Hi Richard- thanks for your post to the forum. I also like take home essays for the same reasons you cite. Do you grade those essays differently than essays they may write in classroom assessments? Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I feel take-home essays. Thisgives them time to critically analyze the material, research their answers, and revise their work.
I combine quizzes and hands-on exercises on class. Quizzes will provide me a feedback about their learning capabilities, while hands-on exercises will help them to assure their knowledge.
Hi Sara- Thanks for your post to the forum! I think students can really get excited about projects. Do you find you have students who do not like group-work? When you assign essays are you grading on grammar and spelling as well? Best wishes - Susan
I like projects, presentations and essays that give the student an opportunity to synthesize, evaluate and analyze issues/topics we have covered. I often ask for them then to relate this to the real world and/or their personal experience. While multiple choice and true/false can be convenient, too many students will guess and I won't have a true grasp of their understanding. I also think projects and presentations relate more to what they may need to do in life... after all, it's quite common to work in groups or on projects in so many careers. I don't think many jobs ask students to write essays--but I'm a writer and I really enjoy reading student interpretation of material. :)
I think its important to provide numerous different assignments, projects, and tests using hopefully all the learning styles if possible. This way all the different ways students learn can be balanced out by the various work they are completing for the course, and no students are hurt or benefited because all the learning styles are used.
HI Scott- Thanks for your post - I agree-having tests tailored to each student's learning style is the ideal, but not very practical! Creating assessments that use a variety of assessments types is the best alternative. Best wishes - Susan
It would be nice to have 4 different tests that would cater to the learning style of each type of student. I know that is not an available meathod of testing so I feel that if you can compose a test with all, or at least 2 of the different types of questioning skill sets it may bring a broader assesment of the student.
I like to give quizzes for assessment.
It seemed liked they weren't real hype on essays but I absolutely love them. I want to know that my students truly understand how to market a product. I ask them to explain (book knowledge) but in order to get full credit for the question they then have to give personal understanding and opinions of what they have learned.
In my lower level computer information systems classes I give a weekly quiz based on content covered in class and the assigned readings, the mid term and final exams are considerably more difficult and are also objective tests. I will be using more of the completion test questions based on what I've learned from completing module 4.
My Basic web design class requires that students be able to write HTML & CSS, in this class the tests are composed of objective questions and a simple HTML document with erroneous code that they have to correct, the test also includes a design exercise where they have to compose a very simple webpage layout with some very basic functions. I also assign a final project in the class which is graded based on organization of content, usage of the learned code, the code for each page is run through an online HTML validator to check for errors, I deduct points for any errors found.
A good mixture of objective test questions and by introducing short answer tests as well as continued skill application tests will really be useful assessment tools for this particular class.
Hi Luke- Thanks for your post to the forum. You have a very thought-out plan for assessment! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
As a math instructor teaching primarily foundational courses, I assess my students' math skills through weekly quizzes. This forces the students to keep up with the material on a weekly basis instead of cramming the night before an exam. I use a final, comprehensive exam to ensure they do not "learn and dump" concepts they learn early in the quarter.
I've asked students if they prefer 3 exams versus the weekly exams, and the students almost unanimously prefer weekly quizzes. Many of these students come in with poor math skills that are compounded with poor study skills. Many need to the encouragement of weekly assessments to force them to be more disciplined in their studying approach.
I wonder if any other math instructors have had similar experiences, or if they prefer the approach of several exams during the quarter or semester coupled with quizzes or homework assignments.
I like to quiz for assessment.
Hi Kristi- Thanks for your post to the forum. You are wise to vary your assessment techniques as students often perform better with a specific type of assessment, so you will be better able to judge their knowledge/skill if you include as many types as possible over the duration of the class. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I find that using a variety of assessment methods gives me more information on how much a student has learned. I use a case study or project, multiple choice and short essay tests, group discussions and a chapter quiz.
I give quizzes regularly. They consist of multiple choice, matching, fill in the blanks,and sometimes problem solutions. These are all text oriented. I also give practical application tests to see that the students can do the actual hands-on procedures. My psychology teacher gave tests with T/F, multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, Labeling parts, and short answer questions on her finals and when I finished her final I felt that she knew exactly what I had learned in her class. (She was a testing major)
Since I teach Human Anatomy and Physiology, I primarily use completion tests for diagrams that must be memorized. For general content and terminology, I use Multiple choice. I will not use True/False questions as a general rule in my AP classes because TESTS TEACH. I do not want to take a chance of a student in a health field remembering a "fact" about the human body that turned out to be a false response on a test. I once had a mentor who said his philosophy was that True/False questions have no place in studies of religion or medicine and I had to concede his point. With that in mind, if I do use True/False, I require that the false responses be corrected by the student on the test.
Susan,
For my students, the best learning method is short and long essays. The reason I say this is that most of the students are adult-learners and have some work experience. Furthermore, most of the students have some prior college experience. Finally, my students can apply their work experiences within my classes via real-world deliverables.
Amir
"Grading is discretioary- assessment is mandatory." I forget who said that, but I put great emphasis on formative assessment because it guides one's teaching.
