Joel,
yes,, I agree but shouldn't you also look to see to what extent students know the content? Is is mastery? Emerging?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Christen,
Agree! If you need certain objectives in a certain environment, it is imperative that the assessment take that into account also.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Casey,
You make a great point! Timing is everything. We know that we have to make sure that the assessment reflects the objectives but we don't always think about the timing.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Chastity,
You make a great point. One assessment does not make a complete assessment. There must be multiple assessments that to ensure mastery of a subject.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joni,
Great answer. Being able to use the information appropriate should be part of the assessment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Janis,
Great answer. That is a great use of Bloom's to make sure that students are learning and using the knowledge that is expected based on the objectives.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
Thank you very much.
BRIGITTE ,
You added an added dimension to the discussion; what do students come to us knowing about the content or skill. Good point!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jack,
You couldn't have said it any better! that is what assessment does!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Trista,
It is interesting that you used the statement "what a student wants to know" I wasn't sure about it until I continued to read your post. That is an interesting way to put feedback! I like it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jolly,
True! both are very important and should reflect the outcomes or objectives. Good answer!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The two most important things to consider when conducting summative asessments are 1)whether the student has learned what was expected in the unit; what is their level of mastery, and 2)can this knowledge be applied to real-world situations.
In a course that I currently teach, the unit paper has two parts to it. The first part is research-based and requires the students to demonstrate their mastery of the unit's readings/research. The second part is application based and requires the students to apply that information to real-world scenarios.
Some students are proficient on both parts while some demonstrate mastery of one but not the other. Being able to synthesize what was learned through reading and research and then apply that knowledge is not an easy task for some. They are better with the concrete than the abstract.
Did the student gain the knowledge that was outlined in the course objectives? Can the student apply that information to real-life situations? It is easier to evaluate if the student met the course objectives through online testing, but it is very challenging to asses whether or not the student can now apply the information.
A good summative assessment should consider the following 2 points:
1) Does this assessment fairly judge students' knowledge of the materials? In other words, do the results show students knowledge of the materials, or ability to take tests? This important because many tests can be passed with without truly comprehension of the materials. I personally passed many tests relying solely on my logic and memory to get me through.
2) Does this assessment ask questions that are relevant to the topics of the course. Sometimes, faculty ask questions that are insignificant in the broad spectrum of the topic. These small tidbits of knowledge are then judged equally in importance as major concepts. That is wrong, in my opinion.
The two things to consider are:
Did the student achieve his/her competency?
If the student did not achieve their competency what can be done to help the student improve.
1. Summative feedback must be constructive to connect to the students reality.
2. Student reality must be connected to the summative feedback to expect improvement.
When providing summative feedback the process must integrate examples to demonstrate to the student where improvement is required.
The examples must be clearly connected to point values to clarify to the student the reasons for deductions.
While this is summative assessment, the formative assessment practices prepare the student to review and accept the summative feedback objectively.
Every student is sincere in what is submitted for work. They are not always objective. Proper use of formative assessment prepares the student to learn from the summative feedback with revised learning habits.
Two important things to consider are:
1) Does the assessment adequately measure the learning objectives of the course?
2) does the student response adequately display learning and understanding or have they simply memorized facts and phrases?
I like the "improve idea" as well and use this in class where I have my students re-assess their projects and group efforts after I have assessed them. It gives them some time for self reflection, which is not the last day of hte course where I would then never hav ethe chance to re-visit it. Online unfortunately doesn't offer me this opportunity however with the tight deadlines.
When conducting summative assessments, what do you believe are the two most important things to consider?
Did the student address the assignment or project with enough background information and did they approach it with all the tools I have provided them with. I usually do online chats with a combination of both lecture of background information, then on tips of the assignment and extra tools to refer to. if I see they have not used either of these, especially online, I can see they did not listen to the chats. In this case, all I can hope is that the assignment is as explanatory and complete as possible.
I agree with the real-world situation- if they think they will never use it or its just practice for something they will never do/use, it becomes useless. The more practical we can be the better in all topics or I find they disconnect.
