Assessment of student achievement is an important part of the teaching and learning process.
Given at the beginning of a course, assessments help you know where to
begin and/or identify areas of remediation that must be addressed. Frequent
assessments during the course help you and your students see the progress of
learning and help identify problematic areas where students need more help or time.
Given at the completion of instruction, assessments tell you how much has been
learned by the end of a unit, by mid-semester, or by the end of the term. They provide
the basis for making judgments on the grades to assign each student. This chapter
provides an overview of assessments, with a focus on tests or examinations typically given in paper/pencil format or on the computer.
- Types of Learning Assessments
Examinations, written or constructed student creations, performances, purposes of effective assessments, alignment of course components
- Paper/Pencil or Computer Examinations (Tests)
Constructing tests, writing limited-choice test questions, multiple-choice items, true/false items, matching items, writing open-ended test questions - Step-by-Step Guidelines for Creating Tests
- Constructing Performance Tests
Advantages, disadvantages, general guidelines - General Tips about Testing
- Helping Students Learn from Tests
Returning test papers, providing feedback for essays and short-answer tests, dealing with special problems, reviewing limited-choice tests, - Using Item Analysis to Test Your Test
Procedures for computing difficulty and discrimination indices - Cheating on Tests
Preventing cheating - Alternative Methods of Assessment
Advantages, limitations and contextual considerations for essays, term papers, research reviews, reports, case studies, portfolios, projects, performances, peer evaluation, mastery, simulations - Resources on Testing
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