Title:
Three (and a half) ways of re-thinking assessments
Abstract:
As universities think about how to support faculty members to become better teachers, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on enhancing classroom practice and the role of technology-supported learning. These have undoubtedly had great success in supporting student engagement, motivation and learning. However, this talk will focus on an area that has received somewhat less attention: the critical role that assessment plays in determining what and how students learn. I will the characteristics of common types of assessment, and suggest that there are ways to re-think these that realize many of the benefits to student learning that formative assessment (“assessment for learning”) brings. I will share three practical examples that I have worked on, supported by relevant research evidence as to their effectiveness. The final example – very much a work in progress for me, so only a ‘half’ example at this point – takes us into the foothills of the movement known as ‘ungrading’: a conscious effort to move focus away from assigning a grade and back to the process of learning.
