Assessment - student perspective

From the student's perspective, well at least from my students, the only assessment they care about (at this point) is the assessment that will give them a final grade in my class (summative). I constantly hear, "Is this going to be on the test?" "How are you going to ask us about this?" "Is this going to be an essay question?" "Why can't you give multiple choice because then I can just 'recognize' an answer?" (Yes, that last one was said to me last week...)

However, since I've been implementing some different activities and "pop" group work/quizzes, and I always have essays on the exams (unlike the majority of the science teachers where I work), they are starting to see how formative assessment will help them in the long run. One student came up to me today and said, "I just realized that the reason you had us do that group quiz last week was to get us really thinking about that topic together and seeing it from a different perspective." Seriously. That was pretty neat, I thought.

The role of formative assessment for the student is to aid the instructor in gathering information that will allow them to give feedback to the student and to guide the course in a certain direction as the need arises. The student should use this assessment in order to build on previous knowledge in learning the material. Once students understand that the formative assessment is not meant to be some kind of punishment, which is what my students seem to think anything besides a multiple choice/Scantron test is, they realize that these assessments along the way help the entire class learn together. They start to see that I am not the "enemy" but rather their "guide" through the course. As the instructor, I can see where the problems and misconceptions are, and as the student, they can get feedback in order to perhaps change their study habits or note taking or how to learn the "big picture" and how things build on each other and not just try to memorize an entire chapter or two, hoping to recognize a couple words on a test, and then forgetting about it when the semester is over. The student can only stand to gain from implementing formative assessment in a course.

Backward Design - Formative Assessment

This activity did serve to deepen my understanding of formative assessment because we thought about course design from another angle.  We looked at the course considering what we wanted our students to learn, how they could accomplish it, and how they could show us they accomplished it during the course and not just at the end. The most difficult part was to decide upon and then describe the difference between Learning Goals and Learning Outcomes.  I also found it to be somewhat challenging to decide on the activities and the rubric that we would use in our formative assessment.

 The most salient feature of formative assessment is how is differs from summative assessment.  It is on-going and gives us, as instructors, important feedback on how the student is learning, what they are learning, and if they are learning, in our courses before we start grading exams or quizzes and then being shocked with the results from our summative assessment.  Hopefully, using formative assessment and applying what we learn from it throughout the semester will help us reach the learning outcomes and goals successfully and avoid any "shock" at the end of the semester when the final grades are due.

Practice Interview

The practice interview was enlightening for me. It was interesting both to be interviewed and feel what it would be like as the student interviewee as well as then being the interviewer. As the interviewer, I learned that one needs to be flexible with the order of the questions. Sometimes the answer to one of the questions led directly into a question that I had planned for later, but it seemed like it would flow nicely if I just kept going with the same line of thought. What I thought was difficult was that I very much wanted to explain the right answer to the question! It was really hard for me to keep quiet and just let the interviewee continue with their train of thought and for me to just listen and take notes! I thought that having the interviewee draw a picture of what we were talking about went very well. This will impact my interview protocol as I plan to definitely give the starting scenario to the student and also ask them to draw a picture as we go along. I will also keep a flexible order to my questions so that we can follow the train of thought presented by the interviewee in the answer to one question that may lead into the next, etc. I will try very hard not to "lead" them along! The "trick" that I think is useful is having the interviewee draw a picture of what they are trying to explain so that I can better understand where they are going with their response.

Student Interview concept

Concept:  The Female Reproductive System

What is the menstrual cycle?

What causes it?

What are hormones?

Are there different phases?

What occurs in each phase?

When is a woman most fertile?

What happens in the ovary after ovulation? 

Which hormones are present at which times of the cycle?

What happens to the lining of the uterus during the cycle?

What hormone is increased in order to maintain pregnancy?

Do all women get their period at the same time of the month?