Sabrina,
Great post. How do you set your expectation for this type fo assessment? do you use rubrics.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I believe that it is essential to relate the topics and objectives to real like scenarios It helps the student.
My thoughts on summative assessments are that the content of the summative needs to include the content of the course session. If it includes other information that the students may not have learned, the assessment will not be valid.
The other thing that is very important is the use. Is the assessment user friendly for both the instructor and student.
Valerie Miller
Cristy,
I agree with you. Students seem to retain the information better if they can connect it to the real world or to something in their careers.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Valerie,
It is truly summing up knowledge or skills. You do need to make sure it is friendly for both student and instructor. I have seen technology for assessment that was great until they had so many on the website that it crashed. This was part of our state testing. Students were a nervous wreck but it wasn't their fault.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When conducting summative assessments you have to consider the learning objectives of the course and the rubric. As an instructor you want to know are your students, as a whole, grasping the material and is your grading a fair representation of what you are teaching.
Thank you
With this type of assessment, in my opinion it is important to assess information that relates to what was previously taught and to make sure the dialog can be interpreted correctly via the computer to avoid confusion.
Kimberley,
What a great post. The objectives and the rubric are really the bookends of learning. How the students fill the gaps is what we need to analyze.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ramonica,
You make a great point pretest does help you focus on learning and provide students with individualized help by providing electronic resources.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
First, we must ensure that there is a direct connection between the assessment and learning objective. Without this, the students are not truly absorbing the overall concepts of the course, and the assessment will not be a reliable picture of what the students learned. Also, the instructor will not have an accurate picture of what modifications or adjustments must be made in order to ensure that the students absorb the learning objectives. Secondly, summative evaluations should span a range of knowledge areas or skills. Every student should be developed in their critical thinking ability. While we should make assessments based on the lowest level of learning (remembering) through multiple choices quizzes, etc., we should not avoid making assessments also based on creativity (i.e. planning) in order to determine how well the students can apply the class concepts.
The two most important things are material you want the student to take away from the course and if they student understood that material.
1. First does the summative assessment directly map to the corresponding course learning outcomes/objectives (CLOs)?
2. Second does the assessment measure what it intends to measure (validity)?
Aundrea,
You make such an important point. There must be a connection between the assessment and the learning objective and students must understand that connection. Our students in higher ed don't want busy work they want something that makes sense to them regarding their learning and they deserve it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When conducting summative assessments, I believe ensuring that the assessment is occurring at the correct point in the course and that the student has been exposed to the information at an optimal level. The instructor should be careful that the summative assessment does not cover too much information which could cause the student to be unsuccessful.
Secondly the Summative Assessment should cover a degree of learning levels so the student can demonstrate their knowledge or skill.
Heather,
True, and they should match your objective of the course. They all should lead to learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eric,
That is true! It should correspond with the outcomes but that is what you want students to know and to do.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Karen,
You make such an important point. Timing is everything and we don't really think about that. Great post!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When using summative assessment, I believe that it is important to relate the topics and objectives to real life situations, and whether students can take these learned skills and transfer them to real life situations.
Thank you,
Dawn
Dawn,
You make a great point. You want students to connect the learning with previous learning, experiences, and real life experiences. Students tend to retain the knowledge better and longer.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think it is great how we acknowledge that these assments are also for the instructor. So often we forget to reflect on our roles and responsibilitie as educators. Are we presenting the material in a diversified manner, are we engaging, are our medians relevant?
These are all aspects we must take into consideration.
