In dental assisting, assessment by application is very important. We use in three ways...first, to show the students that they understand the procedure method as explained; second, they are reviewed by their peers with added comments ( by the way these first two assessments are not graded); third, they are assessed by the instructor in which they would receive a grade.
Hi Kimberly, Thanks for your post to the forum. You shared some excellent techniques for effective assessment! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Tanya, Great examples of alternative assessments!
Susan Polick
We evaluate our student's hands-on skills but have rubrics to follow while doing so. We try to make this process of evaluation and assessment as objective as possible due to programmatic accrediation standards.
In addition we have callibration meetings on a regular basis as well to ensure all faculty are grading the same so there is less to no subjectivity in the evalation methods.
Alternative assessment is a method of gauging student performance outside of traditional question-and-answer testing. Some examples are in science classes, lab performance, projects, multimedia presentations, case studies, role play and field trips. I believe that using this method to gauge student learning can be fun and interactive, fostering creativity and ingenuity in students. It is probably why I prefer teaching lab classes.
I like get down to the students level and watch the steps they are doing to complete their projects at hand. Assessing how the students are implementing their new found skills into their current projects allows me gauge which areas that student both excels or needs help in.
I agree with many of the other folks posting: a face-to-face assessment can be beneficial. I had a professor in college that would read the questions aloud to the group and then we would mark our answers on a piece of paper. She did this for a few reasons: (1) it rewarded students that got to class on time because she started at 8:00 on the dot, (2)it allowed the students to comprehend information in a new way, (3) and this opportunity gave us a chance to be creative with our answers because there weren't the normal confines on our answers.
I agree 110%!! Hands on is VERY effective in my field, also!
Hi Thomas, Thanks for your post to the forum. I think that is a great idea ti improve student note taking!
Susan Polick
I usually give a fair amount of pop quizzes. However, I let the students use their notes on the quizzes. My reasoning is because many of them do not take notes or do not take good notes. They learn very quickly the importance of taking good notes. This exercise also gives me a pretty good idea as to which students are serious about success.
Hi Christopher, Thanks for sharing some alternative assessment ideas! I especially like asking students to "teach back".
Susan Polick
I believe that since there are many types of learning, and just as many types of intelligence, the objective test is only one possible tool in the assessment toolbox. Hands on projects, where students demonstrate application of learned skills may at times give better feedback on whether the information has been actually absorbed.
Another method I use is ask the students to teach the material we have covered.
Occasionally I will ask students to create a portion of their exam by asking each student to come up with two key questions that they feel are crucial to understanding the material in the chapter (and providing their answer). I will review these for accuracy and focus.
Hi Kristopher, that peer to peer interaction is very useful. Being able to "teach-back" is a good demonstration of competence.
Susan Polick
I teach art/design classes. I find that the best assessment that we can do is in the form of project critiques. I guide the discussion of topics and tools that we have covered and applied for the project, but the students do the lion-share of the discussion. Not only are we evaluating the work and technical abilities, but students are forming their own opinions, and discussiong their ideas while promoting critical thinking of topics.
I like asking students who feel they have a good grasp on the content to help another student that feels they are struggling. I monitor their collaboration to see how well the first student can respond to questions and errors. Sometimes the struggling student will have questions or will run into issues that test the depth of understanding of the confident student in a very practical way.
Hi Lucinda, Yes, that does demonstrate mastery of the skill. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I teach medical assistant students and for many of their test they have to do the hands on part and explain the theory behind it. If they can understand why they are doing something and perform that skill proficiently- they will do excellent in their career.
Hi Elizabeth, Yes, when we are assessing students on assignments that will involve creativity, we need to go beyond objective assessments. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Through lab, students are able to show their level of skill in different ways. When students display their creativity, it is a lot different to assess than with objective testing. There is always positive feedback that can be given.
I teach in the same kind of field. If we follow procedure and the outcome is undesireable, fixing it and problem solving is part of the learing process.
