More Assessment Ideas

The role of classroom-based assessment in the State Your Case! project is to help us identify teaching strategies that really work. Assessment provides systematic evidence of the impact of assignments, classroom activities, handouts, and other pedagogical techniques on students' ability to develop and support a point of view.

Assessment is related to, but not the same as, grading. When we assign a grade to a student paper or presentation, we are summarizing information about many outcomes (e.g., content knowledge, writing effectiveness, quality of evidence, originality, etc.) for one student. When we assess, we are summarizing information about one outcome (in this case, one or more proficiencies related to developing and supporting a point of view) for many students. In both cases we are observing student work closely; however, because assessment provides information about the learning of students as a group, it is the most useful kind of evidence for evaluating the overall effectiveness of a classroom teaching practice. We hope the examples below will help you design simple but powerful assessment strategies for your own State Your Case! assignments and activities.

Rubrics
Rubrics are perhaps the most widely-used classroom assessment instrument. When shared with students, they are also powerful instructional tools. This page includes specific examples of rubrics for assessing critical thinking and effective communication, and additional resources to support the development of course- or assignment-specific rubrics.

State Your Case! Student Learning Questionnaire (Microsoft Word 60kB Apr18 09)
This easily-modified questionnaire asks students to describe their knowledge and learning experiences in relation to several specific proficiencies required to state and support a point of view - analyzing evidence, writing or speaking persuasively, developing a clear thesis, using logic, etc. The questionnaire can be administered at both the beginning and end of a course, or only at the end - whatever is most useful to you.

[link http://www.stolaf.edu/offices/ir-e/assessment/ILOs/index.htm 'Intended Learning Outcomes Inventory']
The Intended Learning Outcomes Inventory is a simple spreadsheet faculty members can use to record and summarize evidence of specific student learning outcomes while grading exams or assignments in a course.

Learning-Focused Attitude Surveys
Attitude surveys provide valuable information on student perceptions of their learning in relation to their classroom experiences. They can be tailored to include questions about specific knowledge or proficiencies and the effectiveness of specific activities and assignments intended to develop those outcomes.

Student Assessment of Learning Gains Instrument
The SALG instrument is a web-based questionnaire consisting of statements about the degree of "gain" (on a five-point scale) which students perceive they've made in specific aspects of the class. Instructors can add, delete, or edit questions.