Slidedeck/Slideshow/Slides from a presentation titled Quick (and mostly easy) Formative Assessments in the Classroom. Presented at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) Graduate Teacher Program (GTP) Fall Intensive workshop, August 22, 2018. Presentation by Environmental Studies PhD graduate student Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey. This talk (and associated slides) provides an introduction to the what, why, and hows of formative assessments in the classroom, including a brief introduction to teaching pedagogy and assessment, reasons to assess teaching and learning, some potential barriers to assessment, a brief rundown on several online formative assessment tools (pros/cons) along with links to examples, and links to additional formative assessment resources.

1. Quick (and mostly easy)
Formative Assessments
in the Classroom
Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, ENVS-ENVD
@JeremiahOsGo
about.me/jeremiahosgo

2. Presentation arc
Overall Goal: get a grasp on formative assessments
Learning Objectives:
● Background on assessments
● What, Why, How of formative assessments
● Illustrative examples and audience participation
● Additional information

4. PollEverywhere.com (you and me)
That quick survey/poll available at https://PollEv.com/surveys/voDddrRa2/web

5. Classroom temperature
Quick classroom assessment - PollEverywhere
Where is home for you?
What degree are you currently seeking? Masters, PhD, professional degree, other
What year into your graduate program are you? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7+
How familiar are you with teaching pedagogy? None, little, moderate, pretty familiar
Is this your first time attending a GTP workshop? Yes/No

6. Assessment - background
Roots in philosophical schools of thought and learning
What are pupils learning?
How does the teacher know? And respond?
Zeno of Citium - hand/fist
Industrialization → education as factory units
1980s USA report “A Nation At Risk”
Disciplinary specialization, different language
Zeno of Citium (Wikipedia)

7. Terminology
https://PollEv.com/free_text_polls/CKXneGU0ZmghrSf/web

9. Terminology
Assessment - appraising, making a judgement on something
requires evidence!
Summative - evaluate student learning at end of some unit, focuses on outcomes, usually
high stakes, feedback useful for teachers for the future,
e.g., exams, final projects or papers, recitals, etc.
Formative - monitor student learning in the moment, focuses on ongoing learning, usually
low stakes, feedback useful for students and teachers now,
e.g., raise your hand, exit cards

10. Google Ngram link to this search

11. Check out @BryanMMathers

12. Why do formative assessments?
If I don’t know what you don’t know come
test time, it’s too late for both of us.
Assess learning and teaching. To inform.
Allow for course corrections along the
way.
Demonstrate, model behaviors.
Focus attention.

13. Feedback
Where are we now?
Where are we going?
How do we get there, what gaps do we need to close?
Mechanical and electrical engineering roots - to return to original position, coupling
“Feedback is an engineering term...it leads back to the beginning, linking you to your original
objectives, and always moves you forward.” ~Tom Guskey

15. Adapted from David Wees

16. Mentimeter
Tons of templates
Relatively quick to learn interface
Web and text based
Moderate to high customizability
Simple student interface to interact
Freemium business model (limited free options)

17. Example poll → https://www.menti.com/69a6413e

18. Kahoot.it
Video-gamey feel
Simple templates
Moderate to low tweaking
Max of four answer options
Easy to follow for participants
Adds competition aspect
Kahoot example: https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/011a1052-5cd2-4d92-9f1f-ac76adcbde20

19. i>clicker
University contract and support
Lots of documentation and help
Clunky (but reliable?) interface
Multiple steps to download data
Student love/hate with these
Interfaces with Canvas/D2L
Get CU Boulder i>clicker help at
https://oit.colorado.edu/services/teaching-learning-tools/cuclickers

20. Google Forms
Google Suite familiarity
Robust user community
Easily access results
Some statistics/analysis
Minimal editability
No cost

21. Google Forms
What did we do? Why did we do it?
What did I learn? How can I apply it?
What questions do I still have about it?

22. Qualtrics
CU Boulder contract (medium support)
Maximum knob turning ability
Useful for more in-depth assessment
Intricate interface (both ends)
In-depth analysis and metrics
Steep learning curve
Free while at CU Boulder
Qualtrics.com

24. Other types of formative assessments
Multiple sources of evidence
Individual or Group
Self-reporting or teacher observation
Summaries and Reflections (write/doodle, definitions, 1-2 sentences, etc.))
Visualizing info (whiteboard, sketch diagrams
My Favorite ‘No’ exercise (video link); what’s correct, what needs changed/why?

25. Potential barriers
But I’m not the instructor of record.
I don’t know much about teaching pedagogy.
I don’t even know where to begin.
What sorts of questions would I ask?
Does the University provide us resources for
this?

26. Review of goal and objectives
Overall Goal: get a grasp on formative
assessments (show of hands)
Learning Objectives:
● Background on assessments
● What, Why, How of formative
assessments
● Illustrative examples and
audience participation
● Additional information and
resources

27. Google Forms (example)
Please navigate to the following web address and fill out this
quick exit survey.
Please note the web address is case-sensitive.
http://bit.ly/JDOG-GTPform1

28. Resources
Graduate Teacher Program (GTP) at CU Boulder https://www.colorado.edu/gtp/
56 Different Ways To Gather Evidence of Student Achievement by David Wees
Carnegie Mellon University’s Eberly Teaching Excellence Center - summative and formative
Yale Center for Teaching and Learning - summative and formative
Dylan Wiliam. Center’s collection of presentations on/about assessment (by year)

29. Resources
PollEverywhere https://www.polleverywhere.com/
Qualtrics (via CU Boulder) https://cuboulder.qualtrics.com/
Mentimeter https://www.mentimeter.com/app
Kahoot.it https://kahoot.com/
Google Forms https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/
EducatorsTechnology.com’s recommended Templates For Teachers
i>clicker (CU Boulder) https://oit.colorado.edu/services/teaching-learning-tools/cuclickers

30. Gratitude!
Thank you for hanging with this! I hope it helps you feel more comfortable trying different
formative assessments in your classrooms and workplaces!
jeremiah.osbornegowey@colorado.edu
@JeremiahOsGo
These slides available at:
http://bit.ly/JDOG-GTPtalk