Constructive Alignment: Assessment
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Goethe-University Frankfurt
Institute of Human Geography
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ILOs
Learning Activities
Assessment
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Structure
use assessment tasks that enable you to judge if and how well students performances meet the intended learning outcomes
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Biggs & Tang 2007
state the intended learning outcomes in the form of standards the students are to attain; use appropriate verbs that describe what students need to be able to do
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create a learning environment likely to bring about the intended learning outcomes
develop grading criteria (learning rubrics) for judging the quality of student performance
1. Designing an Assessment task
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1. Designing an Assessment task
Norm-referenced | Criterion-referenced |
| |
results reflect comparisons with other students | results reflect level of criteria met by the individual student |
Grading depends on distribution of other students’ results in class | grading depends on previously set criteria, but not on other students in class |
grading cannot be anticipated | grading can be anticipated by both teacher and students |
identifying students: assesses who learned better than who, suitable for assessment in a job application to choose the best person → ILOs cannot be assessed! | identifying performances and ILOs: assesses whether an individual’s learning meets intended outcomes → ILOs can be assessed! |
Example: a teacher adds points in an exam then looks at the whole class looking at distributions and arranges grades accordingly | Example: a teacher predefined what criteria need to be met to get a “B” before an assessment |
Biggs & Tang 2007, pp. 164-194
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1. Designing an Assessment task
Biggs & Tang 2007
Some principles:
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Biggs & Tang 2007
Formulating assessment tasks:
Tips for evaluating own assessment tasks:
→ Does this task test my ILOs?
→ Can I answer the questions myself?
1. Designing an Assessment task
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Biggs & Tang 2007, p. 58
Aligning ILOs & assessment tasks (ATs) - an Example:
“1 Explain in depth why a particular course topic is important to teaching
AT: Set yourself a 2000-word essay on one of two nominated topics
2 Explain how the component course topics interrelate
AT: Concept map of course; letter-to-a-friend
3 Reflect on your teaching in terms of a working theory you have gained from the course
AT: Present selected parts of diary with comments: explain how your portfolio items meet ILOs and self-evaluate
4 Evaluate a situation that has gone wrong and apply a solution
AT: Write a case study of a critical incident in your own teaching and how you dealt with it”
1. Designing an Assessment task
use assessment tasks that enable you to judge if and how well students performances meet the intended learning outcomes
Geo
Training
Biggs & Tang 2007
state the intended learning outcomes in the form of standards the students are to attain; use appropriate verbs that describe what students need to be able to do
1
2
3
4
create a learning environment likely to bring about the intended learning outcomes
develop grading criteria (learning rubrics) for judging the quality of student performance
2. Designing a rubric�
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2. Designing a rubric
Biggs & Tang 2007
dimensions
What should students be able to do? How can I test that?
What dimensions do I expect?, Examples: Introduction, method etc; argumentation, comprehensiveness of argumentation …
What is the best possible answer? What is the worst possible answer?
What answer would be enough to pass?/to be satisfactory?
Biggs & Tang 2007
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2. Designing a rubric: sample template
| not acceptable | pass | satisfactory | highly satisfactory | best expectable outcome |
Dimension 1: … | | | | | |
Dimension 2: … | | | | | |
Dimension 3: … | | | | | |
For a filled out examples see:
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2. Designing a rubric: sample template
Sample Template
Theme of class: “Composition in Writing”
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Literature
Biggs, John B. & Tang, Catherine So-kum (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does. Maidenhead : McGraw-Hill/Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.