Assessment Techniques

Classroom
Assessment
Techniques
This section reflects three broad
categories each with more
specific assessments designed
for various purposes.
CONTENTS
01 02 03
Techniques for Techniques for Assessing Mastery of
Assessing Course- Assessing Learner Performance skills
Related Attitudes, Values, and
Knowledge and Skill Self-Awareness
01
Techniques for Assessing Course-
Related
Knowledge and Skill
Assessing Prior
Knowledge, Recall, and
Understanding
Assessing Prior Knowledge,
Recall, and Understanding
1. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
PROBE - can use on the first day
of class, or before introducing a
new topic. Prepare 2/3 open-
ended, 5/6 short answer, or
10/20 multiple-choice questions
that probe the students' existing
knowledge.
2. FOCUSED LISTING - use as a
brainstorming technique to
generate definitions/ descriptions
of topics.
3.MISCONCEPTION/
PRECONCEPTION CHECK -
particularly useful in classes with
controversial/sensitive issues.
4. EMPTY OUTLINES - instructor

provides students with an
empty or partially completed
outline of an in-class lecture or
assigned homework reading
and gives them limited amount
of time to fill in the blank
spaces.
5. MEMORY MATRIX - instructor
hands out a two-dimensional
diagram, rectangle divided into
rows and columns used to
organize info and illustrate
relationships-row and column
headings are given but the cells
are left empty for students to
fill in information.
6. ONE MINUTE PAPERS - in the
last 10 minutes of class, ask
the following questions, "the
most important thing that you
have learned today?," "1-2
important questions that have
regarding the lecture?," "what
subject would you like to know
more about?"
Assessing Skills in
Analysis of Critical
Thinking
Assessing Skills in Analysis of
Critical Thinking
1. CATEGORIZING GRID -. students

are presented with a grid
containing 2-3 important
categories from what they have
been studying, along with a
scrambled list of
terms/images/equations, etc. that
belong in one or more categories
Critical Thinking
2. DEFINING FEATURES MATRIX

- requires students to categorize
information/concepts according to
the presence (+) or absence (-) of
important defining features, helps
them identify and make explicit
distinctions between concepts.
Critical Thinking
3. PRO AND CON GRID - quick

analysis of by class of the
pros/cons, costs/benefits,
advantages/disadvantages of a
concept/issue. Forces students to
go beyond their first reaction and
search for two sides to an issue.
Critical Thinking
4. CONTENT, FORM, AND

FUNCTION OUTLINES - student
analyzes the "what" (content),
"how" (form), and "why"(function)
of a particular message. Could be
journal article, poem, critical essay,
advertisement, etc.
Assessing Skills in
Synthesis and Creative
Thinking
Assessing Skills in Synthesis and
Creative Thinking
1. ONE SENTENCE SUMMARIES -

have students answer these
questions on a specific topic, and
then synthesize answer into one
long, informative, and grammatical
sentence: Who/What, When, Where,
Why, How?
Creative Thinking
2. WORD JOURNAL - requires a 2-part

response. First, student will
summarize a short text read in a
single word, next the student writes
a paragraph or two explaining why
they chose that particular word to
summarize the text.
Creative Thinking
3. CONCEPT MAPS - have students

draw/diagram a map connecting the
major topic of focus with what they
consider its most important
features/other ideas and concepts
that they have learned/etc.-can use
for class discussion or group work.
Creative Thinking
3. CONCEPT MAPS - have students

draw/diagram a map connecting the
major topic of focus with what they
consider its most important
features/other ideas and concepts
that they have learned/etc.-can use
for class discussion or group work.
Creative Thinking
4. INVENTED DIALOGUES - students

can either select and weave
together actual quotes from primary
resources, or have them "invent"
reasonable quotes that fit the
character and context of the
speakers.
Creative Thinking
5. ANNOTATED PORTFOLIOS - have

students put together a limited
number of examples of their work
(creative writing, research papers,
art, poems, etc.), along with a
commentary as to why each
example is significant.
Assessing Skills in Problem
Solving
1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION TASKS

- present students with a few
examples of common problem
types. The student is asked to
recognize and identify the particular
type of problem each example
represents.
Solving
2. WHAT'S THE PRINCIPLE -

after deciding what type of problem
they are dealing with, students must
then be able to decipher which
techniques or principles should be
applied in order to solve it.
Solving
3. DOCUMENTED PROBLEM
SOLUTIONS - have students keep
track of and document the
steps/methods they take in solving
a problem. In doing this, both
students and teachers can gain and
analyze information on their
problem-solving skills.
Solving
4. AUDIO AND VIDEOTAPED

PROTOCOLS - record students
talking and working through the
process of solving a problem, how
do they explain it to themselves and
someone else?
Assessing Skills in Application and
Performance
1. DIRECTED PARAPHRASING -
students are directed to paraphrase
part of a lesson for a specific
audience and purpose, using their
own words. Can be used as a
refresher technique or as a graded
assignment.
Performance
2. APPLICATION CARDS - after

students have heard/read about an
imp principle, generalization, theory,
or procedure, the instructor hands
out an index card and asks them to
write down at least one possible,
real-world application for what they
have just learned.
Performance
3. STUDENT-GENERATED TEST
QUESTIONS - focus on an exam that
is 2-3 weeks away, have students
generate 3 or 4 test questions and
answers. Decide before you assign
the questions what type of format,
and perhaps certain subjects that
you would like to cover.
Performance
4. HUMAN TABLEAU OR CLASS

MODELING - have groups of
students create "living" scenes or
model processes to show what they
know (ex) students pose as figures
in a painting, reenact a Druid ritual,
model operation of a fuel system in
a car engine, model how the human
visual system works.
Performance
5. PAPER OR PROJECT
PROSPECTUS - brief, structured
first-draft plan for a term paper or
project, can include topic, purpose,
intended audience, major questions
to be answered, basic organization,
and the time and resources required,
etc.
02
Techniques for Assessing Learner
Attitudes, Values, and Self-Awareness
Assessing Students' Awareness of
their Attitudes and Values
1. CLASSROOM OPINION POLLS -

instructor reviews lesson plan and
gathers up questions or interesting
points that the students would
express opinion about on that
certain subject.
2. DOUBLE-ENTRY JOURNALS -
students read an assigned text and
record in their first journal entry the
main ideas, arguments and/or most
controversial points. In their second
entry the students express the
values of the passage and explain
the personal significance (i.e.
interests, concerns, and values).
3. PROFILES OF ADMIRABLE
INDIVIDUALS - have students write
a brief, focused profile of an
individual in a field related to course
material whom they greatly admire
their values, skills, or actions.
4. EVERYDAY ETHICAL DILEMMAS -

instructor decides on a controversial
issue and creates a dilemma that
includes two or three questions that
students must take position on.
5.COURSE-RELATED SELF-
CONFIDENCE SURVEYS -instructor
coordinates a few simple questions
into a survey to help get a measure
of the students' self-confidence in a
specific skill or ability that is new,
unfamiliar, or familiar but failed to
learn previously.
Assessing Students' Self-awareness
as Learners
1. FOCUSED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES -instructor gears
students to write a one to two page
self portrait on a single successful
learning experience, in which a
student can write a well-focused
analysis on that point in their life.
This activity is the most effective at
the beginning of the semester.
as Learners
2. INTEREST/KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS -
brief teacher-made list that includes
all the topics that will be taught in
that course on one half and the level
of skills or interests on the other,
which is given to the students share
their insight.
as Learners
3. GOAL RANKING AND MATCHING -

use on the 1st or 2nd day of class,
have students list a few learning
goals that they hope to achieve
through the course, and rank them in
order of importance.
as Learners
4. SELF-ASSESSMENT OF WAYS OF
LEARNING -instructor focuses on
learning style(s) in which he/she
would like to stress upon the
students. Instructor creates a profile
for the different types of learners
followed by a couple questions.
Assessing Course-Related
Learning & Study Skills,
Strategies, and Behaviors
1.PRODUCTIVE STUDY-TIME LOGS -

instructor makes up a simple log in
sheet for the students to record the
amount of time spent studying,
when they study, and how
productive they were while studying.
2. PUNCTUATED LECTURES -this technique
requires instructors and students to follow
a simple five step procedure: listen (to the
lecture), stop (the lecture), reflect (your
behavior and understanding of content),
write (insights to course material), and give
feedback (on how it was taught and if there
were any distractions).
3. PROCESS ANALYSIS -students

record the steps they take to carry
out a representative assignment and
comment on the conclusion of their
approaches. Beneficial for physical
procedures such as music, dance,
physical education, etc.
4. DIAGNOSTIC LOGS -students write

up focused versions of the
academic journals. It includes an
analysis/summarization of what the
student learned in that course.
03
Assessing Mastery of Performance skills
A mastery assessment aims
to determine what students
have understood from the
material covered during a
term and, further, how well
they can apply that
knowledge to broader
problems.

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Classroom

4. EMPTY OUTLINES - instructor

1. CATEGORIZING GRID -. students

2. DEFINING FEATURES MATRIX

3. PRO AND CON GRID - quick

4. CONTENT, FORM, AND

1. ONE SENTENCE SUMMARIES -

2. WORD JOURNAL - requires a 2-part

3. CONCEPT MAPS - have students

3. CONCEPT MAPS - have students

4. INVENTED DIALOGUES - students

5. ANNOTATED PORTFOLIOS - have

1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION TASKS

2. WHAT'S THE PRINCIPLE -

4. AUDIO AND VIDEOTAPED

2. APPLICATION CARDS - after

4. HUMAN TABLEAU OR CLASS

1. CLASSROOM OPINION POLLS -

4. EVERYDAY ETHICAL DILEMMAS -

3. GOAL RANKING AND MATCHING -

1.PRODUCTIVE STUDY-TIME LOGS -

3. PROCESS ANALYSIS -students

4. DIAGNOSTIC LOGS -students write

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