Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing
Assessment means a number of different things in different contexts. Sometimes,
as teachers, we assess our classes as learning spaces and thus our teaching
of them; other times, we evaluate tests or written work that our students
produce based on our assignments. Gaining popularity is the practice of allowing
students a voice (and thus an investment) in their own assessment. The links
below offer suggestions about how to assess various activities from class,
as well as how to include students in this endeavor.
Classroom Assessment
- Classroom Assessment
Techniques (NTLF)
- Discusses classroom assessment as both a "teaching approach and
a set of techniques" which differ from more traditional evaluation
instruments in that CATs assist teachers in knowing what students are and
are not understanding during each class period so that future classes can
be modified.
- Nine Principles of Good Practice
for Assessing Student Learning (AAHE)
- Highlights key principles like the connection between student learning
and educational values, and recommends assessment practices which are "multidimensional,
integrated, and revealed in performance over time."
Assessing Written Work
- Assessing
Writing Across the Curriculum (Beth Young, U of Central FL)
- A brief overview of assessing writing and useful links to various methods
of assessment (analytic and holistic) in different disciplines (composition,
physics, etc.). Young also provides a check sheet for student self- and
peer- evaluation of writing.
- WPA Outcomes
Statement for First-Year Composition
- This statement, adopted by increasing numbers of composition programs
in the country, approaches assessment through the broad categories of Rhetorical
Knowledge; Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing; Processes; and Knowledge
of Conventions. It was re-printed in College
English.
- Writing
Assessment: A Position Statement (CCCC)
- Abstract from the site: "Assessments of written literacy should be designed
and evaluated by well-informed current or future teachers of the students
being assessed, for purposes clearly understood by all the participants;
should elicit from student writers a variety of pieces, preferably over
a period of time; should encourage and reinforce good teaching practices;
and should be solidly grounded in the latest research on language learning."
Testing
- Percentage/Points v. Normal
Curve: Two Methods of Grading (Kathleen McKinney, Sociology)
- McKinney discusses the differences between using percentages/points and
using a normal curve.
- Student-Generated
Test Questions (Francisco Silva, Psychology)
- Silva discusses his use of student-generated test questions; specifically,
he encouraged students after each class to create two essay questions based
on the readings, lecture, and discussion for the class.
- Using
Bloom's Taxonomy to Create Multiple-Choice Tests (U of Cape Town)
- In this appendix to an online book (full book available from this link,
too), the authors offer examples of questions that function on the different
levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
- Writing Multiple-Choice Tests (CTLT)
- A quick tip-sheet of items to consider when creating multiple-choice
tests, as well as the pros and cons of such tests, and a list of resources
available in the CAT library.
Evaluating Group Work
- Peer
Evaluation Tips (G. Kincaid, UTexas)
- Suggestions on creating a peer-evaluation rubric for students so that
they can contribute to the overall assessment.
- Tips for Grading Group Work (Kathleen
McKinney, Sociology)
- McKinney offers helpful suggestions for evaluating group work, including
group productivity reports and "ticket in" activities. She also notes the
importance of the teacher's explaining, up-front, the reasons for group
work and the outcomes the teacher expects.
Other Resources
- Assessment
Links for Instructors (Clemson)
- Assessment
Practices in Art & Design (Barry Jackson, Middlesex U)
- Bibliography on
Assessing Writing (J. Pariza, NIU)
- Group Work & Study
Teams (Barbara David, UC-Berkeley)
- Multiple-Choice
Tests (Nat'l Center for Fair & Open Testing)
- University Assessment
Office (ISU)
- Writing Multiple-Choice
Questions That Demand Critical Thinking (North Essex CC)
