EDUC 6759: ASSESSING FOR LEARNING Week 5 Introduction Resources Discussion Assignment Week in Review ☰Menu × EDUC 6759: Assessing for Learning Back to Blackboard Syllabus Course Calendar Course Overview Course Information Resource List Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Student Support Walden Links Guidelines and Policies Back to Blackboard Help Week 5: Classroom Assessment Imagine the following situations: You’ve just finished grading a mid-term exam and all but two of your students got question four completely wrong. You are in the middle of reviewing your students’ final projects and are finding that many of them are using a key concept inappropriately or out of context. You are observing students on the final day of a clinical experience and note that well over half of them are performing a key task incorrectly. Very few college teachers have avoided encountering these kinds of situations. It is tempting, in these cases, to blame the students—they didn’t study hard enough, they are lazy, they didn’t pay attention in class, they must have been unprepared for college-level work. While one or more of these factors may provide some of the explanation, we must also be prepared to look at our own practice and ask what we might have done better to help students understand a key concept, practice a key skill, or stay engaged and motivated. Classroom assessment is a widely-used method of finding out what students are learning, before it’s too late. Classroom Assessment Techniques, or CATs as they are often called, are short, ungraded activities that are normally completed anonymously. Their purpose is not to evaluate students, but to provide you (and them) with feedback about their learning, and to provide a basis for adjusting teaching methods if appropriate. This week, you will learn how CATs can be used in all types of learning environments, with all types of students, to help you improve your teaching and your students’ learning. You will also be introduced to a special kind of CAT that relies on real-time personal response systems, or clickers, which can give immediate feedback on students’ understanding or ability to solve problems. Learning Objectives Students will: Develop strategies for using Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) to investigate and address student learning challenges Incorporate CATs into a learning plan Photo Credit: Hybrid Images / Cultura / Getty Images Learning Resources Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus. Focus On: In this week's Learning Resources, focus on ways in which faculty can use assessment, including both formal (graded) and informal assessment methods to improve their teaching; the nature of Classroom Assessment as a type of informal, ungraded assessment and its potential value in the learning process ...

1. EDUC 6759:
ASSESSING FOR LEARNING
Week 5
Introduction
Resources
Discussion
Assignment
Week in Review
☰Menu
×
EDUC 6759:
Assessing for Learning
Back to Blackboard
Syllabus
Course Calendar
Course Overview

2. Course Information
Resource List
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Student Support
Walden Links
Guidelines and Policies
Back to Blackboard
Help
Week 5: Classroom Assessment
Imagine the following situations:

3. You’ve just finished grading a mid-term exam and all but two of
your students got question four completely wrong.
You are in the middle of reviewing your students’ final projects
and are finding that many of them are using a key concept
inappropriately or out of context.
You are observing students on the final day of a clinical
experience and note that well over half of them are performing a
key task incorrectly.
Very few college teachers have avoided encountering these
kinds of situations. It is tempting, in these cases, to blame the
students—they didn’t study hard enough, they are lazy, they
didn’t pay attention in class, they must have been unprepared
for college-level work. While one or more of these factors may
provide some of the explanation, we must also be prepared to
look at our own practice and ask what we might have done
better to help students understand a key concept, practice a key
skill, or stay engaged and motivated.
Classroom assessment is a widely-used method of finding out
what students are learning, before it’s too late. Classroom
Assessment Techniques, or CATs as they are often called, are
short, ungraded activities that are normally completed
anonymously. Their purpose is not to evaluate students, but to
provide you (and them) with feedback about their learning, and
to provide a basis for adjusting teaching methods if appropriate.
This week, you will learn how CATs can be used in all types of
learning environments, with all types of students, to help you
improve your teaching and your students’ learning. You will
also be introduced to a special kind of CAT that relies on real-
time personal response systems, or clickers, which can give

4. immediate feedback on students’ understanding or ability to
solve problems.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Develop strategies for using Classroom Assessment Techniques
(CATs) to investigate and address student learning challenges
Incorporate CATs into a learning plan
Photo Credit: Hybrid Images / Cultura / Getty Images
Learning Resources
Note:
To access this week’s required library resources, please click on
the link to the Course Readings List, found in the
Course Materials
section of your Syllabus.
Focus On:
In this week's Learning Resources, focus on ways in which
faculty can use assessment, including both formal (graded) and
informal assessment methods to improve their teaching; the
nature of Classroom Assessment as a type of informal, ungraded
assessment and its potential value in the learning process;
specific methods for designing Classroom Assessment
Techniques (CATs) and incorporating them into a learning plan;

5. and the use of immediate-feedback technology such as clickers.
Required Readings
Course Text:
Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment in
College
Chapter 10, "Using the Grading Process to Improve Teaching"
Book Excerpt:
Light, G., Cox, R., & Calkins, S. (2009).
Learning and teaching in higher education: The reflective
professional.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chapter 9, "Evaluating: Teaching and Course
Evaluation"Copyright 2009 by Sage Publications, Ltd.
Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd., via the
Copyright Clearance Center.
Book Excerpt:
Bruff, D. (2009).
Teaching with classroom response systems: Creating active
learning environments.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Chapter 2, "Assessing Students with Clickers"Copyright 2009
by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - Books. Reprinted by permission of
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - Books via the Copyright Clearance
Center.
Article:
Steadman, M., & Svinicki, M. (1998). CATs: A student's
gateway to better learning. New Directions for Teaching and

6. Learning, (75). San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from
the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete
database:
http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.
com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=9178823&site=ehost-
live&scope=site
Note:
Retrieved from Walden Library databases.
Document:
Classroom Assessment Planning Template (Word document)
You will use this document for your Assignment this week.
Required Media
Video:
Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Clickers in the
classroom [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu
Note:
The approximate length of this media piece is 33 minutes.
Dr. Luke Dawson, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Oral Surgery at
the University of Liverpool's Dental School, demonstrates his
approach to developing students' professional decision-making
skills using interactive lectures and real-time feedback.
Accessible player --Downloads--Download Video
w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

7. Presentation:
Classroom Assessment Strategies
This presentation presents ideas for incorporating popular CATs
at the beginning, middle, and end of a course.
Optional Resources
Article:
Briggs, C. L., & Keyek-Franssen, D. (2010). Clickers and
CATs: Using learner response systems for formative
assessments in the classroom.
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33
(4). Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQ
uarterlyMagazineVolum/ClickersandCATsUsingLearnerRes/219
138
Iowa State University. (2011). Classroom assessment
techniques. Retrieved from
http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/cat.html
The Center for Teaching. (2001). Classroom assessment
techniques (CATs). Retrieved from
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/cats/
Discussion: Investigating a Teaching Problem with CATs, Part
1
It’s the last week of the term and it has not been an easy one.
You have been teaching an introductory public speaking course
that is required for all first-year students in your institution.
While a few of your students have done well in class, most have
shown little or no improvement in their speaking ability or their

8. ability to develop and deliver an effective presentation. The
final assignment in the course is a ten-minute face-to-face
presentation to the class, on a topic of the student’s choice. On
the big day, many of your students don’t even show up to class,
and those who do are clearly not prepared. Although it’s too
late to help these students now, you look ahead to the next term,
and decide to incorporate Classroom Assessment Techniques
(CATs) into your class to help you better understand what’s
going on.
By Day 3
Post
your initial thoughts about how you could use CATs next term
to investigate your students’ difficulties.