Assessment is a word that almost no one loves. It’s often associated with prescriptive testing regimes and a heavy-handed culture of accountability. But assessment is actually central to the entire educational mission because, without it, we can’t say with any degree of confidence that learning has occurred. Ultimately, the goal of assessment transcends simply determining whether learning has happened. Effective assessment aims to collect and analyze information in the service of improving teaching and learning. Effective assessments provide instructors feedback they can use to improve their own teaching practice.
Rubrics
Having access to a rubric before the start of an assignment can help students better understand your expectations and what constitutes success in an assignment. Instructors often find that rubrics help improve the consistency of their grading and provide more efficient ways to provide learners with valuable feedback.
Learn more about rubrics.
Grading
Grading is an extremely complex task. Grades do not exist in a vacuum, but are part of the instructional process and serve as a feedback loop between instructor and student. It follows, then, that grading policy should be consistent with the learning objectives for the course.
Learn more about grading.
Constructing tests
Designing tests is an important part of assessing students’ understanding of course content and their level of competency in applying what they are learning. Whether you use low-stakes and frequent evaluations–quizzes–or high-stakes and infrequent evaluations–midterm and final–careful design will help provide more calibrated results.
Learn more about constructing tests.
Critiquing student projects
Working with student projects in a studio, going over the planning stages of a research project, or working with students putting together a business presentation are all examples of situations in which you may need to critique student projects. Critiquing provides an opportunity to share with students what you know, to enable them to see various options, or to identify flaws in their reasoning or design.
Learn more about critiquing student projects.