All About Assessment
Here you will find types of assessment along with a variety of templates, examples and tools for assessment that can be used when infusing the SDGs into your courses.
What is Assessment?
Where do we want students to be at the end of a course or a program? And how will we know if they get there?
Assessments should be fair, reliable and valid. They should reflect the learning outcomes of a course, measure what you value most and align with content and activities.
Assessments can come before, during or at the end of a course or program.
Visit Assessment by The Teaching Commons at YorkU
Watch Assessing Student Learning from Vanderbilt University
Types of Assessment
Why?
To assess prior knowledge, skills, abilities and preconceptions
When?
Before learning begins in a course or program
How?
Get a snapshot of where students are at with:
- Background Knowledge Quiz
- Ungraded quiz with Mentimeter
Why?
To provide feedback, monitor learning, identify gaps in knowledge or experience, to adjust instruction, content or techniques
When?
During the learning experience
How?
Assess students with:
- Analogy Prompts
Periodically, present students with an analogy prompt: A designated concept, principle, or process is like __________because _______________.
- Alternative Online Assessments with resources, templates and tools
- Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) and Examples of CATs and Community Inquiry Examples
- A Concept Map and view a teacher example
Any form of graphical organizers which allow learners to perceive relationships between concepts through diagramming key words representing those concepts.
- Debriefing and Feedback
A form of reflection immediately following an activity
- Non-disposable Assignments and an Example Course with Student Assignments
- Exit Tickets and view a teacher example
Exit cards are written student responses to questions posed at the end of a class or learning activity or at the end of a day. This activity can easily be changed to an Entrance Ticket.
- Four Corners and view an activity outline and a detailed explanation
Teachers write specific concepts on hexagon-shaped cards, then move them adjacent to one another in order to reveal relationships and connections between concepts. Once the hexagons are arranged, the students then use connection arrows to show intersections between and among central ideas. The teacher can prompt students to explain their thinking in written or oral form.
- Idea Spinner
The teacher creates a spinner marked into 4 quadrants and labeled Predict, Explain, Summarize, Evaluate. After new material is presented, the teacher spins the spinner and asks students to answer a question based on the location of the spinner. For example, if the spinner lands on 'Summarize', the teacher might ask, “Can you list the key concepts just presented?”.
- Individual Whiteboards
Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a designated concept, principle, or process. Ask students whether they agree or disagree and to explain why.
- Observations
- One-minute Paper and 8 Questions for a 1-minute paper
A focused question with a specific goal that can, in fact, be answered within a minute or two.
- Peer and Self-Assessments
- Pecha Kucha Presentations and sample outline
Based on the Japanese method of presentations with 20 slides x 20 seconds
- Portfolios, E-Portfolios and Student Portfolio Projects and Student Examples and Tips to Build Portfolios
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of a significant work, carefully selected, dated and presented to tell the story of a student’s achievement or growth in well-defined areas of performance, such as reading, writing, math, etc. A portfolio may include personal reflections where the student explains why each piece was chosen and what it shows about their growing skills and abilities.
- Live Poll or Survey
- Questioning
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and an explanation and with learning outcomes
Costa's Levels of Questions and an explanation
- Reflection
Reflective Journal or blog
DEAL Model for Critical Reflection Assessment
Designing Reflection and Assessment with prompts, activities and rubrics
Experiential Learning and Reflection
- Round Robin discussion
- Simulations
- Socratic Discussions and a guide
Teachers (or students) create questions related to a concept, then engage in student-led discussion to ask questions, agree or disagree thoughtfully, use textual evidence to support their assertions, engage individuals or the whole group in discussion, or seek clarification.
- Three-Minute Pause and an explanation and a video explainer
The 3-Minute Pause gives students time to stop, reflect on the concepts and ideas that have just been introduced, make connections to prior knowledge, learning or experience, and see clarification. Sentence prompts can be: I changed my attitude about. . . I became more aware of . . . I was surprised about. . . I felt. . . I related to . . . I empathized with. . .
- Vlogging in Student-Led Seminars and a Vlog Assignment explainer
An image composed of words used in a particular text or subject, in which the size of each word indicates its frequency or importance.
Why?
To evaluate student learning achievement, skills and knowledge over a period of instruction
When?
At the end of a course or program
How?
Assess students with:
- Genres of Capstone Assignments
- Portfolios, E-Portfolios and Student Portfolio Projects and Student Examples and Tips to Build Portfolios
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of a significant work, carefully selected, dated and presented to tell the story of a student’s achievement or growth in well-defined areas of performance, such as reading, writing, math, etc. A portfolio may include personal reflections where the student explains why each piece was chosen and what it shows about their growing skills and abilities.