My course uses 5 multiple choice progress review quizzes, over a three week period to asses how students are doing and may offer help .We have about 65% hands on labs that we review. The finial exam is a multiple choice test and hands on labs.All tests are open book
The school at which I teach,has several campuses.We are supplied with standardized tesrs.
The tests I use are standardized for my class.
With this in mind I normally have to make a point of teaching to the test, rather than testing what I teach.
This Friday is a teating day and the class I'm teaching is H-D motors so the student well be tested on the motor with a series of check points and a 25q. written test afterwards which consists of several tpyes of tests including true and false to completion questions. This seems to work great. Greg
An excellent question Dr. Goodman! The format for assessment would depend on the nature of the competency. For example, to assess a competency such as a working knowledge of English grammar, a standardized test might be chosen. For a competency such as producing a 3D CAD design of a mechanical part, an evaluation of a student’s work or demonstration would be appropriate. It is essential in determining which assessments are to be used that we assure the assessment is reliable i.e. does it consistently measure and produce the same results when it is used. Another major consideration is whether the assessment is valid. Does it measure what we intend it to measure. There is face validity i.e the assessment is definitely related to the competency but more importantly is content validity - does the assessment sufficiently measure all the facets of the competency.
The development of competencies and choice of assessments should be a continuing process. As the needs of the career fields change so must the competencies and therefore also the assessments.
Thanks Susan,
So once you've defined those competencies, how do you determine the format for assessment and its effectivenes as a method?
In Career Education we are most often developing competencies that are required to be successful in the field. Having defined competencies and assessing for those compentencies assures that we have graduates who can perform well in their career field.
I start with the criteria related to the objective. By starting with the end in mind I am able to find the appropriate format for testing that will allow the student to provide evidence that they have met the outcome. Based on the assessment of performance I can figure out whether or not the test really allowed them to demonstrate their knowledge.
What approach have you found the most effective Susan?
Thanks in advance
Hi Don - Is the skills testing spaced intermittently over the course of the program or administered at the end of the students' program?
Skills testing is the major element in my classes. We also give multiple choice quizzes and a final multiple choice test, but the emphasis is always placed on the skills testing, which takes place over a 3 day period, where the student demonstrates his/her ability to perform the tasks assigned.
I so agree Armando! This really is I believe a huge difference between the private for-profit schools and the public non-profits. Our students are our customers and we strive to give the best customer service.
i look at it as a consumer purchasing an item and being satisfied with the end result. teaching has to have a good feeling you accomplished something and the student (consumer) learned from it.
when i speak to student i give them a simple task ,then let them in a group talk ,then let them go and solve the problem and explain among themselves,thinking,logic, theory,process
The question you pose has 2 answers. There are 2 types of testing formats that are utilized at our campus. The first is Multiple choice. This format is used to check for students recall of information delivered during lecture. The questions and format is chosen by cirriculum and deliverd by the instructor. Multiple versions are used to discourage cheating.
Second type of testing are hands on tasks, or manipulative tasks, that was performed by the student in lab. The tasks can change from student to student, but the difficulty should be equal. The type of task chosen is one of relevance to the field and level of difficulty based on the type of class taught.This checks the students ability to perform required tasks and competency of the student to assess their lab grade.
Being an instructor for a production class, a good portion of the final grade comes from an individual practical skills exam. It is graded using the same rubric and criteria that is used in the daily assessment of skills. It allows each student to demonstrate learned skills and apply them to a final product. A review is given which allows students to refine the skills further, with a small amount of students who can actually assess themselves.
My class is about society and culture- I therefore use critical thinking questions. I use multiple-part essay type questions that are based on topics discussed in class. I ask for definitions in their own words, followed by application qestions - how does this apply to you, your family, or your society. I further ask for opinions that require support. I assess a value for each part of the qusestiona nd expalin this process fully on the first day and each week as I hand out the questions for the week. The students are required to complete these questions as homework, allowing more classroom time to cover material.
I am a math instructor and for my tests I ask my students to show steps in solving problems so they can see at which step they encounter problems and work to correct that problem.I gives quizzes before exam and review the concepts before the exam. I see improvements in my student's skill and also their confidence as a result.
Hi Anne- I like the idea of real-life transactions being used as the assessments in your accounting class. Although I agree that would be difficult to use as a final assessment. Susan
In my computer class I only use skill application tests. For example when I teach Microsoft Excel the students must demonstrate that they know how to write a formula or create a graph. In my accounting class I design my tests so they present "real Life" transactions that the students must journalize.
However because of time constraint at the end of the semester I had to design my accounting final multiple choice. I do not really like it but I simply would not have enough time to correct the final by the deadline impose by the school.
One criteria I use is the students education level prior to attending post-secondary school. I may be more inclined to use a multiple choice type assessment over an essay type.
