Classroom Assessment
Techniques
STEP Fellows
June 3, 2004
Donna C. Llewellyn
Assessment – What do we mean?
 Assessing Student Learning
 Formative Evaluation of Teaching
 Classroom Research
 Summative Evaluation of Teaching
 Program Assessment
 Degree Assessment
 Research Assessment
We will concentrate only on the first and second
bullets!
What the research says…
What predicts student
learning?
What leads to better
learning?
 Prior knowledge
 Shared Trust
 Shared Language
and Understanding
 Shared Goals
Five Points to Consider on Prior
Knowledge and Learning
from Thomas A. Angelo
 We learn by making connections between prior knowledge
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and new information
It’s easier to make those connections when we see
relationships between new information and prior
knowledge
With adults, the biggest hindrance to learning is not usually
lack of prior knowledge, but incorrect or partial prior
knowledge
We’re generally reluctant to give up or change our prior
knowledge and beliefs
Thus, learning can often be difficult and emotionally
costly, and sometimes involves loss and grieving
Doing Assessment As If Learning
Mattered Most
10 Research-based Guidelines for Success
(Thomas A. Angelo – School for New Learning – DePaul University – 10/2000)
If learning really matters most, our assessment
practices should help our students…
 Engage actively – intellectually and emotionally – in their
academic work
 Set and maintain realistically high, personally meaningful
expectations and goals
 Provide, receive, and make use of regular, timely, specific
feedback
 Become explicitly aware of their values, beliefs,
preconceptions, and prior learning – and be willing to
unlearn when necessary
Doing Assessment As If Learning
Mattered Most
10 Research-based Guidelines for Success cont’d.
What we should be helping our students to…
 Work in ways that recognize (and stretch) their present
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learning style/preferences and levels of development
Seek and find connections to any real-world applications
of what they’re learning
Understand and value the criteria, standards, and methods
by which they are assessed and evaluated
Work regularly and productively with academic staff
Work regularly and productively with other students
Invest as much engaged time and high-quality effort as
possible in their academic work
Basic Steps for Classroom
Assessment
 Before the course even starts
– Teaching Goals
– Instructional Outcomes
– Planning your assessment events
 During the course
– A variety of easy to use CATs
– Giving feedback
 After the course has ended
– Using what you have learned
Teaching Goals Inventory
Instructional Objectives
Three main types:
 What do I want my students to know
(knowledge)
 What do I want my students to do (skills)
 What do I want my students to think
(affective)
Measurable Objectives
 Objectives should be directly measurable
 Objectives should allow a variety of
performance levels to be obtained
(Excellence, Average, Poor performance)
 Assessment Instruments help you measure
these differences
Example Objectives
(thanks to Nelson Baker)
 Students will know about structural
mechanics
 Students will learn about shear & bending
moment diagrams
 Students will be able to compute and draw
shear & bending moment diagrams
Methods to Develop Objectives
 IOWA - for cognitive objectives using
Bloom’s Taxonomy
 Both for individual and multiple faculty
 (http://epitome.ce.gatech.edu/iowa)
 We will see classroom assessment
techniques that can be tied to each level of
the knowledge, skill, and affective
objectives
Bloom’s Taxonomy: What is it?
In a seminal paper,
Bloom classified cognitive learning into six levels:
 Knowledge--rote memorization, recognition, or recall of
facts
 Comprehension--understanding what the facts mean,
use this knowledge to predict consequences
 Application--correct use of the facts, rules, or ideas;
able to solve problems using the given knowledge
Bloom’s Taxonomy continued…
 Analysis--breaking down information into component
parts; understanding connections between these
components, able to infer from these relationships
 Synthesis--combination of facts, ideas, or information
to make a new whole, able to generalize learned
knowledge in order to create new knowledge and draw
significant conclusions
 Evaluation--judging or forming an opinion about the
information or situation, able to compare and optimize
CATs for course related
knowledge & skills
 Background knowledge probe
 One minute paper
 Muddiest point paper
 One sentence summary
 Paraphrase topic in 2-3 sentences for
another student
 3-5 minute recap of last class period by one
student for the whole class
CATS for Determining Student
Attitudes
 Look at student’s values, attitudes, self-
awareness
 Shows concern for the student
 Helps student get personal insights
 Encourage students to keep logs/journals
 There are un-intrusive ways to get at what
students think
CAT for assessing student’s reactions to
specific aspects of instruction
 Surveys about facilities, rooms
 Midterm surveys
 Classroom dialogue
Good Teachers & Good Teaching
Nine Key Characteristics that Faculty and
Students Agree On
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Knowledge of the Subject/Discipline
Course Preparation & Organization
Clarity and Understandability
Enthusiasm for Subject/Teaching
Sensitivity to and Concern with Students’ Level &
Learning Progress
 Availability and Helpfulness
 Quality of Examinations
 Impartiality in Evaluating Students
 Overall Fairness to Students
From: Feldman, Kenneth A. Effective College Teaching from the Students’ and Faculty’s
View: Matched or Mis-Matched Priorities? Research in Higher Education, 1988, 2(4),
291-344
References
 Assessment Essentials, Palomba & Banta,
Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999.
 Classroom Assessment Techniques, Angelo
and Cross, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2nd
Edition, 1993.
 Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The
Classification of Educational Goal;
Handbook I: Cognitive Domain, Bloom,
B.S., editor. (1956), New York, Longman.