Assessing-U is written in the style of a blog. Its purpose is to share current issues in assessment, observations, and summaries of new resources. The viewpoints represented belong to the post’s author.
Want to know how your class is going? Ask your students! Getting feedback from your students throughout the semester provides you multiple checks on the student experience and helps you determine how to adjust your course to better meet their
Students Need to Know How they are Doing in Your Class Generally speaking, students want more frequent feedback about their course performance. Being unsure about their performance causes unnecessary anxiety and can negatively affect motivation to stay interested and engaged
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are quick, low-stakes methods used to gauge student learning. CATs are highly effective and efficient student-centered strategies to check for understanding. Instructors can use the information as feedback to modify activities, provide additional support, or change
Many of my conversations with faculty focus on the challenges they have with doing good learning assessment in large classes. The best learner-centered assessment approaches are no match for 200-person enrollment. I mean, can you imagine reading 200 5-page essays?
Course assessments—exams, essays, research papers, performances, etc.—are stressful for students and instructors alike. As instructors, we can help reduce that pressure by attending to a few elements when designing course assessments. Through careful alignment of assessments to learning outcomes and
