CATsCATsCATsCATs

Classroom Assessment Classroom Assessment TechniquesTechniques

Background Knowledge Probe

• May require short answers or be multiple choice

• Provides a preview of what is to come

• Can be used pre and post• Helps determine baseline knowledge

level• Memory skills, study skills & habits

Classroom Assessment Technique Outline

• Introduction• Link with Cognitive learning theory• Characteristics of Classroom

Assessment• Teaching Goals Inventory

The primary purpose of The primary purpose of assessment is to assessment is to

provide feedback to provide feedback to students and teacher so students and teacher so

that learning can be that learning can be facilitatedfacilitated

The primary purpose of The primary purpose of assessment is to assessment is to

provide feedback to provide feedback to students and teacher so students and teacher so

that learning can be that learning can be facilitatedfacilitated

McKeachie (2002)McKeachie (2002)

Cognitive Learning Theory

• What is going on in the mind of the learner

• 3 Key processes– Attention– Encoding (deep processing)– Metacognition

Cognitive Learning Theory

• CATs can– Improve student monitoring of their

comprehension– Establish patterns of thinking

Let’s do another Let’s do another assessmentassessment

Let’s do another Let’s do another assessmentassessment

Half-Minute paper

• Students take a minute to write down a question or an important point

• Share with the student next to them

• Then you ask for oral questions

Your Question

•What are some characteristics of good classroom assessment?

Characteristics of Classroom Assessment• Learner centered• Teacher directed• Mutually beneficial• Formative• Context specific• Ongoing• Rooted in good teaching practice

One-sentence summary

• Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why?

• In a grammatical 1 sentence summary

Teaching Goals Inventory

• Higher Order Thinking Skills• Basic Academic Success Skills• Discipline Specific Knowledge & Skills• Liberal Arts and Academic Values• Work and Career Preparation• Personal Development• www.uiowa.edu/~centeach/tgi/

Analytic Memo(for Higher Order Thinking

Skills)

• 1 to 2 page analysis of a specific problem

• Uses analytic and writing skills• Can be used as a first draft of a

graded assignment• Time consuming

Muddiest point (for Basic Academic

Skills)

• Give students several minutes at the end of class to write about the

muddiest point of the day

Student Generated Test Questions

(Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills)

• What do students think is most important

• Evaluate methods and materials• Learn terms and facts

Invented Dialogues(Liberal Arts and Academic

Values)

• Helps students synthesize their knowledge of issues

• 2 levels– Use actual quotes– Invent reasonable quotes

Group-Work Evaluations

(Work and Career Preparation)

• Detects group problems early• Helps students with management

and leadership skills, working with others, ability to work productively

• Emphasis on process

Punctuated Lecture(Personal Development)

• Stop in mid-lecture• Have students reflect on their

learning and listening behaviors• Students take a minute to write

down their reflection anonymously• Follow up with a mini-lecture on

metacognition

Direct paraphrasing

• Helps with ones ability to translate highly specialized information into language clients will understand

Application Cards

• On an index card list 1 real-world application for what we have learned

Resources• CATs: A student’s gateway to

better learning by Mimi Steadman and Marilla Svinicki

• Cross, P., Angelo T (1993).Classroom Assessment Techniques: A handbook for college faculty, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Resources• McKeachie, W. (2002).

McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers