WK 32 - Formative Assessment: Just Do It! Rapid Response to Undergraduate Feedback

Tuesday, August 7, 2012: 11:30 AM-1:15 PM
D138, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Joseph Dauer, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Co-organizers:
Ariana Sutton-Grier, University of Maryland and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Emily S.J. Rauschert, The Pennsylvania State University; and Jennifer L. Momsen, North Dakota State University
Learning is a process, not an endpoint. Formative assessment, that is, assessing students during the learning process, is a critical component of learning, enabling instructors and students to monitor and assist student learning throughout a course. Students and instructors often struggle to assess to what extent concepts are understood, only discovering at the final exam that learning did not meet the desired goals. Formative assessment can provide continuous feedback about students’ learning and foster metacognition while providing opportunities to practice key skills. Despite this important role in the learning process, formative assessment is often ignored in instruction because of perceived time constraints and a lack of knowledge how to perform and interpret the results of formative assessment. This workshop will provide participants with the why, when, and how to create and use formative assessment in their classrooms. Workshop participants will become familiar with the scholarship of formative assessment and will work individually and in groups to develop formative assessments that align with their course learning objectives. We will discuss the value of spontaneous or unplanned assessment and how to strike a balance between planned and unplanned assessment. Maximizing the value of formative assessment demands rapid distillation of student responses, coupled with prompt feedback to the class. Participants will learn how to evaluate student responses to formative prompts and how to prepare for the next formative assessment. Participants will leave prepared to integrate formative assessment into small class, laboratory, and large lecture instruction. Lunch will not be served, bring your own lunch!

Registration Fee: $0

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