Educational Assessment

A Useful Strategy for Assessing Class Participation

One of the changes we have seen in academia in the last 30 years or so is the shift from lecture-based classes to courses that encourage a student-centered approach. Few instructors would quibble with the notion that promoting active participation helps students to think critically and to argue more effectively. However, even the most savvy instructors are still confounded about how to best evaluate participation, particularly when it is graded along with more traditional assessment measures, such as essays, exams, and oral presentations…

Denise D. Knight September 14, 2008

Developing an Alternate Assessment Exercise for an Introductory Chemistry Course

In recent years, my desire to teach students more than chemistry content has increased considerably. I now want my students (even those in nonmajor, introductory courses) to learn how chemistry connects to their daily lives. Learning the nomenclature rules for monosubstituted amides helps students in the introductory course on their content-based standardized exam at the end of the semester, but it does not help them appreciate the relevance of chemistry across various disciplines. I have also struggled with…

Ricky Cox August 31, 2008

Educational Assessment: A Different Kind of Feedback

worked in a small education studies department that used a wonderfully simple, three-part conceptual framework for responding to student work — whether oral presentations, written papers, or even student teaching. First, we modeled active listening by succinctly summarizing what we understood to be the students’ theses or main points in their presentation, paper, or lesson. Next, we detailed…

Ron Byrnes August 28, 2008

Educational Assessment Options and Opportunities

As interest in scholarly work on teaching and learning continues to grow and more faculty are trying their hands at work in this arena, materials are needed that summarize the available methods and approaches used in systematic analyses of classroom practices and learning outcomes. Just such a resource appeared last year in the Journal of Engineering Education…

Maryellen Weimer, PhD July 6, 2008

Feedback Forms for Peer Assessment in Groups

Many faculty incorporate a peer-assessment component in team projects. Because faculty aren’t present when the groups interact and therefore don’t know who’s doing what in the group, they let students provide feedback on the contributions of their group-mates. In addition to giving the teacher accurate information on which to base individual grades, the process gives students…

Maryellen Weimer, PhD June 1, 2008

Educational Assessment

A Useful Strategy for Assessing Class Participation

Developing an Alternate Assessment Exercise for an Introductory Chemistry Course

Educational Assessment: A Different Kind of Feedback

Educational Assessment Options and Opportunities

Feedback Forms for Peer Assessment in Groups

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