Assessment and Problem Based Learning
PBL 2004
Glen O’Grady
Director, Center for
Educational Development
Overview of the Workshop
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More about you
Assessment
Assessment in PBL
Grading
How do you Assess in your PBL
Programmes?
Draw your response
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How it is done?
Why?
The effect (intended or
unintended)
Why do we assess?
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To measure learning
To foster learning
What are we assessing?
Learning…. but what is learning?
Conceptions of Learning
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Increasing one’s knowledge
Learning as memorizing and
reproducing
Learning as applying
Learning as understanding
Learning as an interpretive process
aimed at understanding reality
Learning as changing as a person
Willis 1993
Instructionbased
Syllabus
Subject Z
Subject X
Subject X
Subject X
Teacher
Dissemination
of Knowledge
Instruct, discipline,
assess
Students
Assessment is
testing how well
students have
retained what the
teacher has
disseminated.
Assessment is about
coming to know how
students construct
their understanding
of knowledge by
giving tasks that also
helps to foster this
construction of
knowledge
Problembased
The Problem
(Curriculum)
Team members
Student
Construction
of Knowledge
Prior Knowledge
Facilitator
How can assessment be organized in PBL
so that it both fosters & measures learning
for understanding?
Assessment needs to be…
 considered as an integral
element in facilitation
 based on multiple methods.
 focused on both product and
process.
 holistic
Case Study on Assessment in PBL
PBL at The Republic Polytechnic (RP-PBL)
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Each semester, 5
modules (subjects) each
day students attend and
work exclusively on one
module
Students follow a regular
schedule each day
RP-PBL: 1st meeting
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Class of 25, 5 teams of
5 students
Presented a problem
Students under the
guidance of the
facilitator work on
defining the problem
and identify issues they
will do research on.
Approximately 1 hour
RP-PBL: 1st Breakout
Student work individually
and in their teams to:
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Find and review resources
Begin to develop tentative
solutions for the problem
Refine their definition of
the problem
RP-PBL: 2nd Meeting
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Meet with the facilitator
who checks on their
progress
Focus on any difficulties
students may be having
Helps students to
develop learning
strategies
RP-PBL: 2nd Breakout
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Student continue to
work in their teams
Review resources
Develop a solution/
explanation based upon
their shared
understanding
Produce a presentation
2-3 hours
RP-PBL: 3rd Meeting
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Meet with the facilitator
Students present their
solutions/explanations
Students observe how others
have solved the problem
Facilitators probes and critique
these solutions giving
additional information where
necessary
Students further check their
understanding by doing a quiz
focussed on the key issues
RP-PBL: Assessment
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Performance & Presentations
Self & Peer Evaluation
Reflection journal
Students get feedback everyday
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Verbal feedback in class
(interactions)
Daily grade derived holistically
Written feedback
Students every month sit an
understanding test
Module grade is determined by a
combination of daily grades and
understanding tests performance.
Exercise
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Method of Assessment
How does it foster learning?
How can it assist facilitators
in their summative
judgment (measure
learning)
Key challenges
I. Team Oral/Written Presentations
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Develops communication skills (Hay 1994)
Verbal articulation (Rowntree 1987)
It manifests the application of knowledge in the
context of a problem
Key challenges
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Criteria
Collusion
Tip of the iceberg (Lakomski 2002)
II. Peer and self assessment
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Develops the capacity and ability to judge
(Warren Piper et al. 1996, Boud 2001)
Engenders normative values in the way students
relate to one another (Shoop 2000)
Manifests the way students think about
themselves and others
Key challenges
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Reliability of these judgments
III. Learning Journal
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Writing as a tool for organizing thoughts
Reflection the integration of theory and experience
(Schon 1983, Butler 1994)
Focuses on the process of attributing meaning
It allows the facilitators to have an insight into the
experience of the learner (process of reasoning, their
interaction with others, their emotive connection)
Key challenges
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Students not knowing how to reflect
IV. Tests and Quizzes
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Emphasizes specific skill sets and the need to be familiar
with particular information.
Demonstrates understanding that can be compared
Gives insight into reasoning processes (Gibbs 1992b)
Key challenges
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Artificial and ritualized could encourage memorization &
recall if questions are not carefully crafted
Difficult to infer understanding (and its gradations)
How to give feedback
V. Observations of students’ discussions
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Allows the facilitator to interact with students in
meaningful ways (Barrows 1980,1988, Huba 2000)
Observe first hand elements of the construction of
meaning
Key challenges
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Facilitators perspective (Pratt 1998)
Other methods?
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How can it foster learning?
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How can it measure learning?
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Key challenges
Marking & Giving Feedback
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Managing the task of marking
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Criteria
Mark broadly, give specific
feedback
Making a difference with
feedback
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Personal
Regular
Cumulative
Holistic
How do we derive a grade?
How do we derive a grade?
Deriving the daily grade in a manner the fosters
learning for understanding.
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Collect as much information that is possible and practical.
Consider information collected in assessment as evidence
that should be weighted in relation to the context.
Have explicit criteria but be comfortable with the
“subjectivism” in applying that criteria.
Make it explicit (in feedback) the rationale for the judgment
link it to the evidence.
Be prepared to explain this judgement to peers (and others)
Holistic Judgements
Marks for student work should
not be seen simply as
individual bricks in a wall that
represents a student’s final
grade. Rather students’ work
in its various forms are pieces
of information or (evidence)
that should be used
collectively to form a picture of
the quality of a students’
learning.
Holistic Judgements
The final grade of a student should represent our best
professional judgment about the learning of a student
both in terms of process and product.
The learning and the judgement should enduring.