Matthew Cummiskey
John G. Helion
West Chester University of PA
ASSESSING AFFECTIVE
OUTCOMES IN ADVENTURE
PROGRAMMING
Q&A


Why is assessing these important in both school and
community based adventure programs?
What are you doing presently to assess?
Rationale

PE National Standards
Standard 5: Exhibits responsible personal and social
behavior that respects self and others in physical activity
settings.
 Standard 6: Values physical activity for health,
enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or social
interaction.
 “Titanic Thinking”

Identifying the Soft Skills

What are some “soft skills” that can be assessed?
Teamwork
 Cooperation
 Communication
 Problem Solving
 Conflict Resolution
 Responsibility
 Trust
 Others

Types of Assessments
Checklists

Use Checklists When:
There is only one correct
method, little or no
shades of gray.
 Usually more simplistic
items being measured
(brake hand never
leaves rope)

Rating Scales


Used when the product can be broken into
discreet process parts that affect product
Qualitative,

Always, Sometimes, Never

Rating between scorers can be
inconsistent/unreliable


Example – correctly reading compass bearings
Quantitative

4 times, 3 times etc.

Example – correctly tie a retraced figure 8 all the
time v. one error v. two errors etc.
Analytic Rubrics

A rubric is a scale of
criteria that indicates and
identifies levels of
performance




belay technique
What most people think of
Difficult to create but once
in “can” yours forever
Improved
validity/reliability issues
when used to grade
Analytic Rubric Basics

Shared with Ss as the unit or project is explained




Encourage Ss to read prior to the assessment so they know
how they will be evaluated
There are millions of rubrics on the internet
Easier to find one and modify it than write your own
Different aspects of a rubric can be “weighted” to
reflect importance of the various
Reliability of Analytic Rubrics


Reliability: Will the assessment measure
learning consistently regardless of who is
doing the assessing?
Avoid use of “qualifier” words
Steps in writing a rubric
1. Envision the desired student performance

Setting up an adventure activity (spider web, wild woozy etc.)
2. Determine the number of scoring columns



Proficient, developing, basic & below basic
5, 4, 3 or 2 – why is the # of columns important?
Assign “weights” to each row (criteria)
3. Complete the cells


Describe performance in detail, focus on quality and not quantity
Limit # of threads to 2 or 3 per row
4. Use with students and revise


Multi-trait rubric
Character development rubric (elem PE)
Selecting Rubric Items/Criteria

If you were developing a rubric for 12th graders or
a community group climbing on the rock wall, what
items would you select? (aka...what goes in the left
column)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Teamwork
Group Focus
Support
Perseverance
Prep Work
Group Work

Develop a rubric for
climbing a rock wall
 Example
Scoring

Avoid having a rubric printed for every participant,
instead develop a scoring grid for everyone and
refer to one printed rubric.
 Data
table for rubric shown earlier
 Assume everyone gets full credit unless indicated
 Vary the number of skills assessed based upon the
activity, number of students and complexity of the
assessment
 The
data table above would take multiple days to complete
Finding Assessments

Computer Searches
Google.com
 Ask.com
 Yahoo.com


Descriptors

General


Specific



Rubrics – Thousands of hits
Teamwork Rubrics
Cooperation Rubrics
Be selective – There are many options
Individual Affective Rubrics
 Level
of involvement 1, 2
 Oral communication
 When
developing individual affective rubrics, often
best to consider its definition and work backwards from
there.
Teamwork

Joint action by a group of people, in which
individual interests are subordinated to group unity
and efficiency; coordinated effort
 From
teacher glossary
Cooperation

Co-operation refers to the practice of people or
greater entities working in common with commonly
agreed-upon goals and possibly methods, instead
of working separately in competition.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperation
Communication


The transmission of information so that the recipient
understands what the sender intends.
www.welcom.com/content.cfm
The successful transmission of information through a
common system of symbols, signs, behavior, speech,
writing, or signals.
www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/scitech/2001/resour
ces/glossary.html
Problem Solving


A systematic approach utilizing multiple perspectives
to uncover the issues related to a particular problem,
design an intervention plan, and evaluate the
outcome.
rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/rrtcpbsweb/glossary.htm
The act of defining a problem; determining the cause
of the problem; identifying, prioritizing and selecting
alternatives for a solution; and implementing a
solution.
www.onesixsigma.com/tools_resources/glossary/gloss
ary_p.php
Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the process of resolving a
dispute or a conflict, by providing each side's
needs, and adequately addressing their interests so
that they are satisfied with the outcome. Conflict
resolution aims to end conflicts before they start or
lead to physical fighting.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_resolution
Trust

Firm reliance on the
integrity, ability, or
character of a person
or thing. Custody; care.
www.answers.com/topi
c/trust
Qualitative Analysis

Ask students an open-ended question that requires
a written response. For example, “What did you
learn today that helped you grow as a person.” Or
use several open-ended question relating to
different topics: “How did you improve your
teamwork from today’s activities.” “Describe what
may have changed about the group as a result of
today’s activities.”
Qualitative

Group all of the responses from each open-ended questions together but
separate by question. Next read all the responses and look for themes
(ideas that reoccur), write down the themes separately. You may have
subthemes under the major themes. Next, re-read all the responses and
tally each time a theme (or subtheme if you have them) is present. You will
begin to notice patterns in the data which can be represented numerically.
For example, you may find that “building rapport” is the most common
theme mentioned 126 times, next is “communicating ones ideas” mentioned
89 times and so. Create an exhaustive list (you may have 10, 20, 30
themes) along with a tally number for each. Finally, discuss what the data
means and use quotations to underscore the points you are making. For
more information look online, this method is called the “constant comparison
method.”
Parting Thoughts

Time is a commodity
Assessment doesn’t have to be cumbersome
 Put in the time to improve your instruction/program



Millions of words are put in the internet every day,
don’t need to reinvented the wheel
Start small and ramp up over time
E-mail Address

Matthew Cummiskey
 mcummiskey@wcupa.edu

John Helion
 jhelion@wcupa.edu

Materials available at: http://thenewPE.com (click
conference presentations link)
Thanks for coming. Enjoy the rest of the conference!