Peter Newbury Center for Teaching Development, UCSD ctd.ucsd.edu 5 February 2014

1. What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
1
Assessment
on target by hans_s on flickr CC-BY-ND

2. resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-winter-2014/
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
ASSESSMENT
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu
#ctducsd
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm Roosevelt College Room

3. Scholarly approach to teaching:
learning
outcomes
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
3
Assessment

4. Learning outcomes…
 clarify to the students and to the instructors the
what it means to “understand” each concept
 are statements that complete the sentence, “By this
end of this lesson/unit/course, you will be able to…”
 begins with an action verb, typically chosen by the
cognitive Bloom’s Level of the outcome (remember,
comprehend, apply, analyze, evaluate, create)
[Intro Astronomy] deduce from patterns in the properties of
the planets, moons, asteroids and other bodies that the Solar
System had single formation event.
4
Assessment

5. Scholarly approach to teaching:
learning
outcomes
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
5
Assessment
how people learn,
alt to lecture

6. We know How People Learn
…and what it means for teaching [1]:
1. Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understanding that their students bring with
them. Classrooms must be learner centered.
2. Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth,
providing many examples in which the same concept
is at work and providing a firm foundation of
factual knowledge.
3. The teaching of metacognitive (“thinking about
thinking”) skills should be integrated into the
curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
6
Assessment

7. Scholarly approach to teaching:
learning
outcomes
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?
Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative
cwsei.ubc.ca
7
Assessment
assessment
how people learn,
alt to lecture

8. Vocabulary check: assessment
summative assessment
formative assessment
is that which gives a final
judgment of evaluation of
proficiency, such as grades or
scores.
explicitly communicates to
students about some specific
aspects of their performance
relative to specific target
criteria, and … provides
information that helps students
progress toward meeting those
criteria…[It] informs students’
subsequent learning.
(How Learning Works, p. 139)
(How Learning Works, p. 139)
8
Assessment

9. Feedback and Practice that
Enhance Learning [2]
Goal-directed practice coupled with
targeted feedback are critical to learning.
Excellent Shot by Varsity Life on flickr CC
9
Assessment
Music by Piulet on flickr CC

10. Feedback and Practice that
Enhance Learning [2]
Goal-directed practice coupled with
targeted feedback are critical to learning.
[G]oals can direct the nature of focused practice, provide
the basis for evaluating observed performance, and shape
the targeted feedback that guides students’ future efforts.
[p. 127]
[T]argeted feedback gives students prioritized information
about how their performance does or does not meet the
criteria so they can understand how to improve their future
performance.
[p. 141]
10
Assessment

11. Feedback and Practice that
Enhance Learning [2]
Goal-directed practice coupled with
targeted feedback are critical to learning.




11
Assessment
practice is goal-directed
productive practice
timely feedback
feedback at appropriate level

12. Aside: exploring these characteristics
 analogy
Students come to the classroom with preconceptions
about how the world works…Teachers must draw out
and work with the preexisting understandings that their
students bring with them.
(How People Learn [1])
 contrasting cases
Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth,
providing many examples in which the same concept is
at work and providing a firm foundation of factual
knowledge
(How People Learn [1])
12
Assessment

13. Scenarios
In a moment but not yet, find 2-3 others with
the same colored sheet as you. Together, think
of examples/scenarios of both cases, in
sports/hobbies and in teaching and learning.
feedback at feedback not at
appropriate level appropriate level
productive practice unproductive practice
practice is goal-directed practice not goal-directed
timely feedback untimely feedback
13
Assessment

14. teaching and learning
sport/hobby
Feedback at Appropriate Level
14
Assessment
Feedback not at Appropriate Level

15. teaching and learning
sport/hobby
Productive Practice
15
Assessment
Unproductive Practice

16. teaching and learning
sport/hobby
Practice Goal-directed
16
Assessment
Practice not Goal-directed

17. teaching and learning
sport/hobby
Timely Feedback
17
Assessment
Untimely Feedback

18. What kind of assessment gives
timely feedback at an
appropriate level to support
goal-directed and
productive practice?
18
Assessment

19. 19
Assessment

20. Poster and Presentation Grading Rubric
20
Assessment
Robert Talbert
tinyurl.com/RobertTalbertRubric

21. Rubrics…
 goal-directed
[G]oals can direct the nature of focused practice,
provide the basis for evaluating observed
performance, and shape the targeted feedback that
guides students’ future efforts.
 targeted feedback
[T]argeted feedback gives students prioritized
information about how their performance does or
does not meet the criteria so they can understand
how to improve their future performance.
21
Assessment

22. Rubrics…
 need to be given BEFORE and BUILT INTO assignment
 outline what it takes to improve: path to improvement
 offer an appropriate level of challenge (defined by
the learning outcomes)
 support growth mindsets (see Dweck [3])
 give students opportunities to practice being
metacognitive
22
Assessment

23. Take Away:
Plan your course
by synchronizing and
aligning your learning
outcomes, activities and
assessments.
23
Assessment
What should
students
learn?
What are
students
learning?
What instructional
approaches
help students
learn?

24. resources: ctd.ucsd.edu/programs/weekly-workshops-winter-2014/
Feb 12 Peer Instruction I: Writing Good Peer Instruction (“Clicker”) Questions
Feb 19 Peer Instruction II: Best Practices for Running Peer Instruction with Clickers
CTD WEEKLY WORKSHOPS:
ASSESSMENT
Peter Newbury
Center for Teaching Development,
University of California, San Diego
pnewbury@ucsd.edu
@polarisdotca
ctd.ucsd.edu
#ctducsd
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
12:00 – 12:50 pm Roosevelt College Room

25. References
1.
2.
25
National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R.
Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., & Norman, M.K.
(2010). How Learning Works. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.
Assessment