A View Toward More Effective (student-centered) Assessment Methods

1. A View Toward More Effective (student-centered) Assessment Methods

3. Traditional assessments • standardized tests • teacher -made tests • give a grade • seldom an explanation why a certain answer is incorrect Alternative assessments • allow learner to regulate the assessment • generally use rubrics • provide learners the criteria for each performance level • are preparation for the career world, where professionals self- assess using specific criteria.

4. Consider this: “Backward Design” is a curricular development model proposed by Wiggins and McTighe (1999) that is an alternative to coverage and activity-oriented curricular models. The model suggests this order: 1) identify deep learning goals 2) identify assessment strategies 3) thencreate the course curriculum! Source: Transformation Theme: Assessment Summary of Significant Findings by Elizabeth F. Barkley, http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/collections/castl_he/ebarkley/themes/themesmenu.html

5. What should guide decisions about assessment methods? 1) Content : Let assessment reflect what is most important for students to learn 2) Learning: Let assessment enhance learning and support instructional practice 3) Equity: Let assessment support every student’s opportunity to learn. The National Research Council,

6. What do you believe to be the advantages of the traditional methods of assessment (standardized tests, teacher-made tests and quizzes)? What are the disadvantages?

7. Let’s listen to students’ reactions to testsand thoughts on other kinds of assessment

8. Shawna Dargan, Freshman Nursing major, WSSU

9. Parrish Young, Sophomore Finance and Human Resources major, WSSU

10. Alternative Assessmentsinclude (but may not be limited to): Performance AssessmentAuthentic AssessmentPortfolio Assessment

11. Performance Assessment1) Project -based assessment 2) Problem -based assessment Students demonstrate knowledge and comprehension. A product is created or a performance is presented. This is actually the norm in many countries, and here in the US, has been preferred among vocational programs (Stewart, Choate, & Poteat, 1993). They also have been seen as ideal for many children in special needs classrooms or inclusive settings.

12. Performance assessments include projects, interviews, presentations, constructed response questions (uses critical thinking opposed to prescribed, predictable, tacit responses), essays, experiments, demonstrations.

13. Can you describe a project or problem within your discipline that might tell you a lot about the students’ knowledge, application, or analysis of selected concepts? What about presentations and demonstrations? Do these do the same? What are the drawbacks if any?Let’s think about Constructed Response Questions. (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, learning goes from operational to abstract; asking initial questions from what is obvious, progressing to that which is less obvious)Can you come up with one for one of your course topics?How would you grade students on responses such as this?

14. Authentic assessment calls for application of concepts to real life expectations, as in apprenticeships, student teaching, shadowing, service learning and co-ops. Work by Wiggins (1989) provides these basic characteristics of authentic assessment: • Designed to represent performance in the field • The criteria for meeting the course objectives are given greater attention during the teaching and learning process than the criteria applied to the traditional assessment approach.

15. Students’ self assessment is a critical difference in the two approaches. • Students are expected to present and defend their work to demonstrate mastery. • Formats for project based and authentic learning opportunities include CDs and DVDs, audio tapes, debates, constructed models (for design classes, science classes, other), articles contributed to the school or local paper, oral, visual or virtual presentation to a group, investigations and science projects, and artistic renderings.

16. Do you believe that students will feel comfortable being evaluated in these ways? • Why /Why not?

17. Portfolio Assessment • The early roots of today’s portfolios can be traced to the mid-1980s, with the work of Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff (1986), who served as administrators in a writing program and were dissatisfied with the scoring. • They shifted emphasis to the process, rather than simply the product. • Purdue University, Miami University of Ohio, and the University of Michigan were some of the first universities to apply this model of assessment, using process and or product type portfolios.

18. To demonstrate the growth of the learner, over a period of time, you are best using a Process oriented portfolio. This portfolio could be the collection of many iterations of a paper or a project, that summatively show student development and growth. • Product oriented portfolios focus on the best work of the student in a particular unit or discipline or concept.

19. Types of Portfolios 1) Product Portfolio • Used to document or provide evidence of completion • Used to demonstrate competence or mastery (showcase portfolios) 2) Process Portfolio • Used to illustrate steps in a process, and continual growth • Used to share experiences

20. Since about 1992, students have been able to do portfolios using the internet. These are referred to as electronic portfolios,webfolios or digital portfolios. The work may be posted to a website, a course management system such as Blackboard, or • Portfolios provide clear evidences of student growth as it relates to a given standard or set of indicators. They are learner-centered products.

21. Planning for effective use of portfolios as assessment tools Source: Paul S. George, (1995). What Is Portfolio Assessment Really and How Can I Use It in My Classroom? Gainesville, FL: Teacher Education Resources.  • What observable behaviors or learning experiences might provide evidence of learning and meeting identified goals? • How will I ensure that students understand the portfolio expectation, the process, and the expected content and quality? • Will I use rubrics, rules, scoring keys, and/or checklists to guide the process? • How might I integrate oral communication skills and virtual learning into the portfolio assessment process?

22. Portfolio assessment is a multi-faceted process characterized by the following recurrent qualities: • It is continuous and ongoing, providing both formative (i.e., ongoing) and summative (i.e., culminating) opportunities for monitoring students' progress toward achieving essential outcomes. • It is multidimensional, i.e., reflecting a wide variety of artifacts and processes reflecting various aspects of students' learning process(es).

23. It provides for collaborative reflection, including ways for students to reflect on and monitor their own comprehension, reflect upon their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making, and observe their emerging understanding of subjects and skills. • These assessments clearly reflect stated learner outcomes identified in the core curriculum that students are expected to study.

24. They focus upon students' performance-based learning experiences as well as their acquisition of key knowledge, skills, and attitudes. • They contain samples of work that stretch over an entire marking period, rather than single points in time. • They contain works that represent a variety of different assessment tools. • They contain a variety of work samples and evaluations of that work by the student, peers, and teachers, possible even parents' reactions.

25. Do you like the portfolio method for student assessment? Discuss. • Which type would work well for you? Discuss. • Which would be best for students? Discuss. • What do you believe to be the advantages of these alternative methods of assessment? • What are the disadvantages? • Source: Paul S. George, (1995). What Is Portfolio Assessment Really and How Can I Use It in My Classroom? Gainesville, FL: Teacher Education Resources.

26. Do you like the portfolio method for student assessment? Discuss. • Which type would work well for you? Discuss. • Which would be best for students? Discuss. • What do you believe to be the advantages of these alternative methods of assessment? • What are the disadvantages?

27. References • Elbow, P., and P. Belanoff. 1986. Portfolios as a substitute for proficiency examination. College Composition and Communication 37: 336–39. • George, P. (1995). What Is Portfolio Assessment Really and How Can I Use It in My Classroom? Gainesville, FL: Teacher Education Resources.  • Greenberg, G. 2004. The digital convergence: Extending the portfolio model. EducauseReview 39 (4): 28. • http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/portfolio2.html, Prince George’s County Schools, Department of Staff Development, in collaboration with the Division of Instruction. • http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie97/papers/1454.pdf • Stewart, S., Choate, J., & Poteet, J. (1995) The revolution in assessment within and across educational settings. Preventing School Failure, 39,3(20-24.