Teaching, Learning, and
Assessing
Peggy Maki
Senior Scholar,
Assessing for Learning
AAHE
pmaki@aahe.org
Areas of Focus






Origin of commitment to learn about student
learning
Focus of our assessment efforts
Approaches to Learning
Alignment of Teaching, Learning, and
Assessment
Guide for an assessment plan
Tell the story / answer the question
Assessment?
It’s simple: you
figure out what they
want; find the
quickest, least
damaging way to
respond; send off a
report; and then
forget it.
Origin of Our Commitment to Learn
about Student Learning
External
Internal
Focus of Our Assessment Efforts



What do you expect your students to know
and be able to do by the end of their
education at your institution?
What do the curricula and other educational
experiences “add up to”?
What do you do in your classes or in your
programs to promote the kinds of learning or
development that the institution seeks?
Focus of Our Assessment Efforts


Which students benefit from which classroom
teaching strategies or educational
experiences?
What educational processes are responsible
for the intended student outcomes the
institution seeks?
Focus of Our Assessment Efforts


How can you help make connections
between classroom learning and experiences
outside of the classroom?
What pedagogies / educational experiences
develop knowledge, abilities, habits of mind,
ways of knowing / problem solving?
Focus of Our Assessment Efforts


How are curricula and pedagogy designed to
develop knowledge, abilities, habits of mind,
ways of knowing?
What methods of assessment capture
desired student learning – methods that align
with pedagogy, content, and curricular
design?
Focus of Our Assessment Efforts
 How
do you intentionally build
upon what each of you teaches or
fosters to achieve programmatic
and institutional outcomes?
Approaches to Learning

Surface Learning

Deep Learning
Collaborator
Advising
Technology
Service
Learning
Study
Abroad
Internship
Work
Life
Learner
Dorm
Life
Experiential
Learning
Courses
Learning
Committees
Services
When a Student Becomes a Biologist, Psychologist,
Engineer …
Knowledge/Understanding
Abilities/Behaviors
Dispositions
“Every assessment is also based on a set of beliefs
about the kinds of tasks or situations that will prompt
students to say, do, or create something that
demonstrates important knowledge and skills. The
tasks to which students are asked to respond on an
assessment are not arbitrary. They must be carefully
designed to provide evidence that is linked to the
cognitive model of learning and to support the kinds of
inferences and decisions that will be based on the
assessment results.”
National Research Council. Knowing what students know: The science
and design of educational assessment. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press, 1002, p.47.
Aligning Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Outcome
statements
Methods of
teaching/
learning
Assumptions
about
teaching/
learning
Methods of
assessment
Assumptions
about
methods
What do you
expects
students to
know,
understand,
be able to do
as a result of
your
teaching?
What methods
develop/
foster your
primary
outcomes?
What
assumptions
underlie your
methods
What methods
do you believe
provide
evidence of
desired
student
outcomes?
What
assumptions
underlie your
belief that
each method
will elicit
students’
demonstration
of your
desired
outcomes?
Assessing for Learning
Students’ Learning Styles
and
Histories
Pedagogy/
Instructional
Design
Assessment Task
Designed to Ascertain
How Well Students
Achieve
Expected Outcomes
Curricular
Design
Content
What Tasks Elicit Learning Your
Desire?

Tasks that require students to select among
possible answers (multiple choice test)?

Tasks that require students to construct
answers (students’ problem-solving and
thinking abilities)?
When Do You Seek Evidence?

Formative – along the way?
For example, to ascertain progress or
development

Summative – at the end?
For example, to ascertain mastery level of
achievement
Part I: Determining Your Expectations

State Expected Outcomes

Map Where Expected Outcomes are
Addressed
•
For example, in courses, programs, projects,
services, work experience

Determine Methods and Criteria to Assess
Outcomes
•
For example, portfolios, performances, essays, tests
Write Outcome Statement

Develop statements that describe what
students should know, understand and can
do with what they have learned:
Student examines and compares information
from various sources in order to evaluate
validity, reliability, accuracy, timeliness,
and point of view or bias.
Source: ACRL
Alignment of our Outcomes
Institutional Outcomes
Program Outcomes
Course Outcomes


State Institution’s or Program’s Level of
Expected Performance
For example, mastery level score on
culminating project
Develop Rubrics to Assess Work
based on Desired Methods:

Levels of achievement

Criteria that distinguish good work from poor
work

Descriptions of criteria at each level of
achievement


Identify and Collect Baseline Information
For example, by means of locally designed
instrument
Part II: Identifying Cohorts, Determining
Schedule, Assigning Responsibility



Determine Whom You Will Assess
All students
Categories of students representative of your
population

Establish a Schedule

Upon matriculation, upon acceptance into a program
At the end of a specific semester
At the completion of a required set of courses
Upon graduation
Upon employment
In graduate school
Other times?






Part II: Continued



Determine Who will Interpret Results
Outside evaluators (agencies, faculty,
employers)
Inside evaluators (interdisciplinary teams,
Assessment Committee, center or offices at
the institution)
Part III: Interpreting and Sharing Results to
Enhance Institutional Effectiveness


Determine How Results Will Inform
Teaching/Learning and Decision Making
For example, revise pedagogy, curriculum,
sequence of courses, advising; ensure
collective reinforcement of knowledge,
competencies, habits of mind; address
faculty and staff development, resources,
support services, etc.


Determine How and With Whom Results Will
Be Shared
For example, General Education SubCommittee, departments, planning and
budgeting groups, other decision-making
bodies?
Part III - continued

Decide How Your Institution will Follow- up
on Implementation Changes and Repeat the
Assessment Cycle
Tell the Story/Answer the Question

Disaggregate the data.

Report results using graphics and
comparative formats. (Show trends over
time, differences based on your
demographics)

Publish short, issue-specific reports or
research briefs. (Organize presentation of
results around issues of interest not the
format of the data.)

Combine outcomes information with other
data. (When relevant, incorporate statistics
about course-taking patterns, participation in
services, credit hours earned, majors)

Interpret your data for decision makers so
that it informs pedagogy, budgeting,
planning, decision-making, or policies
Principles of Assessment
Assessment is not a one-time activity; rather, it
is evolutionary, ongoing, and incremental.
Over time assessment efforts should become
more comprehensive, systematic, integrative,
and organic.
Successful assessment efforts are compatible
with the institution’s mission and its available
resources.
o
Assessment’s primary focus is on the
teaching/learning experience
o
Institutional autonomy should be preserved
and innovation encouraged to provide the
highest quality education.
“What and how students learn depends to a
major extent on how that think they will be
assessed.”
John Biggs, Teaching for Quality Learning at
University: What the Student Does. Society
for Research into Higher Education & Open
University Press, 1999, p. 141.