The document provides information and guidance about classroom assessment for librarians. It discusses preparing for assessment by establishing assumptions and goals. Formative and summative assessment are explained, with formative occurring during instruction to help students and instructors, and summative occurring after to evaluate outcomes. Several assessment methods and principles are presented, such as only collecting data that can be analyzed and changed. The document seeks to make assessment approachable and inspire integrating it into instruction.

1. CLASSROOM
ASSESSMENT
April Cunningham
Palomar College

2. HERE’S HOW I PREPARED
Assumptions: I believe…
Goals: I want to…
Our job is to create a situation where
―students learn more effectively and
efficiently than they could on their
own‖ (Angelo & Cross, 1994).
Make it clear that assessment is doable.
You may not have done much
teaching yet, but you think it’s an
important part of librarians’ work.
You want practical advice.
Inspire you to build assessment into
every instruction session.
Suggest the connection between the
classroom assessment we do and
the accountability movement that
surrounds our work.
Show more assessment methods
than any sane person would use
during a session.

3. ASSESSMENT FOR
LEARNING
―Do the consequences of my actions measure up to the
educational principles and values that motivate my work?‖
Mary McAteer Action Research in Education 2013
Classroom assessment is librarian-directed:
•The librarian decides what to assess, how to assess, and
how to respond to the information gained through the
assessment.
•The librarian is not obliged to share the results of the
assessment with anyone outside the classroom.

4. HOW COMFORTABLE ARE
YOU WITH ASSESSMENT?
1. Mark your sticky note so that you will recognize it
later.
2. Place your sticky note on the line based on how
comfortable you are with assessment.

5. TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE
LOOKING FOR
Go to the LibGuide for this session and complete
the polls to indicate how much you value each of
the elements that I have planned.
http://palomar.libguides.com/LibraryInstruction101

6. DEBRIEF – THINK, THEN
SHARE WITH A NEIGHBOR
What was it like to have to move around the space to put up
your sticky?
What was it like to have to rank the topics for this session?
Would you use either of these techniques in your classes?

7. ARE THESE GOOD
PRINCIPLES FOR
ASSESSMENT?
1. Fill out the Prior Knowledge Check.
2. Use your colored 3x5 cards to show if you
agreed, disagreed, or you weren’t sure about
the items as we go down the list.

8. APRIL’S PRINCIPLES
OF ASSESSMENT FOR
LEARNING
•Assess the learning you care about even if it’s tricky to do it.
•Collect data only about things you’re able and willing to
change.
•Collect only as much data as you’re going to be able to
analyze.
•Gathering evidence about why you’re getting the results
you’re getting is as important as the results themselves.

9. HOW DO YOU SAY…?
1. Select one of the principles of assessment for
learning.
2. Paraphrase the principle you chose in order to
explain the concept to someone who hates hearing
about assessment.
3. Record your statement in the LibGuide by leaving a
comment.

10. DEBRIEF – THINK, THEN
SHARE WITH A NEIGHBOR
Was previewing a version of the principles before the
discussion more helpful for your learning or was
paraphrasing a principle after the discussion more helpful?
What do you think the facilitator learned from your
responses?

11. 2 REASONS FOR
ASSESSMENT
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment
Occurs throughout the instruction
session.
Occurs after instruction is
completed. Can result in giving
students a grade.
Is intended to help students manage
their learning and help the instructor
react to students’ needs.
Can be informal (like asking
students to raise their hands or just
looking at their faces) or formal (like
asking students to complete a
survey or write answers to
questions).
Is intended to evaluate the outcome
of the instruction and judge students’
proficiency.
Is formal.

12. USING FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
•Cut down a lesson when students already get the concept.
•When you add content, use methods that get students to
make meaning (i.e., don’t just lecture more, have students
do something).
•Only do a formative assessment if you’re willing/able to
change your plans at least a little.
•Write a lesson plan before you teach and build your
assessments into it.

13. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
1. Open the quiz in your LibGuide or go directly to
http://tinyurl.com/LI101Assessment
2. Answer these questions about summative and
formative assessments.

14. 2 WAYS OF ASSESSING
Direct Assessment
Indirect Assessment
Requires students to demonstrate
their learning.
Allows students or instructors to selfreport student learning.
May be considered more valid than
indirect assessment as evidence of
student learning.
Can be used to add affective or
other qualitative data to help with
interpreting direct assessment
results.
If you’re short on time, focus on
designing direct assessment of your
most important learning outcome.

15. WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
1. Find on your handout the list of assessments we’ve
done so far.
2. Mark whether each assessment we’ve done was
direct, indirect, or if you don’t know.
3. Be prepared to discuss your answers.

16. THE CONTEXT FOR OUR
ASSESSMENTS
•ACRL Value of Academic Libraries Report
•ACRL Standards for Higher Education
•AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner
•AAC&U Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education
Rubrics
•Lumina Foundation Degree Qualifications Profile
•National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

17. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Match the name of the accountability initiative with its
description.

18. RESOURCES FOR
CLASSROOM ASSESSMENTS
•Skip Downing’s On Course curriculum
•Classroom Assessment Techniques by Angelo & Cross
• Teaching Goals Inventory

19. TO AVOID PITFALLS…
•Design a lean plan.
•Start assessment activities from the beginning of the
session to get students comfortable and explain what you’re
doing and why.
•Consider your audience—Will they like to reflect or will they
just want to move forward? Will they feel comfortable
sharing their answers out loud or in writing or with a partner
or to the whole class?

20. TO AVOID PITFALLS…
(CONT’D)
•Remember that not every style will work for every learner,
so try using more than one type of assessment if you’re
doing multiple assessments during a session.
•Only use an assessment after you’ve tried it out on yourself
or on a colleague.
•Only use techniques that feel right to you.

21. WHAT WILL YOU DO?
1. Look at the 6 tips for avoiding pitfalls. Which of these
is going to be most important for you to remember?
Rank them, #1-6.
2. Then gather with others who chose the same tip as
their #1.
3. Be prepared to explain to the group why you think your
#1 so important.

22. WRAPPING UP
1. Consider moving your sticky if your comfort with
assessment has changed.
2. Select one of these ways to leave me your thoughts:
1. Critical Incident Questionnaire
2. Minute Paper
3. Muddiest Point (write it on a 3x5 card w/ your contact
info if you want me to contact you with more
information)

24. SET SOME GOALS FOR YOUR
LEARNING
1. Go to the LibGuide for this workshop: link.
2. Take two minutes to think about the following questions:
1. What do you already do well regarding classroom assessment?
2. What would you like to improve about your classroom
assessment abilities?
3. Use the comments link in the LibGuide to record your responses in
3 minutes or less. You can use Anonymous instead of your name if
you wish.

25. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
1. Look at the outcomes you wrote in your earlier
session.
2. Based on what you now know about formative and
summative assessment, group your outcomes into
the ones you’d want to assess during the session
and the ones you’d assess at the end.
3. Record your answers as a LibGuide comment.