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ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES
If you are trying a new lab technique, you'll run pilot experiments
to see how it works. Just so with new teaching techniques--it
would be great to know how they are working before
the end of the semester.
Classroom Assessment Techniques are ways of finding
out how your course is working and how the students are doing.
Once you try them, you will likely find that you love knowing
immediately and concretely what is happening for students!
Many people have developed a lot of simple, clever devices,
such as:
- The one-minute paper. In the middle of a
discussion or lecture, ask students to take a piece of paper
and write down their understanding of the most important
idea being discussed. Let the students know you will
collect these, with names, to let you know how well they
are understanding the concepts. In the next class
period, you should give some feedback to them--perhaps reading
(anonymously) a very good answer or two, or going over some
things that were obscure. You do not need to hand
back or comment on individual papers--therefore, it does
not have to be time-consuming.
- The "muddiest point." In the middle or at
the end of a class, ask students to write for a minute or
two about the concept that was the least clear to them.
Ask them to explain as best they can just why it is unclear.
Let them know whether these will be handed in anonymously
or with names.
- Keep doing/ stop doing. Ask students to
spend a couple of minutes giving you anonymous feedback
about the course, by telling you what they would like to
keep doing, what they would like to stop doing, and perhaps
what they would like to start doing. In the
next class period, give a brief indicator like "Three of
you said we should stop spending so much time in small groups,
but 12 of you said we should keep doing small groups."
That way, students who are discontent can see their input
in a larger context.
- Where are we going? Ask students to write
for a couple of minutes about where they see the class going.
What is the aim of the course, and what do they need in
order to get there? This can be especially useful
in about the second to fourth week of the semester, after
the start-up phase. Students can tell you where they
feel least secure in their learning, and you still have
time to incorporate their needs.
Since none of these techniques require written feedback from
you, they do not need to take much time. However, I have
found that it's important to "close the loop" by letting the
class know in a general way what you learned from their writing.
It's an incredibly powerful way to get them to buy into the
course, as well; when they feel their voices are heard, a lot
of the potential hostility drops away and they end up working
with you rather than against you.
Many more techniques, ranging from the very content-based
to process-based, are contained in Classroom Assessment
Techniques, by Angelo and Cross.
Angelo, T. A. and K. P. Cross. (1993). Classroom assessment
techniques: A handbook
for college teachers (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
An excellent site for assessment tools is sponsored by the
NISE,
the National Institute for Science Education. Their Field-tested
Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) page has background information
and customizable classroom assessment questionnaires.
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