Assignment Design

1. Assignment Design Multi-State Collaborative

2. Presenters • Susan Albertine Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, AAC&U Faculty Engagement Subgroup, MSC (albertine@aacu.org) • James Gubbins Associate Professor - Salem State University, Massachusetts Faculty Engagement Subgroup, MSC (jgubbins@salemstate.edu)

3. Why Does Assignment Design Matter? • It is good for student learning. • It supports faculty engagement. • It strengthens programs. • It connects assessment to teaching and learning.

4. Massachusetts • January 2010: Working group begins process of developing a statewide system for assessing student learning outcomes • October 2012: Statewide conference on Quantitative Literacy • Spring 2013: First pilot study to test a model for statewide assessment. The three learning outcomes: Critical Thinking, Quantitative Literacy, and Written Communication

5. Massachusetts Discovery • Spring 2013 Massachusetts Pilot Study: Lessons learned Faculty scorer: “I spent almost a whole day scoring the quantitative literacy artifacts. It did not go well for multiple reasons . . . many of the artifact[s] weren't appropriate for this rubric (they were simple math quizzes).” • Fall 2014 Multistate Collaborative Pilot Study: Benefits from Massachusetts’s experience

6. Massachusetts Touchstones • K-16 Teachers and administrators in Massachusetts have devised a working definition of college readiness in Mathematics • Quantitative Literacy VALUE Rubric has offered Massachusetts faculty a starting point for understanding, discussing, and assessing college-level quantitative literacy

7. The Anatomy of a VALUE Rubric Criteria Levels Performance Descriptors

8. Sample Assignment

9. Sample Assignment

10. Sample Assignment • Second Criterion in the Quantitative Literacy Rubric: Representation • Ability to convert relevant information into various mathematical forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words) • Third Criterion in the Quantitative Literacy Rubric: Calculation

11. Sample Assignment

12. Sample Assignment

13. Sample Assignment

14. The Anatomy of a VALUE Rubric Criteria Levels Performance Descriptors

15. Scaffolding Pyramid

16. Scaffolding

17. Basic Assignment Design Guidelines • Know where you want to go: What is the key outcome you want? • Consider how you might tweak an existing assignment to include that key outcome. • Consider how an assignment might contribute to a student’s grasp of the defined learning outcome over time • Analyze QL criteria to determine key components for a QL assignment in your field. • Work backwards from a student artifact, preferably in a group, using the VALUE QL rubric; consider the DQP for reference. • Assignments themselves may be arranged progressively or scaffolded across a course and through a program. • What activities can you identify to improve critical thinking and integrative learning? • Can the assignment be used for more than one outcome? • How can you help students gain QL capacity over time in your disciplinary context? • What are the types of assignments that will be most helpful for allowing students to demonstrate competency and help them get ready for the days after graduation?

18. Basic Assignment Design Recommendations • Collaborate • Think structurally • Plan beyond your discipline • Cultivate novice thinking • Ask students to talk about how they are learning

19. Additional MSC Webinars • Sampling for the Pilot Study • May 21, 4-5pm (ET) and May 22, 4-5pm (ET) • Multi-State Assessment: IRB & Student Consent • May 28, 5-6pm (ET) and June 3, 4-5pm (ET) • VALUE Rubrics • Date and Time TBD • Coding, Formatting, Submitting: Using Taskstream • Date and Time TBD (late summer) • Webinars will be recorded and posted to: http://www.sheeo.org/msc • Webinars already posted: • Welcome to the MSC • Pilot Study Overview • Assignment Design Webinar Questions?