Slide1 : Seminar XIII
Classroom Assessment and Active Learning
Techniques
Norm Dennis
A Teacher-Designed CAT : A Teacher-Designed CAT
A Teacher-Designed CAT : A Teacher-Designed CAT
What did we do? : What did we do? Given a task with instructions
anonymous
time limit
informal group
Produced a specific product
Response
summarize the results
clarify or enhance
feedback on the learning about a specific objective Classroom
Assessment
Technique
Why did we do this? : Why did we do this? Assume a lot about students’ learning, but these assumptions remain untested.
Feedback from quizzes, exams, and homework comes too late to affect learning. CAT’s give us focused feedback on the learning.
They can enhance the learning. They can
gives us information on where we should go
CATs Are : CATs Are Simple, quick, and anonymous
Tied to one or move specific objectives
Provide focused feedback
Moves the teaching towards the learning
Some CAT’s We’ve Seen : Some CAT’s We’ve Seen Background Knowledge Probe
Feedback on student’s prior learning to help determine the “starting” point.
Muddiest Point
Learners must quickly identify what they don’t understand and articulate that.
Approximate Analogy
How students are connecting the “new” relationship to the one they are familiar with.
Some CAT’s We’ve Seen : Some CAT’s We’ve Seen Teacher Designed Feedback Forms
Focused questions and self-assessment
Self-assessment of…
To realize their own learning preferences, strengths, styles
CAT’s - Most Effective : CAT’s - Most Effective Begins with educational values
a vision of the kinds of learning we most value
Reflects learning as multi-dimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
Not only what students know, but what they can do with what they know... “What students had learned was missing a crucial piece. I had not
taught them the thinking processes that they needed in order to use
the knowledge that they had acquired.” - Schnitzer
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives : Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives For the
Cognitive
Domain
CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy : CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy Muddiest Point:
Learners must quickly identify what they don’t
understand and articulate that.
Comprehension
CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy : CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy Approximate Analogy:
How students are connecting the “new”
relationship to the one they are familiar with.
Synthesis
CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy : CATs and Bloom’s Taxonomy Self-assessment of...:
To realize their own learning preferences,
strengths, etc.
Evaluation
In Summary - Using CATs : In Summary - Using CATs Focus on an objective and level of learning.
Plan the classroom assessment.
Teach the lesson.
Implement the CAT as part of the lesson.
Analyze the students’ feedback.
Interpret the results.
Communicate the results to your students, and adjust instruction as required. Keep it
Simple!
Slide15 :
A Question With you neighbor...
Identify at least 3 pros and 3 cons to the traditional lecture style of teaching.
You have 2 minutes to develop this list.
Be ready to share.
Active Learning? : Active Learning? “The need for a term like ‘active learning’ stems from
the educational tradition that endorses information
dissemination at the expense of intellectual and
emotional engagement - a tradition that sees learning
as a noun rather than a verb.”
-Judi Conrad, 1993
Why Active Learning? : Why Active Learning?
Why Active Learning? : Why Active Learning? 1997 Study by Terenzini, et al
Active and collaborative instructional methods
Design, problem-solving, and group skills
322 students, 23 classes, 6 campuses
“…produce statistically significant and substantially greater skill gains than do traditional teaching practices.”
Types of Active Learning : Types of Active Learning Modified Lecture
Questioning
Informal Cooperative Learning
Formal Cooperative Learning
Stresses the product
Collaborative Learning
Stresses the process
Modified Lecture: Questioning : Modified Lecture: Questioning Good questioning provides
activity breaks in the lecture
stimulate critical thinking
Good questioning provides you an opportunity to build rapport
….learning students names
“Paramount to an improved classroom” - Bonwell and Eison, 1991
Modified Lecture: Informal Cooperative Groups : Modified Lecture: Informal Cooperative Groups Temporary, ad hoc groups lasting a few minutes working on an explicit task to produce a product.
Cognitively active w/in a lecture setting
Enhances the learning
Minimizes attention span problems
The Process : The Process Organize students ahead of time
groups 2 to 4 neighbors
randomly assign one recorder per group
After 10 to 15 minutes of lecturing
give a task to do
recorders write down the responses
you circulate
Randomly call on student groups
Some Group Tasks : Some Group Tasks Recalling prior material
Brainstorm on what you know
Responding to questions
Problem solving
Generating questions & summarizing
Explaining written material
Completing a CAT
Questioning, Informal Co-op Learning Groups & CATs : Questioning, Informal Co-op Learning Groups & CATs Simple techniques that engage the learner and provide feedback on the teaching and learning
Effectively moving teaching towards learning
But…
If You Want to Try…Plan : If You Want to Try…Plan Choose an activity that makes sense to you
Try only one or two in a semester & within a setting that you are already comfortable with.
Only use those techniques you have tried yourself, and explain why and how to your students
Allow for more time than you think
Be patient, persistent, and practice
References : References Angelo, T.A. and K.P. Cross, 1993, Classroom Assessment Techniques, 2nd Ed., Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Conrad, J. 1993. Active Learning. The National Teaching and Learning Forum. Vol. 2, No. 6, pp 8-10.
Bonwell, C.C. and J. A. Eison, 1991, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1, George Washington University.
Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T. and K.A. Smith. 1991. Cooperative learning: Increasing college faculty instructional productivity. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4, 1991.
References : References Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning, American Association for Higher Education, One Dupont Circle, Suite 360, Washington, D.C., 30026-1110.
Schnitzer, S., 1993, Designing an Authentic Assessment, Educational Leadership, April, 32-35.
Terenzini, P.T., Cabrera, A.F., Colbeck, C.L., Parente, J. M., and S.A. Bjorklund. 1999. Collaborative and Active Learning Approaches: Do They Work for Everyone? Association for Institutional Research, Seattle, WA., June.