Workshop: Formative Assessment
Institute for Excellence in Education
Summer Teaching Camp 2013
Edith Gurewitsch Allen, M.D.
Mona Mohamed, M.D., Ph.D.
Julianna Jung, M.D.
07/25/2013
Presenters have no relevant disclosures or conflicts of interest
Objectives
 differentiate formative from summative assessment
 demonstrate techniques for formative assessment of
learners
 develop and solicit formative assessment of:
 communication skills
 information literacy
 strategic planning/critical reasoning
 attitudes and disposition [professionalism]
X Formative assessment for course or program refinement
What is Assessment?
Establishing clear, measurable expected
learning outcomes
Ensuring sufficient opportunities to achieve
those outcomes
Systematic gathering, analysis and
interpretation of evidence to determine
extent to which (how well) learning matched
expectations
Using the resulting information to understand
and improve learning
General Purpose of Assessment
• Defines what learners will regard as
important – Brown 2001
– high value placed on marks and grades;
– ultimately students focus their efforts on assignments and
what they will be tested on
• Ensures that what is important is learned
ASSESSMENTS MUST ALIGN WITH
EDUCATIONAL GOALS
Planning Our Teaching
Traditional Paradigm
New Paradigm
• What topics should we
teach?
• What do students need to
know?
• How do we test that the
topics were learned?
• What are the criteria for
determining sufficiency of
learning (what earns an A,
B, C, etc)?
Teacher-Centered
– critical understandings,
theories, models; knowledge,
skills and attitudes
• How will we assess their
learning?
• How do we structure the
educational experience to
ensure that they learn?
Learner-Centered
Characteristics of Assessment
Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment
• Objective > Subjective
• Subjective > Objective
• Comparative, Relational
• Personal, Reflective
• Solitary
• Interactive, Social
• Conclusive, “Add-on”/Post Hoc
• Midstream, Guiding
• Retrospective: were goals
met?
• Prospective: are goals being
met?
Evidence-based Strategies to Promote Lasting Learning
Students Learn Most Effectively When They:
 Understand goals and characteristics of excellent work
 Relate new learning to prior experiences
• Spend significant time studying and practicing, using and
applying new knowledge in some way
• Diverse learning styles are respected
• Engage in multi-dimensional, real-world tasks, and
interact with others
 Assessments are learning activities in their own right
 Reflect on what and how they learned, seeing coherence
in their learning
Universally Valued Learning Goals
• Communication Skills
• Information Literacy
• Strategic Planning/Problem
Solving
• Professional
Attitudes/Dispositions
In-Class Techniques
Assessing Communication Skills
Drawing Exercise
Communication Skills
ENCODING
DECODING
• Understand the objective: why
are you communicating?
• Understand the audience: who
are they? What do they need
to know?
• Anticipate reactions or
potential sources for
confusion; plan the message
• Seek feedback to confirm
understanding
• Pay attention
• Receive information
without first anticipating
the response to be given
back
• Ask questions to confirm or
revise understanding
In-Class Techniques
Information Literacy
“Headbandz”
Information Literacy
•
•
•
•
Recognize the need for information
Identify what information is needed
Find the information
Evaluate information critically for credibility
and relevance
• Use information to answer question/solve
problem
• Use information legally & ethically
In-Class Techniques
Strategic Planning/Critical Reasoning
Think-Aloud Exercise
www.websudoku.com
Metacognition
• Use efficient learning techniques
• Discuss and evaluate problem-solving
strategies used
• Critically examine the bases for arguments
• Correct or revise reasoning
• Form efficient plans for completion
• Evaluate effectiveness of decisions/actions
In-Class Techniques
Assessing Professional
Attitudes/Disposition
Opinion Polling
When a trainee fails to perform a task
as expected, it is most often because:
A. s/he doesn’t value the task or see it as
personally relevant.
B. s/he does not understand what is being
asked of her/him.
C. s/he is overburdened or fails to plan for
timely completion.
D. s/he lacks required knowledge or skill to
complete the task.
When an educator deviates from a
professional standard, it is most often
because:
A. s/he opposes or disagrees in general with
the standard.
B. s/he is unaware of the standard.
C. practical realities make the standard
difficult or impossible to follow.
D. s/he deems the standard to be inapplicable
or inappropriate for the particular situation.
How Students Can Contribute to
Assessment – Suskie, 2009
• Identify the purpose of the assessment and
ensure that they are relevant and worthwhile
• Articulate learning goals, their importance and
value
• Design tools (rubrics, surveys, portfolios)
• Advise on how to share results with students
• Review logistics of assessments for feasibility
and undue burden
Group Activity:
Reducing Medication Error
GROUP A: Root Cause Analysis
GROUP B: Polypharmacy
• 42 y.o. male, limited English,
history afib, on verapamil
250 mg three times daily
• Admitted from ER for ORIF
wrist fx
• 24 hours later developed
atrial fibrillation, which
resulted in congestive heart
failure
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Atrovent
Prednisone
Claritin
Xanax
Vasotec
Timoptic
Avandia
Neurontin
Augmentin
Protonix
Bumex
Group Activity:
Developing Formative Assessments
 What “key” knowledge should your learners
demonstrate through this task?
 Which “universal” skills (communication,
information literacy, strategic planning/critical
reasoning, attitude/disposition) will you focus
on? To what extent (percentage, points)?
 Which criteria will you use to rate the adequacy
of their proposal?
 What challenges/feedback will you provide to
advance their learning beyond the initial effort?