Assessing Student Learning

Elena Marcum
CUR-528
Assessment of Learning
Teresa Lao
January 7, 2015

Assessment
As an Professional Military Education (PME) instructor, I had a

duty and responsibility to motivate, inspire and teach my

students to become leaders in their respective Air Force careers.
As an Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Course
(AFJROTC) high school teacher, my responsibility was to
motivate and inspire high school students to become respectable
citizens.
Either way, assessment played huge role in knowing if my
students understood the impact they have and will have in the
world.

Overview
Definition of Assessment
3 Types of Assessments
Examples & Explanations

Definition
Assessment:
In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of methods
that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic
readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of students from preschool
through college and adulthood (The Glossary of Education Reform for Journalists,
Parents, and Community Leaders, 2013) .

Is collecting information about student learning, using what you know

about the material and delivering the material to the students, and guiding
discussions and asking question in order to know that students understand
and comprehend the material given.

Three different types of assessments

Hanna & Dettmer, 2004)

Diagnostic
Formative
Summative

Three different types of assessments

Pre-tests
These were used first day of class to indicate where our students stood

with the material. It was a multiple choice test with scenarios and either
3 or 4 options to choose from.
Formative tests
After several days of teaching the material to the students, they used a
case study to pick out the material that was discussed. A formative test
was given, once I had results, I went over the answers with the students,
I chose to pick a student who had the wrong answer to hear their
rationale on why they chose that answer. Once given, another student
would speak out and show them where they went wrong. I took notes of
all this information and used it to improve myself as an instructor. I did
this for every subsequent class, I learned something new from every
class.

Three different types of assessments

Summative tests
After all discussions during the formative test and
post-evaluations, the next day the students took their
summative tests. The results proved that the
students understood their mistakes, and applied what
they learned during the formative test to the
summative test.

Example and an explanation

Diagnostic: Pre-tests, self-assessments, discussion board responses, and
interviews (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004).
Formative: When implementing a new activity in class, you can,
through observation and/or surveying the students, determine whether or
not the activity should be used again (or modified) (Hanna & Dettmer,
2004).
Summative: Rubrics, often developed around a set of standards or
expectations, can be used for summative assessment. Rubrics can be
given to students before they begin working on a particular project so
they know what is expected of them (precisely what they have to do) for
each of the criteria (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004).
Rubrics also can help you to be more objective when deriving a final,
summative grade by following the same criteria students used to
complete the project (Hanna & Dettmer, 2004).

Conclusion
Definition of Assessment
3 Types of Assessments
Examples & Explanations

References
Hanna, G. S., & Dettmer, P. A. (2004). Assessment for effective teaching:
Using context-adaptive planning. Boston, MA: Pearson A&B.
Just Science Now! (n.d.). Assessment-inquiry connection.
http://www.justsciencenow.com/assessment/index.htm
Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing Student Learning: A
Common Sense Guide (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.