Understanding What Our Geoscience Students Are Learning: Observing and Assessing

Topical Resources

Annotated References

General Assessment

• Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (Thomas Angelo and K. Patricia Cross, 1993) gives detailed, how-to advice on classroom assessment through twelve case studies and features fifty classroom assessment techniques.
• The Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide provides an excellent online summary of Classroom Assessment Techniques, including many specific examples.
• Understanding by Design (Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe , 1998) provides a practical framework for designing curriculum, assessment, and instruction including a continuum of assessment methods.
• 'Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula: A Practical Guide ' (Robert Diamond, 1997) describes a model for designing, implementing, and evaluating courses and curricula.
• The Genetics Concept Assessment: A New Concept Inventory for Gauging Student Understanding of Genetics describes the process of designing, developing and validating an assessment of students' conceptual understanding.
• The Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International has conducted a number of projects creating assessment designs and examples for middle and high school students that are relevant to the geosciences, including:
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  • PALS (more info) is an on-line, standards-based, continually updated resource bank of science performance assessment tasks indexed via the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and various other standards frameworks.
  • PALM is currently being developed as an on-line, standards-based, resource bank of mathematics performance assessment tasks indexed via the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
  • Integrative Performance Assessments in Technology (IPAT) is a site developed for middle or high school teachers, school administrators, or evaluators who are interested in assessing how proficient students are using computer-based technology to carry out Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The site provides five pilot-tested assessment tasks: Car Crash, Solar Power, Choose a City, EPA Phoenix, and Predator-Prey.
  • Global Learning Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) includes classroom assessment tools that test students' deep understanding of GLOBE concepts and their ability to conduct and interpret GLOBE environmental investigations, set up for middle and high school teachers. The examples related to a number of educational standards.

Assessment in the Geosciences

• Primer on Assessment in the Geosciences is an in depth introduction to assessment created for faculty teaching introductory courses.
• Assessment and Active Learning Strategies for Introductory Geology Courses (Acrobat (PDF) PRIVATE FILE 390kB Mar8 05), David McConnell, David Steer, Kathie Owens, 2003, Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, n. 2, March, 2003, p. 205-216, is a good, concise, introduction to assessment techniques.
• DLESE Evaluation Toolkit aims to help geoscience educators and project evaluators find good resources, get feedback and help with geoscience education evaluation, and share results with one another.

Evaluation

• Evaluation Cookbook ( This site may be offline. ) is a basic guide to evaluation methods for lecturers developed in the UK and maintained at Heriot Watt University. It is presented in a cookbook format.
• OERL: Online Evaluation Resource Library website designed for professionals working on project evaluations.
• University of Wisconsin Program Development and Evaluation maintains this site of resources including instruments and reports for planning, implementing and evaluating their educational programs.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook provides a comprehensive text of program evaluation from a philanthropic organization's perspective.

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