EIU Instructional Design

This kind of assessment goal focuses on the factual information learners should know.

Example: Identifying the main parts of a cell in a biology course. Assessment evidence can be determined relatively straightforward for a test/quiz method because assessments of knowledge typically have a single correct answer.

This goal focuses on the skills, abilities, techniques, processes, know-how learners should be able to demonstrate.

Example: Performing CPR in a health related course. Assessment evidence is best determined using (authentic) performance-based methods such as direct observation or an evaluation of a completed project, product or performance because skills and processes involve more complex actions requiring multiple steps and the integration of multiple skills along with declarative knowledge.

This assessment goal focuses on the ideas, concepts, principles, and generalizations the learner is to comprehend at a deep level.

Example: Understanding that a vehicle can be a lethal weapon during its operation in a drivers education course. McTighe and Ferrara advocate assessment evidence is best determined using (authentic) performance-based methods that do two things: 1. apply learning, and 2. explain thinking and support for responses. Ultimately, assessment of understanding calls for a demonstration of using knowledge, skills, and/or processes in different situations. For example, if a learner truly understands a vehicle can be a lethal weapon during its operation, they can operate it safely in different driving situations and conditions.

Productive attitudes, habits of mind, and behaviors we aim to cultivate in the learner inside and outside of the course.

Example: Demonstrating ethical decision-making in a business ethics course. Assessment evidence for an assessment with a disposition goal is best determined using (authentic) performance-based evidence, such as direct observation, and self assessment methods over time so there is opportunity for the disposition(s) to be applied in varied situations and circumstances. Self-assessments can provide evidence of the learner internalizing the productive disposition(s).

Diagnostic assessments determine learners' prior knowledge, experience, skills, interests, and/or misconceptions before instruction for the purposes of providing information to help guide instruction.

Example: A pre-test/assessment or knowledge check quiz on algebraic concepts at the beginning of a calculus course.

The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning during the learning process in order to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by:

• • faculty to improve their teaching/instruction
  • learners to improve their learning

Formative assessments measure the faculty teaching/instruction process and student learning progress and provide feedback for the purpose of improving teaching/instruction and learning. You may hear formative assessment is assessment for learning. Formative assessments help form learning. Formative assessments represent low stakes or no stakes (grades/points) because their primary purpose is for both the faculty and learner.

Example: Weekly quizzes in a foreign language course to check vocabulary acquisition.

Best practices for formative assessments: Consider creating a link between evaluative/summative and formative assessments by designing formative assessments in such a way that they contribute to the evaluative/summative task(s). For example, if the evaluative/summative assessment is a final paper, develop formative assessments that ask the learner to submit practice writings of different paper sections throughout the course. Most learning can be gained if formative evaluation matches the level of learning objective (thinking order skill, i.e. Bloom's Taxonomy) as the summative assessment. The feedback provided will most likely improve their final paper while also lowering the learner’s overall workload in the course. Also, in this example, the formative assessments align with the modality of the evaluative/summative assessment - essay/writing.

The goal of summative (also known as evaluative) assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. McTighe and Ferrar prefer to use the term evaluative rather than summative because they think it more accurately describes their purpose; however, for the purposes of this guide the terms educative and summative are used interchangeably. Evaluative/summative assessments are high stakes (grades/points) used to measure and provide evidence of the degree of mastery or proficiency in which the learner completed the learning objectives. Evaluative/summative assessment is assessment of learning.

Example: A final project in a computer science course where learners develop a functioning application.

While McTighe and Ferrara focus on the previous three primary assessment purposes, Grant Wiggins introduced the complementary assessment purpose of "educative assessment" in his 1998 book Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Performance. Wiggins asserts that assessments should do more than just evaluate; they should also teach. He believed that well-designed assessments should provide learners with insights into their own learning processes and help them improve their understanding and performance.

Wiggins' work emphasizes the importance of authentic tasks, clear standards, and feedback in assessments. An educative focus can be integrated into any of the three main assessment purposes - diagnostic, formative, or evaluative/summative - to create more engaging and effective learning experiences that incorporate learning through assessment.

Example: In a history course, instead of a traditional multiple-choice test about the causes of World War I, an educative assessment might ask learners to analyze a set of primary source documents they have not seen before. Learners would need to apply their knowledge of the period to interpret the documents, consider multiple perspectives, and construct an argument about how these sources reflect the complex causes of the war. This task not only assesses learners' understanding but also deepens their historical thinking skills and introduces new information through the assessment process itself.

The term "educative assessment" is often used interchangeably with "authentic assessment". Both emphasize the use of real-world, complex tasks that not only evaluate student learning but also enhance it through the assessment process itself. Because an educative or authentic focus can be integrated into any of the three main assessment purposes, authentic assessment is described as an assessment method in this guide.