Assessments
How can assessments be valid and reliable if teachers can grade tests differently?
I think that this comment is wonderful!!!! I too agree that it is inportant and informative for the staff and the students in which we are instructing. I feel that the students would appreciate this and really feel that they aren't just being pushed into something that they might not be fully prepared for.
Shake,
I understand your concern.
One way to address this, and many schools do this, is to be clear about what students should know at the end of a course. Many schools have regular meetings where faculty can discuss their methods of assessment.
Hi Kristi,
Both summative and formative evaluation strategies give students the opportunities to show their learning. Each evaluation point helps to show the student the growth they have and are making toward the completion of the course and their career goals.
Gary
Assessing student learning is a monumental task that does leave room for interpretation and varied standards. With summative assessments, using a rubric is one of the best methods I’ve encountered so you and the students know exactly what is expected. Rubrics must be designed in advance to be most useful. To remain even more objective, use questions such as: Did they include a scale? Did they cite 3 or more references to support their ideas? A yes/no grading format removes the guesswork in assessing student learning. Don’t forget the importance, however, of formative assessments—those quick checks which occur daily and guide our instruction. I feel like I have a much better idea of how many students understand concepts through the use of things like exit tickets or pinch cards to immediately assess their learning.
Hi Shake,
In reality they won't be unless extensive research has been done with the question pool and then repeated field trials have been conducted. What is the most effective way of assessing students is to base the tests on industrial/business standards. This way the teacher is not setting the standard but the industry/business is. For general education classes teachers can feel comfortable in their assessments if they giving the students opportunities to show that they have mastery of the content in a number of different ways. The use of both objective and subjective assessments will give student alternative ways of demonstrating what they know. The key in all of this is the instructor has to feel that he/she is comfortable that they are learning what the students have learned through their testing methods.
Gary
