Chapter 3: How do I create a good assessment?

Chapter 3: How do I create a good assessment?

by Mahaliah Peddle

EDUC 3604​

Multiple Choice

What elements of teaching and learning should be aligned?

• Curriculum, individual needs, evaluation

• Curriculum, instruction, assessment

• Content, information, attitudes

• Learning styles, social context, resources

​Step 1: Unpack the intended learning outcomes

Open Ended

Why is unpacking curricular outcomes important for good assessment? Write 1-2 short sentences for your answer.

Explicit content: what students should learn (listed in outcome)

Implicit content: ​prerequisite knowledge and skills students need to engage with the outcome

Conditional content:​ how/under what conditions the students will demonstrate their knowledge

Grade 6 Math outcome​

Explain and apply the order of operations, excluding exponents, with and without technology (limited to whole numbers).

​Discuss:

​What content is explicit in this outcome?

​Implicit?

​Conditional?

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Multiple Choice

Learning takes place in 3 key domains: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. Psychomotor learning focuses on:

• Thinking and intellectual knowledge

• Values and judgements

• Perceptual abilities and kinesthetics

• Self-regulation and executive function

​Which level(s) of Bloom's taxonomy does this learning outcome target?

​Grade 2 ELA: retell the events portrayed in oral, print and other media texts in sequence

​Let's discuss examples from our own lessons in PSI that targeted different behaviours from Bloom's taxonomy.

​Discussion (Step 1)

​Why do you think it could be useful for all members working in a school to share a framework for unpacking learning outcomes (e.g. all teachers, administrators, and people working in the school district all use the same version of Bloom's taxonomy)?

​Step 2: Create a table of specifications

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Multiple Choice

What is a table of specifications?

• A table that lays out the content, level of cognitive demand, and types of assessment items on an assessment

• A table that describes the general and specific learner outcomes and the list of activities the teacher will lead

• A table that lists all the assessments the teacher will conduct during a unit of study

• A table containing all the questions and their weighting on an exam

​Discussion (Step 2)

How does creating a table of specifications contribute to the reliability and validity of an assessment?

​Step 3: Clarify your purposes for and circumstances of assessing student learning

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Multiple Select

Select the 3 types of assessment discussed in Step 3

• summative assessment

• pre-assessment

• cognitive assessment

• formative assessment

​Step 4: Determine the appropriate types of assessment items/activities to use

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Multiple Choice

What is a a select-response assessment item?

• Students select the format of their response

• Students choose from answer choices provided by teacher

• Students provide original answers to the question

Multiple Choice

What is a constructed-response assessment item?

• Students provide the answers to questions

• Students choose from a list of possible answers

• Students construct the assessment item themselves

​Discussion (Step 4)

​Provide some examples of select and constructed-response assessment items.

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What are the pros and cons of select​-response and constructed-response assessment items?

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​When would you use each item type?

​Step 5: Determine the appropriate number and weight of assessment items

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Multiple Choice

What is an effective way to determine the weight of assessment items?

• Weigh all items equally (i.e. 20 questions each worth 2 marks)

• Weigh items based on relative importance of outcome they are assessing

• Weigh all item types the same (i.e. all multiple choice Qs have same weight)

• Constructed-response items weigh more than select-response items

​Step 6: Create and select assessment items that are valid and reliable

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​Discussion (Step 6)

​What are some steps we can take to ensure our assessments actually assess what we want to assess (i.e they are valid and reliable)?

​Step 7: Assemble the assessment

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Open Ended

Name one way we can ensure that the layout of a test sets students up for success.

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Discussion

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What are some considerations for designing assessments in your subject major?