Blog #6 – Assessment Continued

Throughout the last two semesters as we prepared materials for a course, created our syllabus and now created ways to assess students on their understanding of the material, I have found the following as the most challenging aspect.  It is making sure that the ways of assessment mirror the objectives of the course material and that the assessments help identify a student’s comprehensive understanding of the course material. The importance of this is so the course instructor can see the depth of knowledge a student has gained through the course.

In The Nurse Educator’s Guide to Assessing Learning Outcomes McDonald discusses the numerous ways in which an instructor tests student’s on comprehension of material.  Some of those ways include multiple choice questions, short answer and or essay questions, true/false exams and assessments that have rubrics for students to use as their guide in the assignment.  Each method takes time, planning well enough in advance to prepare for the task as well as reflection after the assessment is given to determine the validity of the assessment.  Writing assessments that mirror the objectives of the course is an important component.  The action word used in the objective is a clue to what types of assessments are appropriate.  This was a concept I did not have a grasp on until our exercise in our recent synchronous class.  A light bulb went off for me and I understand why the objectives needed to be written clearly and directly and how a properly structured class gives direction for the students throughout the course.

Another challenge I experienced as I was doing the assessment assignment was how difficult it can be to write a rubric.  I have worked with rubrics as a student and as a faculty member.  I love a rubric that is direct so students know how to achieve the most possible points as well as a rubric that helps faculty members be calibrated.   My initial thought was that it would be an easy task of constructing a rubric.  The challenge I had was the ability to show clear distinctions in the criteria section.  I began to write what I was looking for in a student to achieve all the points possible.  The next step I took was to determine what the product would look like if a student did not achieve any points on the assignment.  Now, I was left to figure out the criteria between the two extremes.  This was the tough part.  I kept reflecting on what I was writing to determine if it was clear and different from criteria in other scoring levels.  It was helpful to have another individual read the rubric to see if it was clear to them if they were to do the assignment.

As with preparing a presentation, lecture or incorporating a new approach to a learning environment in a classroom preparing assessments for students takes time, practice, reflection and dedication in achieving an excellent product.

 

3 thoughts on “Blog #6 – Assessment Continued

  1. You are right. Assessment is not easy!
    Picking the right assessment and then figuring out if it works for your objective is a challenging and time consuming task. As as a student we just think about the test or the project and don’t always associate it back to the objectives. The portfolio you talked about is a great way to tie those together.

  2. Hi Janelle,
    You make some great points! I love your final paragraph – assessments take time, practice, reflection and dedication…
    Keep this close – it says a lot about the quality of teacher you are!

    • Thank you Denise for your comments and for your perspectives in our classes with the experience and passion you bring from clinical and teaching experiences. It has been fun to be a part of this class of people this year. I am happy for all I am learning.

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