Assessing Student Learning

“Once you alter your assessment mindset…everything else shifts by default; including your teaching practices and practices that will positively impact student learning.”

To begin our look at assessing student learning using an Assessment Literacy approach, we are joined by Dr. Destiny Reddick. In the classroom, we create and select assessments for a variety of purposes. In that process, we have come to know the purposes and limitations of those various types of assessments. As we move into a virtual learning space, we must revisit and rethink those approaches to assessing student learning.

Reflect

As Dr. Reddick recommended, take a moment to categorize/summarize/list the assessments you are already using with the following questions as your guide.

What are the types of formal and informal assessments you use regularly?
What strategies do you have in place for capturing student achievement toward specific learning objectives?
What routines have you put in place that provide your students with opportunities to receive feedback on their performance through self- and peer assessments?

Often these are practices that have evolved with our teaching practice over time. If we are able to look at this list comprehensively, we may be able to find small opportunities for change that impact both ours and our student’s virtual learning experience positively. For larger changes, we’ll need to dig deeper into our own assessment literacy.