Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing

Assessment means a number of different things in different contexts. Sometimes, as teachers, we assess our classes as learning spaces and thus our teaching of them; other times, we evaluate tests or written work that our students produce based on our assignments. Gaining popularity is the practice of allowing students a voice (and thus an investment) in their own assessment. The links below offer suggestions about how to assess various activities from class, as well as how to include students in this endeavor.

Classroom Assessment

Classroom Assessment Techniques (NTLF): Discusses classroom assessment as both a "teaching approach and a set of techniques" which differ from more traditional evaluation instruments in that CATs assist teachers in knowing what students are and are not understanding during each class period so that future classes can be modified.
Nine Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning (AAHE): Highlights key principles like the connection between student learning and educational values, and recommends assessment practices which are "multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time."

Assessing Written Work

Assessing Writing Across the Curriculum (Beth Young, U of Central FL): A brief overview of assessing writing and useful links to various methods of assessment (analytic and holistic) in different disciplines (composition, physics, etc.). Young also provides a check sheet for student self- and peer- evaluation of writing.
WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition: This statement, adopted by increasing numbers of composition programs in the country, approaches assessment through the broad categories of Rhetorical Knowledge; Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing; Processes; and Knowledge of Conventions..
Writing Assessment: A Position Statement (CCCC): Abstract from the site: "Assessments of written literacy should be designed and evaluated by well-informed current or future teachers of the students being assessed, for purposes clearly understood by all the participants; should elicit from student writers a variety of pieces, preferably over a period of time; should encourage and reinforce good teaching practices; and should be solidly grounded in the latest research on language learning."

Testing

Percentage/Points v. Normal Curve: Two Methods of Grading (Kathleen McKinney, Sociology): McKinney discusses the differences between using percentages/points and using a normal curve.
Student-Generated Test Questions (Francisco Silva, Psychology): Silva discusses his use of student-generated test questions; specifically, he encouraged students after each class to create two essay questions based on the readings, lecture, and discussion for the class.
Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Create Multiple-Choice Tests (U of Cape Town): In this appendix to an online book (full book available from this link, too), the authors offer examples of questions that function on the different levels of Bloom's taxonomy.
Writing Multiple-Choice Tests (CTLT): A quick tip-sheet of items to consider when creating multiple-choice tests, as well as the pros and cons of such tests, and a list of resources available in the CAT library.

Evaluating Group Work

Peer Evaluation Tips (G. Kincaid, UTexas): Suggestions on creating a peer-evaluation rubric for students so that they can contribute to the overall assessment.
Tips for Grading Group Work (Kathleen McKinney, Sociology): McKinney offers helpful suggestions for evaluating group work, including group productivity reports and "ticket in" activities. She also notes the importance of the teacher's explaining, up-front, the reasons for group work and the outcomes the teacher expects.

Other Resources

Assessment Links for Instructors (Clemson)
Assessment Practices in Art & Design (Barry Jackson, Middlesex U)
Bibliography on Assessing Writing (J. Pariza, NIU)
Group Work & Study Teams (Barbara David, UC-Berkeley)
Multiple-Choice Tests (Nat'l Center for Fair & Open Testing)
Office of Student Assessment (ISU)
Writing Multiple-Choice Questions That Demand Critical Thinking (North Essex CC)