{"id":20799,"date":"2018-02-28T07:57:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T12:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/edc\/?p=20799"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:09:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:09:10","slug":"top-10-things-consider-designing-assessments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2018\/top-10-things-consider-designing-assessments\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 things to consider when designing assessments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ScantronBy Bianca Chan, TLS staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n

Assessments are often the bane of many students. But they can be just as taxing for the instructors who are tasked with designing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssessment is challenging for everyone \u2013 from novices to people with a lot of teaching experience. It\u2019s always a challenge,\u201d says Anthony Marini, senior teaching development associate at the Educational Development Centre.<\/p>\n

Despite its inherent demands, Marini adds, evaluations can be made into a simpler task if you know what to focus on. Below is a curated list of what instructors need to know about assessments.<\/p>\n

1. The importance of assessments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary function of assessments is to provide evidence that learning has occurred for both the instructor and student,\u201d says Marini. It not only is the end goal, but it helps to shape what the course material will be and how it will be taught.<\/p>\n

2. Clear understanding of learning outcomes is a must.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first step when designing assessments is to have a clear understanding of what the learning outcomes are. Marini says the next steps are to develop an assessment process that best addresses those outcomes, and to create learning activities and content so that students can develop the necessary skills and knowledge.<\/p>\n

3. Certain assessments are better suited to different outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best form of assessment depends on what you want to achieve, Marini advises. If the content is broad, multiple-choice tests are ideal. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to actually find evidence that learning has occurred over a vast area of content and so that format lends itself quite well to that,\u201d he says. If you are looking for the ability to put ideas together or form arguments, short or long answer essays may be a better fit.<\/p>\n

4. Feedback is key.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marini says that feedback is absolutely essential to help students get to the next step, which, he adds, is the primary function of assessments in the first place.<\/p>\n

5. Creating productive feedback.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Productive feedback is both actionable and understandable. In other words, use language that students will digest easily, and make critiques that are plausible to implement.<\/p>\n

6. Check lists vs. scoring rubrics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If what you are assessing falls on a continuum, or shows the development of a skill, then scoring rubrics are appropriate. With that in mind, Marini cautions that instructors often misuse scoring rubrics for checklists. \u201cIf you\u2019re checking for absences, then check lists are the way to go,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

7. Be vigilant about content validity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Content validity is, in a basic sense, avoiding a situation where your students say \u2018where did that come from?\u2019 It says that a test is valid when your assessment process reflects the learning landscape that students were exposed to.<\/p>\n

8. On the topic of online assessments\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to online assessments, Marini says the principles of assessment remain the same. With that in mind, multiple choice is widely and successfully used among the online community, where feedback can be immediate.<\/p>\n

9. Multiple choice is not limited to recalling information.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is possible to get into higher forms of thinking with multiple choice. Multiple choice items can be designed to urge students to think about what the correct answers are and to construct a response that is more than a simple assessment of facts.<\/p>\n

10. Assessing is a collaborative activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an exercise that is often undertaken alone, Marini says that attending workshops and talking about assessment is one of the best ways to help people have a stronger understanding of assessment and a robust sense of confidence.<\/p>\n

To learn more about assessments, visit the EDC\u2019s teaching resources page<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bianca Chan, TLS staff writer Assessments are often the bane of many students. But they can be just as taxing for the instructors who are tasked with designing them. \u201cAssessment is challenging for everyone \u2013 from novices to people with a lot of teaching experience. It\u2019s always a challenge,\u201d says Anthony Marini, senior teaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[151],"yoast_head":"\nTop 10 things to consider when designing assessments - Teaching and Learning Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Bianca Chan, TLS staff writer Assessments are often the bane of many students. 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