/Applying - apply, demonstrate, illustrate
Intermediate
Analysis /Analyzing – infer, differentiate, examine
Synthesis / Creating – construct, create, design, develop
Advanced
Evaluation / Evaluating –appraise, assess, judge, defend
Use Posters or Brochures
www.Wordle.com; www.edu.Glogster.com;
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Assess student learning from student individual and group
research projects
Creation of an individual poster/brochure or team
poster/brochure as a weekly assessment to primarily ensure
weekly objectives are understood.
A poster presentation guides the student through the basics
of the study, freeing the presenter to focus on discussion of
essential elements of the work.
Decisions about poster format and design contribute to
efficient and accurate transfer of information using this
medium
Glogster.com
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Online multimedia posters
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A Glog is created using a
very easy to understand,
drag and drop interface
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with text, photos, videos,
graphics, sounds, drawings,
data attachments and more
enjoyable, and scalable for
students of all ages and
learning styles
Encourages students to
express independent and
creative thought, and be
competent and confident
problem solvers
Brochure - Microsoft Template
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Brochures provide
information on an array of
topics.
Brochures can be created
over the progression of a
course or a new brochure can
be created each week
highlighting the week’s
objectives
Brochures can contain
anything from information on
How to…, to medical
information and religious
course content.
Use Concept Maps
www.bubbl.us
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Concept Maps are useful formative techniques that helps
students learn more effectively, improves the way that
they record information, and supports and enhances
creative problem solving.
Concept Maps are useful for summarizing information, for
consolidating large chunks of information, for making
connections, and for creative problem solving.
To use Concept Maps effectively, make sure students use
short words, use different colors to add visual impact, and
incorporate symbols and images to further spur creative
thinking
Week 2:
OBJECTIVE: Explain the job analysis. Outline a workforce planning system.
OBJECTIVE: Explain the selection process for staffing
Use In-Class Essays
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Essays assess higher-level cognitive skills
Use essays to analyze, reflect, compare, justify,
contrast, compile, interpret, or formulate conclusions
Focus on personal perspectives in order to help
students formulate and express their opinions and
attitudes
Give students options so they can write about what
interests them
Use Portfolios
www.rcampus.com
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A portfolio is a compilation of work, developed by the
student that demonstrates what he or she knows and can
do
Documents the student’s efforts, development, and
accomplishments throughout a course or degree
program
Show the evolution the student has gone through to
reach their current performance level.
Student can self-reflect and self-evaluate their work as
they progress.
Use Portfolios
www.rcampus.com
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Student’s can build
ePortfolios to track and
showcase their work.
Create learning portfolios for
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reflective assignments
teacher-student engagement
evaluation of SLOs
peer-review
authentic assessments
and more
Student’s can create career
ePortfolios that they can keep
years after schools.
Use Performance Evaluations
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Assessing a skill a student
needs to learn in order to
accomplish a specific task
Performance evaluations
not only requires students
to know what to do, but
also how to do it
Use a performance
standard checklist that
features a scoring system
Use Interviews
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Conducted with instructor asking questions and the
student responding
Develop a set of questions that covers specific
objectives
Consider structured questions requiring a specific
response and open-ended questions that allow for
detailed answers.
Use Journals
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Journals are records learners keep as they work
through a class or program
Learners in a process-oriented course, record their
learning stage by stage
At the end of each stage, students write out their
thoughts and experiences about what happened
during the process.
Promotes self-reflection; good tool for formative
learning
Use Journals
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Gives the student the opportunity to reflect on their
own learning and experiences in the class
Great way to uncover the internal journey of each
student
In some cases, the personal journey of each student
may be more significant than the instructor can
observe from the outside.
Use Team Reflective Papers
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Reflective team papers document student’s learning
processes during a course.
At the end of each class students compile their
cumulative records of their learning experiences and
write a discussion paper.
A summary of common themes
 Identify and describe personal insights, moments of critical
questioning, and comments or ideas
 What effect do they have and what dilemmas, questions, or
possibilities do they raise? How do these issues affect the
clarity, order, confusion, or chaos of your thinking? How will
you explore these issues further?
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Use Website Development
www.wix.com
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With increased use of the World Wide Web it’s
become common practice to encourage students to
develop sites to:
Educate others in their field (teach about something)
 Perform a task (teach how to do something)
 Present facts
 Teach concepts and definitions
 Show procedures/steps
 Demonstrate processes/stages
 Provide principles/guidelines
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Instructors can evaluate websites with respect to their
content, their design, or both
Use Website Development
Use a One-Minute Assessment
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Allows instructors to ask questions and collect
responses on-the-spot.
Involves asking students to respond to a couple of
questions to help the instructor evaluate the class
Questions should focus on current student learning
Use a Pretest/Post-test Approach
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Pretest/Post-test measures students knowledge and
skills before instruction
Measures growth and knowledge during instruction
Measures what students learned at the end of
instruction
It is a direct measure of a unit/lesson/course’s
effectiveness.
Use Learner Tryout
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Student teaches the class by offering an
instructional activity.
They are learning are basic principles of
communication
Students discover how much more they have
assimilated unconsciously than they had been aware
Ogawa, N. (1997), Let Your Students Teach Their Class. Retrieved at
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Ogawa-StudentsTeach.html
Additional Ideas?
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Share your best practices…
Questions?