Writing Outcomes for Assessment Middlesex Carnegie Summer Institute

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Writing Outcomes for AssessmentMiddlesex
Carnegie Summer Institute

• June 9, 2005
• Patrick Nellis
• Valencia Community College

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Objectives

• Engage in a Conversation on Assessment
• Design Assessable Learning Outcomes
• Consider the Implications for Teaching

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What does it mean to use a learning-centered
approach?
Lets contrast a learning-centered approach
with a content-centered approach. Consider the
following questions.
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How do you begin planning for your course or unit?

• A Select what topics should be covered in the
  course/unit.
• B Decide what students should know or be able to
  do after they complete the course/unit.

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How do you design the content for your
course/unit?

• A Select a textbook that includes the topics you
  want to cover in the course/unit and decide in
  what order to cover them.
• B Choose the themes, concepts, procedures,
  skills, or issues that students must understand
  to be able to do the things you want them to do.

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How do you evaluate your students?

• A Decide what should be included on tests and
  how many tests there should be.
• B Provide students ways to demonstrate their
  levels of proficiency (may or may not be tests)
  and the criteria their demonstrations will be
  measured against.

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There are no wrong answers. The different
answers represent differences in philosophy and
approach.

• A responses indicate a content-centered
  approach is guiding teaching practices.

• B responses indicate a learning-centered
  approach is guiding teaching practices.

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About Learning

• Learning is a complex process of
  interpretation-not a linear process
• Learners create meaning as opposed to receive
  meaning
• Knowledge is socially constructed (importance of
  peer-to-peer interaction)
• National Research Council. Knowing What Students
  Know, 2001.
• Slide adapted from Peggy Maki.

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• People learn differentlyprefer certain ways of
  learning
• Deep learning occurs over time
• Meta-cognitive processes are a significant means
  of reinforcing learning

Knowing What Students Know, 2001, National
Academy Press Slides adapted from Peggy Maki
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Learning-centered
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Learning-centered
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Cycle of Assessment
1 Form Learning Outcomes
2 Develop Assessments
4 Assess and Revise as Needed
3 Design Instructional Activities
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Cycle of Assessment (Reality)
1 Form Learning Outcomes
2 Develop Assessments
4 Assess and Revise as Needed
3 Design Instructional Activities
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One Sentence Summary

• Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at
  understanding and improving student learning
  (Angelo Cross, 1993).
• It starts with the Learning Outcomes and
  includes early and frequent feedback to and from
  students (formative) as well as evaluation of
  levels of mastery (summative).
• Assessment requires explicit, public
  expectations and criteria based on high standards
  for quality.

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Levels of Assessment

Institutional Effectiveness
Program Review
Program
Course
Course
Classroom
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Alignment of Outcomes
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Sgt. Bilko Method

Its simple you figure out what they want find
the quickest, least damaging way to respond send
off a report and then forget it.
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Five Years On

• What do you expect your students to know and be
  able to do?
• What do you do in your classes or in your
  programs to promote this kind of learning or
  development?
• How do you want the student to be different?

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What If Grading was Not Allowed ?

• What methods of assessment would you use to
  capture evidence of student learning?
• Discuss at your tables, prepare to report out.

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Learning Outcomes

• Focus on the student, not the professor
• Focus on the learning that results from the
  course
• Integrate the knowledge, skills, and beliefs
  essential to the discipline
• Help students develop real-world, lifelong
  competency

See Huba and Freed, Learner-centered Assessment,
Chapter 4
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Fragmented Learning
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Learning the Core
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Learning the Core
(Richard Paul)
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Putting the Work in Workshop

• Identify Learning Outcomes
• Choose Assessment Procedures
• Brainstorm Learning Activities
• Identify Resources to Use

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Assumptions Underlying Teaching
Actual Practices
Assumptions Underlying Assessment Tasks
Actual Tasks
Peggy Maki
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Gather Evidence
Interpret Evidence
Mission/Purposes Learning Outcomes
How well do we achieve our outcomes?
Enhance teaching/ learning inform institutional
decision- making, planning, budgeting
Peggy Maki
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Assessing Outcomes by Course-Embedded Assessment

• Assessment tasks or assignments that are an
  integral part of a students work in a course and
  that also provide evidence of outcome mastery.
• A gauge of Are they getting it?
• See Donald Farmer, Kings College,
  Course-Embedded Assessment A Teaching Strategy
  to Improve Student Learning

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Authentic Assessment

• Projects, papers, performances, etc. that require
  students to directly reveal the abilities that
  instructors desire. (Huba and Freed)
• The testing of a students ability to use
  knowledge and skills to create a complex or
  multifaceted product or task. (Stiehl and
  Lewchuk)

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Core Competencies

• Think
• Value
• Communicate
• Act

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THINK

• analyze data, ideas, patterns, principles,
  perspectives
• employ the facts, formulas, procedures of the
  discipline
• integrate ideas and values from different
  disciplines
• draw well-supported conclusions
• revise conclusions consistent with new
  observations, interpretations, or reasons

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Evidence of Learning?

• TVCA Integration Projects
• College wide Learning Days
• Learning Evidence Team
• Think Project
• Think Rubric
• Collect samples of student work and score them,
  report patterns in the evidence

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Discipline Perspective

• Work with one or two others in your discipline
• What does critical thinking look like from your
  discipline?
• Note that professional associations have much to
  say on this topic
• Make notes

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Collaborative Processes

• Development of learning outcomes.
• Development of criteria and standards of judgment
  (scoring rubrics)
• Selection or development of methods to assess
  student work

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Next Steps

• Keep the purpose in mind to assess learning so
  we can improve learning.
• Imagine the implications for teaching.
• Form teams to experiment with these ideas.

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PMI

• Note something that was a Plus (you liked)
• Note something that couldve been better (a
  Minus)
• Note something that could have an Impact on how
  you teach (Impact)