Amanda,
You are right. So many people just see assessment as a tool to evaluate students. Assessment will give the instructor information that may help improve delivery and/or techniques in teaching.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The most important thing to consider when looking at summative assessments is that they are assessing the designated learning targets. Each course needs to have specific learning targets that are measurable.
Students need to be able to understand those learning targets and understand how their are to demonstrate their proficiency those those skills.
Assessments should not be a mystery. Students should be able to learn from summative assessments; in fact, students should be able to self-assess on their summative assessments because they should be able to clearly see how they did or didn't demonstrate the objectives.
When conducting summative assessments, I consider student development and growth. It's important that students have learned throughout the process. I also value real world examples so it's important to see incorporation of materials in that manner.
I think having a clear understanding of your outcomes goals that you are assessing is important. This helps to give a clear understanding of what is expected of the students. Also, assessments help the instructor in improving the curriculum by see what the students where able to transfer to the assessment.
Terry,
That is true. You want to make sure your instruction, assessment is built around learning objectives of the courses.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When conducting summative assessments, it is important to align the assessment with the learning goals and objectives of the course and ensure that those objectives are stated within the rubrics designed for the course(s).
Melissa,
Boy don't we ? I think our obsession with high stakes testing has hurt this. It seems the teacher/student becomes more adversarial.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Melissa,
That is true, the formative assessment should help instructors focus on learning gaps that will guide learning reinforcement.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joseph,
True, looking holistically at the exam and looking at the patterns of learning is determining patterns of learning. We as instructors own our share of the deficiency.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kimberly,
What great technique! You really get the holistic use of summative assessments. So many educators don't use it as an improvement technique for the instructor.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Thomas,
You brought up some great points in that essentially as instructors we hope the student appreciates and understands the value of their learning assessment and course outcomes. It is truly a team effort in the entire learning experience!
When conducting summative assessments, I find the two most important things to consider are to make sure the ongoing formative assessments had taken place accordingly and in a timely fashion for effective learning experiences. Secondly, it is essential to connect the summative assessment to real-world applications of knowledge and skills and for the evaluation of the course/learning objectives.
I like what both of you had to say. I too ask instructors about summative assessments and how they help the students and the instructor. I amazed that instructors still assume it is the class' fault they have failed a quiz, test or even the final exam and think nothing of it.
I always ask that instructors go back and look at what happened.
When conducting summative assessments it is important to look for first an understanding of the material to be learned and second to see if there is anything, as an instructor, you need to go back over with students.
With summative assessments it should be easy for an instructor to see where there is a gap in the learning of a topic or a gray area. For example if more than 50% of the class misses a particular question then that should tell the instructor they need to revisit that topic before moving on to the next one.
I do something similar to this each week for my students when I finish grading their homework. I always start that next Monday off with the "Top missed question" and we review it to make sure they are understanding where they went wrong with and are ready for the next phase.
Kim Christensen.
Eyad,
Wow, you are talking about interesting summative assessments. Are you talking projects or "tests"? Or both?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Audrey,
You do want to make sure it measures what you intend it to measure. If your objectives include linking real-world application you need to make sure the assessment reflects that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Christopher,
Yes!!!! You are right, it is to gauge both teacher and student. Sometimes we are caught up in the student response we don't use the summative assessments to look at the instrument.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think the two most important things to consider is can the student write a test at the end of a section or chapter to show what they have learned or know about the subject matter. This gives us and the student a level to determine the area in which we need more specific sets of skills to teach them. Second the oral product. Can a student prepare an oral piece of work? In the end can they write out a rubric or some type of an assessment to help in the scoring of this task.
Summative assessments serve as an accountability measure that is typically represented as a grade earned. When conducting summative assessments, the two most important things to consider are:
1) link real-world applications of knowledge and skills;
2) the ability to measure student learning relative to outcomes/objectives.
I believe the summative assessments gauge both the teacher and the student. It is my belief that both share an equal responsibility in the learning process. The student obviously must be an active participant but the instructor must be a mentor to that student. So, a summative assessment must gauge both the student's ability to meet and exceed industry standard goals and objectives (skillets) and the teachers ability to mentor the student to those skills. I also believe that assessments must build confidence and connect several topics together, as in asking the student to perform an end of course practical (hands on) exam.
-Chris
