“Institutional assessment efforts should not be concerned about valuing what can be measured, but instead about measuring what is valued.” -A. W. Astin
Five Questions for Assessment Design
- What do you want the student to be able to do? Consider the desired outcome of the instruction session and write learning outcomes.
- What does the student need to know in order to do this well? Consider the material that needs to be covered.
- What activity will facilitate the learning? Activities could include lecture, group work, worksheets, active learning, demonstration, etc.
- How will the student demonstrate the learning? This is the formal assessment — students may demonstrate learning through writing, presenting, completing a worksheet or quiz, etc.
- How will you know the student has done this well? This is the criteria you will apply to the assessment tool — a rubric or guide for grading and assessing the work.
Authentic and practical assessment activities are most valuable for students. Consider ways in which assessment can be integrated into learning activities. Also consider using the Understanding by Design framework to craft big ideas you’d like students to learn and then create activities and assessments.
Assessment Tools
- Self-report: interviews, focus groups, surveys
- Tests: in-class quizzes
- Classroom Assessment Techniques: one-minute papers where students write what they learned in the session and what is still unclear
- Performance Assessments: bibliography analysis, worksheets, research journals, portfolios
Additional assessment resources:
- TRAILS Archive
- RAILS
- Jon Mueller’s Assessment Resources
- A Roadmap for Assessing Student Learning Using the New Framework, Oakleaf
Adapted from ACRL/IIL Immersion materials