Assessment

Facilitating and assessing student engagement in the classroom

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 18:58:35 +0000

Facilitating and assessing student engagement in the classroom Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/23/2023 - 11:58

Stephanie Foster , updated by Kirk Ambrose

Improving student engagement in the classroom is a common concern among faculty these days. At some point in the conversation, the mythic college student makes an appearance. That perfect student of the past was always on time, had always done the reading, answered every question with astounding complexity, and memorized everything the professor said. What a great time that must have been!

We may not ever have a classroom filled with the students of our dreams, but what if we could get a bit closer? What if we could encourage motivation, curiosity, and enthusiasm for learning? What would happen if we understood a bit more about how engagement really works?

What is Student Engagement?

Scholars who study college learning define student engagement as, “the mental state students are in while learning, representing the intersection of feeling and thinking.” (Barkley & Major, 2020, p. 6). Engaged students are not just absorbing content, they try to make meaning of what they are studying by putting in intellectual effort and working through challenging ideas. Engaged learners care about the subject, feel motivated or excited to learn, and take ownership of their own learning.

We tend to think of engagement in the classroom in restrictive terms, as students asking and answering questions. Yet, engagement is more complex. We can look for many signs of engagement through the interaction of three dimensions of a person’s attitude, or how an individual evaluates a person, idea, or thing. These three dimensions–cognitive, affective, and behavioral–work together to influence an individual’s engagement on any given task or day (see table 1).

Table 1

Dimension	What engagement looks like
Cognitive: the extent to which students are attending to and spending mental effort on the learning tasks encountered	Being curious, wanting to understand something Psychological or intellectual investment in learning Use strategies that lead to deep learning
Behavioral: the extent to which students are making active responses to the learning tasks presented	Asking or answering questions Going to class Paying attention
Affective: the level of students’ investment in, and their emotional reactions to, the learning tasks	Students care about their learning Interest, enthusiasm, and excitement about what they are doing Motivated, challenged by new things Willing to participate in the learning process

Taking these concepts further, Barkley & Major (2020) proposed that student engagement is the product of motivation (the driving forces of an individual’s behavior) and active learning (what students do to build their skills). It is important to understand that the mix of motivation and active learning is unique to each individual, and engagement is not stable over time or for an individual person. Engagement can vary in intensity and situation; in one class, a student may be excited about each new thing, while dreading spending another minute in a different class. Motivation also interacts with other related aspects of learning, such as self-efficacy–an individual’s belief that they can do something.

It is also important to understand that engagement can look different for different students or different groups of students. If students were raised in a culture in which it is disrespectful to interrupt an elder or person in authority, they may feel uncomfortable engaging in a full class discussion. However, they may still be deeply engaged in listening and thinking about the subject matter and may enjoy a small group discussion or writing activity. Students may also choose not to participate if they feel that they will be ridiculed for a wrong answer, or if they otherwise feel unsafe.

Creating the Environment for Engagement

Given what we know, can we actually promote student engagement in the classroom? The answer is, Yes! While we cannot control all of the factors that influence students’ learning experiences, instructors can create learning environments in which students feel encouraged and supported to engage in active learning.

Active Learning refers to a broad range of teaching strategies that engage students as active participants in their learning during class time. Active learning helps students to engage with the course material beyond reading, listening, and note-taking, and it contributes to the development of higher order thinking skills (e.g., analysis, synthesis, evaluation) as well as content knowledge. Active learning often involves interaction among students, though these activities can vary in intensity.

Some Common Active Learning Strategies

Interactive lecturing: Break up mini-lecture sections with 2-3 minute pauses during which students discuss and rework notes in pairs
Think-pair-share
Small group work, group projects, or group problem-solving
Short writing activities to be used by the student alone or paired with group discussion
Clickers
Interactive games or problem solving
Demonstrations, simulations, or experiments
Music, video, images, or a demonstration can create a sense of excitement, curiosity, or set up a problem or puzzle to be solved

Using active learning strategies can be a little daunting for instructors coming from a conventional lecture format, so start small. Think about your class; where do you see one small opportunity to make a change? Make sure that the new strategies align with your learning outcomes and relate in a meaningful way to your expectations for learning. An activity might be fun, but it should help students make meaningful connections to the course material.

Assessing Engagement

Almost everyone who has taught a class has used the student participation grade as a primary assessment of engagement. In light of what we have learned about the complexities of motivation, engagement, and learning, many professors have stopped this practice in favor of more active learning strategies and inclusive teaching practices. But if we want to assess what we value, we can design reflective and thoughtful assessments of engagement.

We can create assessments that tap into the cognitive, behavioral, and affective dimensions of engagement discussed previously. Look for evidence that students are taking an active role in their learning; this may show up in different ways for different students. For example, one student may take a leadership role in managing group projects while another student spends a lot of time supporting and mentoring other group members.

What should we look for?

Cognitive

Spending time on projects requiring integration and synthesis of ideas
Completing coursework requiring practical application of knowledge or skills
Demonstrating growth on the course learning outcomes
Student self-perception of learning or engagement

Behavioral

Asking questions or contributing verbally in class
Paying attention/active listening
Taking notes in class
Engaging in group projects or collaborative work
Helping or tutoring others

Affective

Time invested in studying
Effort to meet instructor’s expectations
Being prepared (or not) for class
Discussing course material outside of class
Student attitudes toward course material

One way to collect information about student engagement is through self-assessment. Metacognition about one’s own learning and engagement is an important higher order skill that can help develop critical thinking. Students can be guided to reflect on their own motivations, effort, and learning. Provide a rubric or other evaluative framework before an assignment or activity—this shares your expectations as well as provides a platform for self-assessment. This can also work well for group activities and projects.

Course feedback methods are another way to learn about student interest and attitudes towards the course. Start the semester by giving students a notecard or preparing an online form to complete on the first day of class. Ask them to write down what works best for their learning and something professors do that they don’t like. Mid-semester feedback can help you identify which teaching strategies have been the most effective for student learning. Anonymous responses might reveal feelings of safety (or not) for participating in class.

Takeaways

Improving student engagement will take some effort, but it’s well worth it! Some key takeaways:

Make your class a safe place for all students to engage. Create an environment that helps students feel safe to take risks and make errors.
Engagement should not be competitive or punitive.
Be thoughtful about how you respond to student contributions and questions. What ways do you show students that it is okay to be wrong?
Allow for different forms of engagement that tap into the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. In addition to verbal contributions, consider other ways that students can engage.
Be clear about your expectations.
Use activities that engage different parts of the brain, social and individual, and kinesthetic or sensory.
Provide early and regular feedback to help students stay motivated.
Conduct brief self-assessments and get class feedback to learn how students are experiencing the class and what adjustments can be made. For example, pass out notecards and ask students to write a one-minute response to the prompt, “What worked to help you learn today?”

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Early Feedback

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 20:01:14 +0000

Early Feedback Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/30/2022 - 14:01

Early feedback is important because it allows learners to have a voice in their learning experience. As well, it is important because it allows instructors the chance to improve the course and their teaching to then result in better student outcomes and success.

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Mapping your course

Anonymous — Tue, 03 May 2022 20:57:15 +0000

Mapping your course Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/03/2022 - 14:57

Stephanie Foster

A course map is a visual representation of the ways in which your course instruction and assignments align with the learning objectives. Mapping your course allows you to identify where students are learning key concepts and skills, and to make decisions about formative and summative assessments. It can also help determine where to provide additional instruction or learning support.

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Assessment in large enrollment classes

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:28:54 +0000

Assessment in large enrollment classes Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/28/2021 - 13:28

Stephanie Foster

Many of my conversations with faculty focus on the challenges they have with doing good learning assessment in large classes. The best learner-centered assessment approaches are no match for 200-person enrollment. I mean, can you imagine reading 200 5-page essays? That’s 1,000 pages for just one assignment!

So, what’s an instructor to do with a big class? Are multiple-choice exams the only way to go? Classes with graders, recitations, and labs provide room to focus on individual students, but what if it’s just you and that large lecture hall filled with smiling faces? Here are some ideas to help you freshen up your assessment approach and use your time more effectively.

In-Class Formative Assessments

Students benefit from frequent, low-stakes opportunities to practice what they are learning and to get immediate feedback. Use Classroom Assessment Techniques to do a quick check on student learning. Think-pair-share is a tried and true student engagement technique that gets students talking and can help generate questions so you can address points of confusion or allow you to expand instruction in key areas.

Multiple-Choice Exams

I will admit that multiple-choice exams are not my go-to assessment strategy. They take a lot of effort to create and they strike fear in the hearts of many. If this is your primary strategy, do not despair! Multiple-choice exams can be effective ways to assess learning, especially when the questions are written to be versatile, reliable, and valid. Multiple-choice questions can measure much more than the recall of facts; they can also be written to engage students’ higher order thinking such as analysis, evaluation, and application. You might even try open book exams to lead students to go deeper with applied problems or case studies. Tired of hearing, “Will this be on the exam?” Why not get students to write some of the exam questions!

Short Writing Assignments

Short writing assignments might be 200-300 words responding to a prompt, or a few open-ended questions on an exam. Short writing asks students to be concise and apply a concept to a given scenario, solve a problem, or explain their response on a previous item. Rubrics can speed up grading of writing by setting up your expectations in advance and focusing your attention on what matters most. Graders and graduate students can be trained to use your rubrics to provide consistent and helpful feedback.

Use Technology

It almost seems silly to talk about the use of technology in the classroom these days, with a year or more of Zoom classes on our CVs. Even if you are a tech minimalist, some simple and free tools can be your friend. Clickers (also see these CU Clicker FCQs) are a great way to do quick quizzes or have students work problems in class. Clicker data can be easily uploaded to the Canvas Gradebook for quiz or participation grades. Use Canvas Quizzes to automatically populate the gradebook. Try SpeedGrader to improve time efficiency with grading text-based assignments.

Now for Something Completely Different: Student Self-Assessment

When students assess their own learning, they engage in a higher order thinking activity called metacognition. Metacognitive activities help students identify their own strengths and where they need to improve. You can integrate self-reflective questions into course assignments, or ask students to talk about how they came to an answer. Perry Samson at the University of Michigan suggests ways that you can facilitate metacognition in large classes through exam preparation, peer instruction, and reflective writing activities.

If you have some help or are very clever with your organization strategies, consider using a form of collaborative grading for student projects in which students complete a self-assessment that is combined with peer and/or instructor assessment.

Finally, here’s a Pro Tip: You do not need to grade everything! Assessment activities can give you information about learning and performance, but they are also ways to engage students in practice and self-reflection. Activities should focus on improving learning, and students are still learning even when their efforts are not graded.

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Should we worry about learning loss?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 17:36:40 +0000

Should we worry about learning loss? Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/01/2021 - 11:36

Stephanie Foster

Students and faculty are returning to campus this semester after a year and a half of educational disruptions and adaptations precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the many concerns about how our students are faring, colleges and universities are thinking about learning loss. New students are joining us in person from a senior high school year spent online, and college sophomores who started at CU may have yet to set foot in a university classroom. Should we be worried about learning loss?

Learning loss has largely been a concern for K-12 education, and particularly for students who do not have opportunities over the summer months to practice concepts and skills learned in school. This phenomenon known as summer slide can result in lost gains in reading and math performance that teachers must address each fall. Reports of significant learning loss for K-12 students--especially for low-income and minority students--over the past year of mostly remote learning have been cause for dismay.

What do we know about learning loss for college students? It turns out that we don’t have much information, and what we do know is mostly anecdotal. There is some evidence that students entering their first or second year right now may have gaps in domain-specific subject knowledge, have underdeveloped study habits, or experience difficulty concentrating. It is likely that many students passed a class without having retained much of the material, putting them at a disadvantage as they advance in their coursework.

Many colleges and universities have been preparing for anticipated learning loss by offering more academic support resources such as tutoring, summer bridge programs, and extended orientation days. ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� offers academic support services for undergraduates, including tutoring, the Writing Center, Learning Assistants, and Counseling and Psychiatric Services.

As teachers and mentors, what should we be doing to stem potential learning loss and help students become confident learners? A few thoughts:

Acknowledge anxieties about being back in the classroom. Second and third year students have been paying tuition and taking classes for a while now, but may not have experience with classroom norms and protocols. They may have anxieties about talking with another student or approaching their professor. Students may also feel nervous walking amongst the campus crowds or sitting in a classroom with other people. You can let students know that it’s normal to feel out of sorts right now. Be patient with the range of emotions students might express and be prepared to make changes to your lesson plans if students feel overwhelmed by the speed of instruction. Encourage students to seek support (like CAPS) if they continue to feel anxious.

Use teaching strategies to encourage recall. If students have been exposed to concepts in the past, there are ways to help them retrieve the memories of what they once learned. In Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, James M. Lang offers some small strategies to encourage retrieval, such as opening class sessions with questions, activities, or learning checks. Use the first five minutes to “reactivate” what they have learned in previous lessons or courses. Use low-stakes or ungraded quizzes not for grading, but as a learning activity. They can be done collaboratively with other students, and/or as a game (my students go nuts over Kahoot).

When introducing new material, try doing a concept-mapping exercise as a class or in small groups. Using this visual organizer, you can help students brainstorm everything they know about a subject. The exploration with other students can help them recall information they may have forgotten.

Find out what students have been learning, and help them make connections. While the enforced social isolation of the past 18 months has been hard on young people at an important time for social development, it has also allowed many to try out new identities and explore their worlds in new ways--such as through increased social activism or deeper engagement with their families. When students are encouraged to make connections between their personal experiences and course material, they tend to take a greater interest in the course.

Lang tells us that when our brains take in new information and don’t have a place to hang it, we cannot yet make sense of the new information. We can help students identify what they already know and provide a framework to help them organize new knowledge. Try giving a pre-test before starting new content, or use a group writing assignment to explore what they already know about a subject. At the end of class, have students do a 3-2-1 activity: 3 things you learned, 2 things you found interesting, and 1 question you still have.

Slow down, give extended time on coursework, and check in often. Learning loss will show up in different ways for different students. Some will need brief tutorials to catch up, while others may need more supplementary materials or regular time with tutors or learning assistants. Lang suggests that learning takes time and we should be more thoughtful about spacing out lessons and assessments. We often believe that we have to “cover” all of the chapter or planned material, but when you see their eyes glaze over, it’s time to slow down.

Finally, regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of getting regular feedback from students to see how they are doing and ask what support they need. Students are more likely to feel respected and engaged in their learning when they know their teachers care about their learning. Studies of learning loss in K-12 have also found that a strong student-teacher relationship can reduce stress and facilitate quicker recovery to get students back on track.

References:

Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Turning Hardships into Strengths: Advancing Learning During COVID-19

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Summer assessment tasks

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 15:54:34 +0000

Summer assessment tasks Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/28/2021 - 09:54

Stephanie Foster

I am writing this on a snowy-rainy day, but summer is on the horizon. While you ponder your fall classes with your feet soaking in a mountain stream this summer, it might also be a good time to consider your course assessment strategies. What is worth keeping and what will you toss out? What new strategies might you be willing to try? Here are some options to explore:

Design your assessments when you design your assignments. Make sure that the assignment aligns with your learning goals and your assessment strategy focuses on what you most want students to learn.
Grading rubrics promote positive communication about expectations for performance and share rubrics with students when you give the assignment. Better yet, co-creating rubrics with students is an inclusive teaching practice because you create transparency for grading, encourage full participation in the creation of the rubrics, and allow students to express their own perspectives.
Give frequent feedback using low-stakes quizzes and writing assignments. Keep grades up-to-date in Canvas gradebook. Students feel more confident and motivated to learn when they can monitor their progress.
Break down big assignments into manageable chunks. For a 12-page final paper with a class of second-year students, I asked them to submit a one-page structured plan for their paper that we could discuss in a one-on-one conference. There was also a deadline for a 60 percent draft with time for instructor and peer feedback before they carried on with the final draft. Students felt supported by receiving feedback at key points, and I was able to identify students who were struggling before it was too late.
Give students a choice in how they will be assessed. Provide a few options that allow students to meet the learning goals in a way that best suits their learning style. This semester, several ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� faculty used contract grading to promote experimentation and creative risk-taking in their writing.
Try un-grading as a way to encourage student critical self-reflection and engagement with their own learning. This might be especially effective for upper-division courses as students develop in their major course of study.
Open book exams typically require students to do more higher order thinking by applying concepts learned in class to particular issues or situations. Open book exams usually take more time for students to complete, and promote a deeper engagement with the course material.
Move away from online proctored exams or try some alternative arrangements. Can you break an exam into smaller quizzes or tests? What about a large question bank that generates a different but equivalent exam for every student? A few open-ended questions can complement a multiple-choice exam and give students an opportunity to use their own words.

Over the past year and a half, students have experienced a lot of innovation and experimentation in learning spaces. As you update your assessment strategies this year, think about trying something new. Ask your colleagues not just what did and did not work, but why they think so. Assessment does not have to be the drudgery that starts when students submit their assignments; rather, it can be a part of what motivates students to be curious, take risks, and expand their thinking. And it does not have to take all summer to sort out!

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Frequent feedback

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:52:24 +0000

Frequent feedback Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/29/2021 - 12:52

Stephanie Foster

Students need to know how they are doing in your class

When I meet with students to learn about their course learning experiences, one thing stands out: students want more frequent feedback about their performance. In some cases, students tell me they are expected to wait until midterms or later to know how they are doing. Being unsure about their performance causes unnecessary anxiety and can negatively affect motivation to stay interested and engaged in the course.

In Ken Bain’s 2004 study of college faculty, he found that highly effective instructors believe that their students want to and are able to learn. These faculty build trusting relationships through their teaching and mentoring practices. As part of this mindset, we should assume that students care about getting meaningful feedback because it helps them build confidence in themselves as learners. Mutual communication between students and their instructor about the educational process goes a long way to build the relationships of trust that encourage curiosity and engagement (Bain, 2004).

We know that the right kinds of feedback at the right times can motivate people to improve. Feedback is not the same as criticism; it should be clear, specific, balanced, timely, and focused on growth and development. Formative feedback provides an opportunity to learn and improve. Grades are a form of summative assessment, and also should be kept up-to-date with details available to students.

Be clear and transparent about your expectations. Be specific about what you expect and what resources are available when students get stuck. Include clear grading policies and procedures for submitting assignments in your syllabus. Create a timeframe for when all assignments or tests will be graded and returned to students, and stick to it. Create rubrics for major assignments and use them as a way of communicating your expectations when you explain the assignment.

Give early and regular feedback. Students need regular feedback on their performance so they know how to focus their studies, when to work harder, and when to ask for help. Early and regular feedback can help students stay motivated and on track with their work. To be effective, students need to know what they are doing well, what they need to work on, and how they can improve. Use specific and constructive language.

It is good practice to return all graded assignments and poste grades within 7 to 10 days; students need to be able to correct their errors so they do not build new knowledge on misunderstandings. It can also be hard for students to move on to the next learning activity when they do not know how well they are doing.

You do not have to grade everything students do! Feedback can be informal and ungraded. Assign a series of brief, low stakes assignments in the first couple of weeks of the semester. Use iClickers or short Canvas quizzes for quick checks of understanding. One-minute papers or other short writing assignments can be a way for students to practice skills and get feedback on their learning.

Organize course assessments so that you can provide a course grade at midterm. Midterm is a good time to check in because there is still time for students to make changes. Help students do this by providing enough opportunities to build a solid grade. Midterm is also a good time to get feedback from your students about how the course is going and ways you can improve your instruction.

Worried about a student? CU instructors can enter Course Alerts for students who are demonstrating poor performance in their classes. This early alert strategy puts a support system in place for students who need assistance.

Use technology. There are many technology options for communicating grades and providing feedback. Canvas offers robust tools for maintaining an updated gradebook. You can import attendance records from Zoom, upload your CUClickers grades, and so much more. OIT can help you any time you get stuck.

References:

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Harvard University Press.

Wiggins, G. (2012, September). Seven keys to effective feedback (pdf). Feedback for Learning, 70(1), 10-16.

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Making FCQs work for you

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 13:40:33 +0000

Making FCQs work for you Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/24/2021 - 06:40

Stephanie Foster

I have a friend who looks forward to getting his student course ratings back every semester. His scores are usually high, and students have always gushed about his teaching. A few years ago, things started to change. His scores decreased, and student comments were increasingly critical. This took my friend by surprise, as he hadn’t made any changes to his course or instruction. He spent a week feeling depressed.

After a week, my friend’s mood improved and he chose to take a more productive approach. After speaking with his colleagues, he learned that his peers had been introducing innovations into the classroom while he was using the same strategies he always had. His students were communicating that it was time for him to catch up, and he decided to start listening.

The purpose of the student course ratings (CU’s FCQ) is to collect information about students’ experiences in a single course, looking back at one semester. ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� new FCQ, launched in fall 2020, was designed by faculty, staff, and students to better facilitate student feedback and provide faculty with information to identify areas of strength and areas in which they can improve their practice. Essentially, the FCQ is a communication tool between student and instructor.

How can the new FCQ help you in your teaching practice? Taking time to review your scores and comments can guide small changes that can make a big difference. Here are a few ideas:

Look for patterns in your FCQs over time

As you review the data, what are your overall impressions? Of the 16 FCQ items, which have the highest ratings and which are rated lowest? How do the scores relate to your goals for the course? For instance, if your large online lecture course received low average ratings for the item “I was encouraged to work and learn collaboratively with my classmates,” it might make sense for the scores to be low. But we also know that students learn better when they work with others, so are there small ways in which you can prompt students to work collaboratively?

Read student comments and identify major themes – the things they mention most frequently (e.g. “gave great examples” or “exams were too difficult”). How do these align with your conversations with students or your impressions of the course?

Analyze the information and reflect on what you are seeing. What do you think is working well? Where are the sticky places where students have difficulty? If there was a particular course or semester in which you struggled, what can you identify as the specific issues? What strategies will you use next time to address these issues?

Don’t wait until the end of the semester to get student feedback

In my last post, I discussed the value of asking students for midcourse feedback. By using your own survey, you can write questions to get feedback on things that are specific to the course. And by checking in with your students during the course of the semester, you can make adjustments to instruction or offer support where they need it.

Get a second set of eyes on student comments

Student comments can be uplifting, hurtful, or confusing. If you are not sure what students are telling you, ask a trusted colleague to help you interpret them. Don’t let a couple negative comments have a disproportionate impact. And on the flip side, don’t let comments from your biggest fans give you a false sense that everything you do is great.

Treat outliers as, well, outliers

Be aware that many factors can affect student ratings, and ratings fluctuate over time. Small differences in ratings are common and are not necessarily meaningful. Look for patterns and then review the ratings that stand out. What do you do when you find outliers in your research data? There will always be students who are unhappy or disengaged, no matter what you do. It is good to reflect on the semester and try to identify why you might be seeing these results, but in general, outliers are not representative of the student experience and should be considered in the context of all other information.

Do not compare yourself to other faculty

It is tempting to look at others and think they have the magic touch, but good teaching does not happen by magic. Good teaching can be learned, practiced, and improved upon. Focus on your own situation and learn how to make your style work better for you.

What if you are ready to innovate, but worry that students won’t like it? Faculty often fear that when they introduce teaching strategies such as active learning, inquiry-based learning, or other high engagement activities, their course ratings will drop. It turns out that there may not be any evidence to support these fears. In my experience, students are generally good sports; when they understand that the strategy is meant to help them learn, they will try what you are asking them to do. Be transparent about your goals and be open to their suggestions.

What if, like my friend, your FCQs put you in a dark mood? Remember that student perception is only one part of the whole picture. Sometimes, bad semesters happen no matter how hard you work, but don’t let it define you. If you want to dwell on negative responses, give yourself a day or two and then stop yourself! Use campus resources like CTL Consultations or faculty mentors in your department or in Faculty Affairs to help you identify your next steps.

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Class feedback

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 20:26:52 +0000

Class feedback Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/20/2021 - 13:26

Stephanie Foster

Getting feedback from your students throughout the semester provides you multiple checks on the student experience and helps you determine how to adjust your course to better meet their needs. A two-way communication channel about what is and is not working can help you connect with your students and create a positive classroom climate.

Want to know how your class is going? Ask your students!

Not long ago, I taught an undergraduate seminar for which I had designed great scaffolded learning activities and assignments. Each assignment built stepping stones into the next, allowing students to practice intellectual skills while getting frequent peer and instructor feedback. I walked into the semester feeling clever and confident.

��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� a month in, the grumbling began. “We can’t write a 12-page paper! It’s just too much,” they agreed. I told them I was surprised because they had all passed their first-year research course for which they were required to write much more. I dismissed their complaints but began to wonder what was really going on.

Getting feedback from your students throughout the semester provides you multiple checks on the student experience and helps you determine how to adjust your course to better meet their needs. A two-way communication about what is and is not working can help you connect with your students and create a positive classroom climate. Students feel respected when their instructor cares about their learning.

What is useful to know?

You might ask students to reflect on the structure or content of the course, learning activities, assignments, or strategies to improve their experience. Maybe you are trying something new and want to know if it is working. Or perhaps you have a huge course enrollment or are teaching remotely and do not have much opportunity for interaction. Some questions you might ask:

What are three things you have learned in the class so far? What is one thing you have you learned in class that you did not expect to learn?
What is something you want to learn that is not on the syllabus?
In what ways has this course helped you learn? What would help you learn better?
What have you done so far that has helped you learn? What could you do differently for the rest of the term that will help you learn better?
What seems challenging about completing the work for this class?
What worries you about this class? What might help you feel more confident?
What questions do you have about the course that I can answer for you and other students?

What are some ways to get midcourse feedback?

Use the Zoom Poll feature. You can post simple questions with multiple choice responses. Zoom offers several options for engaging students in addition to the Polling feature.
Ask students to respond to an anonymous survey. Google Forms is quick, user-friendly, and free to use for collecting responses from students.
Create an ungraded survey using the Quizzes tool in Canvas.
Hold small group discussions. Create a set of questions and ask students to choose a scribe who will take notes on the discussion and share them with you. You could also set up an asynchronous discussion using the Discussions tool in Canvas.
If it is difficult to get students to provide feedback, you can ask your graduate teaching assistant or learning assistants to share information that they get from students, or ask them to host a feedback session.

Learn teaching strategies from your students!

Students are one of your best sources of information about innovative teaching. They pick up effective strategies from their other instructors and can pass them on. When I finally encouraged my students to talk about the 12-page paper, they told me that another professor had set up a series of deadlines to divide the work of a long paper into manageable pieces. They told me that if I gave them deadlines like these, they could write the paper. I promised to hold them accountable to the mini deadlines, and they kept their end of the deal, too. Not only did they all finish the work, those papers were really enjoyable to read.

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Adapting your assessment strategies to the remote environment

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 22:37:53 +0000

Adapting your assessment strategies to the remote environment Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/02/2020 - 16:37 Stephanie Foster

Let’s face it: There is plenty of anxiety to go around on a college campus these days. The unusual situations that we are experiencing have ratcheted up the normal pressures of university life, contributing to heightened anxieties for students and faculty alike. Course assessments – exams, essays, research papers, performances, etc. – can be more stressful in a remote environment, as students may feel isolated or detached from peers and instructional support.

As instructors, we can help reduce that pressure by attending to a few elements when designing course assessments. Through careful alignment of assessments to learning outcomes and being creative in how they are implemented, faculty can better facilitate learning and support student success.

Align assessments to learning outcomes

At its core, assessment seeks to understand how well students are learning what we want them to learn. This starts with defining learning outcomes, first for the course and then for each of the assignments or activities used in the course. What do you want students to know or be able to do by the end of the course? If students take only one class in your subject, what would be two or three things you want them to remember 10 years from now?

Align course assessments to the level at which you intend students to learn. For an introductory course focused on recall of factual knowledge or terminology, use quizzes and exams. A course that tackles theories and controversies in the field might use case studies, critiques, and projects to assess students’ ability to analyze or apply. A capstone course that asks students to synthesize what they have learned in their curriculum will use assessments like research projects, senior design projects, or original performances.

Get creative online

Many have raised concerns about the potential for cheating on assessments in an online environment. This can be a serious issue for courses targeted at the level of factual knowledge where answers to exam questions can be easily shared through peers or found online. A group of us explored these issues and put together some information about online assessments and exams on the Center for Teaching & Learning website, and a collaborative group led by CU Computer Science Professor Ken Anderson produced the in-depth report, Remote Exam Best Practices.

For courses that go beyond the recall level or for instructors who want to use other forms of assessment, the online environment provides opportunities as well as challenges. Students can submit written work and engage in collaborative writing, using an online platform such as Google Docs. At my previous institution, dancers submitted video performances and communications students recorded their speeches for peer review--mostly using smart phones. In one English class, students created audio recordings of themselves reading poetry accompanied by a song they chose to represent the poem. Sharing your grading rubric at the start of an assignment can reduce student anxiety by communicating your expectations and using common language.

Use low-stakes formative assessment

Use frequent, low-stakes formative assessments that give you quick feedback about how students are doing, and help them identify gaps in their learning. Assessments that can be done online include iClicker quizzes, one-minute essays, and Zoom breakout group discussions with answers to questions on a Google Doc. I often use “the muddiest point” activity, for which students identify something in the reading or lesson that didn’t make sense.

To lower the burden of grading, strategies such as spot grading – grading low-stakes assignments randomly or checking for key pieces of the response – can save time, while simultaneously ensuring that students are grasping key concepts. Having students use that work in a peer activity holds them accountable to each other and furthers their understanding of concepts through the collaborative task.

Stay hopeful!

While this year is posing challenges for even the most experienced instructor, there are also opportunities. Try something new. Ask your students what is working for them in other courses. Be open to new strategies and be flexible when things don’t work well the first time. You just may discover a better way to connect with students or a new insight into your own practice.

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Traditional

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Assessment

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What is Student Engagement?

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Some Common Active Learning Strategies

Assessing Engagement

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Cognitive

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Early Feedback

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Mapping your course

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Assessment in large enrollment classes

In-Class Formative Assessments

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Should we worry about learning loss?

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Summer assessment tasks

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Frequent feedback

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Class feedback

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Adapting your assessment strategies to the remote environment

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