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Classroom Assessment Techniques

As described by Angelo and Cross (1993), classroom assessment techniques are quick, simple, formative assessments that faculty can use to collect feedback to examine how well students are learning course material. Classroom assessment techniques serve the dual purpose of enhancing teaching effectiveness while improving student understanding. Ideally, both teachers and students will use the feedback from classroom assessment techniques to improve their performance. Teachers can adjust their teaching in light of student feedback and performance, while students can use feedback to measure and modify their understanding of important concepts.

Effective classroom assessment techniques are:

Learner-Centered - Learner-centered techniques focus on strategies and approaches to improve learning.
Teacher-Directed - Quality teacher-directed assessments allow the individual instructor freedom to determine content, measurement, use of feedback, and communication of information.
Mutually Beneficial - Both teachers and students should benefit from the knowledge gained through classroom assessment techniques. Students can use the feedback to correct or solidify their understanding of course material and instructors can use the feedback to measure how well instructional strategies are working.
Formative - Since the goal is to improve learning not measure outcomes, classroom assessment techniques may not be graded or hold very little graded weight.
Context-Specific - Effective classroom assessment techniques are uniquely designed to meet the specific needs of each instructor, population, or content area.
Ongoing - Assessment should be a continuous cycle of adjusting, measuring, providing feedback, and adjusting again.
Rooted in Good Teaching Practice - Classroom assessment techniques are one step in an overall approach to teaching and learning. Classroom assessments provide a means by which assessment can be integrated within the instructional process.

Specific Classroom Assessment Techniques—Assessment of Prior Knowledge, Recall, and Understanding

Technique	Description	Utility
Background knowledge probe	Measures students preexisting knowledge of course material via a short, simple questionnaire	Used to determine what students already know to determine a starting point for new instruction
Focused listening	Focuses student attention on a single important term and/or concept and requires students to list closely related ideas	Used to discover what learners recall as most important points related to a particular topic and helps to center attention on key concepts
Misconception/preconception check	Examines prior knowledge and beliefs that may interfere with the ability to correctly learn new information	Used to identify misconceptions so that modifications can be made that facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge
Empty outlines	Students are provides with an empty or partially completed outline of course material and required to fill in the missing components in a limited amount of time	Used to discover what learner recall and can organize into appropriate knowledge structure; promotes organization of information
Memory matrix	Provides students with a 2-dimensional matrix consisting only of row and column headings	Used to promote the organization of ideas and the illustration of relationships
Minute paper	Quickly assesses the learning gained from a specific instructional sequence by asking students "what was the most important thing you learned during this class?" or "what important question remains unanswered?"	Used to discover how well learners are understanding concepts during instruction
Muddiest point	Determines conceptual errors by asking questions such as "what was the muddiest point in _______?"	Used to identify what learners find least clear or most confusing

Assessing skill in Analysis and Critical Thinking

Technique	Description	Utility
Categorization grid	Students are given a grid containing 2 or 3 important categories and required to sort a scrambled list of terms, images, equations into these categories	Used to discover how students categorize information and how well learners understand "what goes with what"
Defining features matrix	Learners are asked to determine whether concepts show a presence or absence of a list of important defining features	Used to discover how well learners can distinguish between similar concepts and make critical differentiation decisions
Pro and con grid	Pros/cons, costs/benefits, advantages/disadvantages are listed in relationship to a specific concept, theory, or idea	Used to discover the depth/breadth of a student's analyses and their capacity for objectivity
Content, form, and function outlines	Students are given a short instructional message and required to identify the what (content), how (form), and why (function)	Used to discover how learners analyze new information; also helps students focus on form and purpose
Analytic memos	Learners write a structured 1-2 page analysis of and response to a specific problem or issue	Used to examine the ability to analyze problems using discipline-specific approaches, methods, and techniques

Assessing Skill in Synthesis and Creative Writing

Technique	Description	Utility
One-sentence summary	Students are required to synthesize information about a given topic into one long, grammatically-correct summary sentence	Used to assess how well students can concisely, completely, and creatively summarize a large amount of information
Word journal	Learners summarize information into a single word, then write a short paragraph explaining the word selection	Used to examine the depth of reading comprehensive, creativity in summarizing information, and skill at defending selection
Approximate analogies	Instructor provides the first half of an analogy and students are required to fill in the remaining analogy component	Used to promote the connection of newly learned relationships to ones that are more familiar; enhances the overall cognitive network
Concept map	Focuses student attention on patterns of association, mental connections between a major concept and other learning while requiring them to diagram relationships	Used to assess students' understanding of the relationships between concepts and degree of "fit" between a concept map and the larger discipline
Invented dialogues	Learners are required to either weave together original quotes or invent their own dialogue based on a specific theory or historical period	Used to discover the learner's creativity in adapting information and expanding beyond basic knowledge
Annotated portfolios	Students select a few pieces that highlight their work and provide a short written prose explaining why each piece was selected	Used to encourage critical self-evaluation of work as well as the connection between creative work and course content

Assessing Skill in Problem Solving

Technique	Description	Utility
Problem recognition tasks	Instructors provide students with a range of problems from which they must identify the type of problem that each example represents	Used to examine how well students can identify problem types and match problem with possible solution methods
What's the principle?	Students are given examples of problems from which they must identify what principle or theory is at work	Used to assess the ability to relate problems with the strategies or principles used to solve them
Documented problem solutions	Learners are asked to document the steps in the problem-solving process as they work through real-world type issues	Used to encourage critical self-analysis and self-awareness of problem-solving strategies
Audio- and videotaped protocols	Instructors audio- or videotape students working through a problem-solving task	Used to review how students actively problem-solve; encourages an in-depth analysis of the process involved in problem-solving

Assessing Skill in Application and Performance

Technique	Description	Utility
Directed paraphrasing	Focuses student attention on summarizing and restating important information or concepts in their own words directed to a particular type of audience	Used to discover the learner's ability to understand and communicate newly learned information
Application cards	After learning a new theory, principle, or concept, students are required to generate a real-world application	Used to assess students' connection of newly learned concepts with real-life application
Student-generated test questions	Students are required to write test questions based on the material they have learned	Used to discover what students consider most important, what they understand as fair/useful test items, and how well they understand related information
Human tableau or Class modeling	Learners use their bodies to create "living" scenes or model processes to kinesthetically show their knowledge	Used to discover how learners demonstrate knowledge through performance
Paper or project prospectus	Students write a brief, structure first-draft plan for a term paper or project	Used to examine understanding of an assignment and topic; encourages planning while there is still time for project modifications

Resource Links:

Reference:

Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

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Questions concerning the Park University Faculty Development: Quick Tips website should be directed to Dr. Jean Mandernach jean.mandernach@park.edu.

Reference citation:

Mandernach, B. J. (2003). insert appropriate page title. Retrieved insert date, from Park University Faculty Development Quick Tips.

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