Debra Jackson

1. CREATING FORMATIVE & ADAPTIVE
LEARNING ASSESSMENTS
Debra Jackson
CSU Bakersfield
2015 Engaged Learning Boot Camp, CSUDH

2. ASSESSMENT
Assessment is a process designed to monitor and
improve student learning.
 Summative Assessment is designed to provide an
evaluative summary that occurs as students are about
to complete a course or program.
 Formative Assessment is designed to give feedback to
improve what is being assessed while students are part
way through a course or program.
 Adaptive Assessment tailors the difficulty level of an
assessment to the student’s level of ability.
Mary J. Allen. Assessing General Education Programs. San
Francisco: Anker Publishing, 2006.

3. TRADITIONAL COURSE DESIGN
1. Start with course title
and description (topic)
2. Choose reading
material (content)
3. Plot reading into
calendar (schedule)
4. Sprinkle quizzes,
exams, papers
throughout term
(assessment)

4. BACKWARD COURSE DESIGN (BCD)
1. Identify desired results
(learning outcomes)
2. Determine acceptable
evidence (performance
expectations)
3. Plan learning
experiences
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design, 2nd Edition.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2005.

5. ASSESSMENT IN BCD
Learning
Outcomes
Graded
Assignments
(Summative
Assessment)
Learning
Experiences
(Formative
Assessment)

6. DELIBERATE PRACTICE
 Performed with full
concentration and aimed
toward improvement
 Difficulty of activity matches
student’s skill level
 Close guidance and timely,
accurate feedback on
performance
 Repeated performance of
same/similar task
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Römer, “The
Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,”
Psychological Review 100:3 (1993): 363–406.

7. DEMO

8. ACTIVITY
1. Choose one course learning outcome
2. Identify 2-3 performance expectations
3. Brainstorm 1-2 rewind activities for a particular
performance expectation
4. Brainstorm 1-2 fast-forward activities for a
particular performance expectation

9.  Transparency of
learning
 Course alignment
 Integration of
assessment
 Improved student
learning
 Empathy
 Front-loaded course
preparation
 Presence demands
 Tracking student
progress
 Handling stalled
progress
Benefits Challenges