Student Assessment

Rachel O’Brien, Allegheny College

Preparing for an Academic Career in Geosciences Workshop: Summer

2011

• Formative vs. summative• Qualitative vs. quantitative

Types of assessment

• Formative vs. summative• Qualitative vs. quantitative

Key point to remember:You can only assess something that

is easily measured by a defined metric

Types of assessment

• Start your design of the course—and the assessment--with these in mind

• You want to define specific, directly observable actions

• We often choose that are hard to

measure: know, understand, appreciate

Student learning objectives

• Creating• Evaluation• Analyzing• Applying• Explaining, interpreting, classifying• RememberingAnderson et al., 2001. A taxonomy for learning,

teaching, and assessing. NY: Longman.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Assessing learning objectivesWritten assignments

(both in and out of class)Exams (either standardized or your own)Written critiques of reports or articlesField booksProject/lab reportsPoster presentationsSpeeches and/or debatesProfessional writing samplesJournals

Student feedback is a form of assessment!

One minute paper

Pre-course survey or inventory

In-class surveys

Summative surveys

Assessment Rubrics• Provide a documented means for you to explain how a student performed

• Best if given out before the assignment/task

• Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. (1993) Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teaching, 2nd ed. Josey Bass

• Diamond, R.M. (2008) Designing and assessing courses and curricula, 3rd ed. JW Wiley

Useful references