Assessment Methods

As you can see in my syllabus, I use multiple types of assessment.  This is important to me because people differ in their ability to achieve on different types of assessments.

Using different teaching methods provides multiple opportunities for student assessment.  I use both traditional methods of feedback and assessment such as exams (see appendix) and rubrics to grade essays (see syllabus).  I also use rubrics to grade class participation (Bean & Peterson, 1998).  Using a rubric to grade class participation makes it clear to students that I value what they have to say, and students know that I am not only looking for the “correct answer,” but that I envision the classroom as a type of workshop where the students work together to understand the material (Christensen, 1991; Christensen & Hansen, 1987).  I have found students who are able to analyze, apply and synthesize information in class discussions, but do not perform as well on multiple choice tests.  These students helped other students in the class learn by demonstrating those higher order thinking skills.  I value the students’ participation. Having a rubric allows me to give credit for performance in class participation and takes into account differences in student learning styles (Bean & Peterson, 1998).  Feedback in class is timely and allows me to provide support when students may be trying to think in challenging ways such as forming an argument that is based in evidence and reasoning, and integrates values.

 

To plan my assessments, I first consult my course objectives.  As explained in my syllabus I draw my course objectives from the American Psychological Association (APA, 2007). They have identified ten objectives for undergraduate psychology education.  I have chosen four of those to focus on in my in my Introduction to Psychology course. My first goal is for the student to understand basic psychological terms, and understand basic concepts. For this objective, I focus on information that is both part of our culture and information that is foundational to many areas of psychology.  My second goal is for the students to be able to apply classical principles of psychology to themselves and others better.  Third, I want students to be able to identify their own values as applied to the area of psychology. We will have several discussions that will require you to examine your own values. Fourth, I aim to develop students’ ability to express knowledge and ideas in the area of psychology.

The table below demonstrates the methods that I use to assess students achievement of these goals. To assess the basic knowledge that students have learned through lecture, class activities and discussions, and readings in the textbooks, I use multiple choice exams. I also use these exams to test the students’ ability to apply concepts to problems by giving a situation and asking which concept applies to that situation.  These questions are very much like the question I use during class discussion.  One example of this type of exam question would be: You stub your toe and may have broken it.  Immediately, you start to rub the area.  When you call your doctor later, she tells you to put ice on your toe.  Both rubbing your toe and applying ice relieve some of the pain.  Which of the principles that we learned about explain the relief of pain after rubbing and applying ice.

A. Gestalt principles,

B. The effect of emotion and motivation on perception.

C. Pain gate theory.

D. Both B and C. (see the example exam).

 

I can test students’ ability to apply concepts to specific situations.   As I mentioned above, I also assess students’ ability to apply concepts during class discussions.  In addition, I use these discussions to assess the students’ ability to express their understanding of material and ideas and their ability to identify the influences of their own values on their problem solving.

 

Finally, I use two class writing assignments (see syllabus) to assess students’ ability to integrate information and express their knowledge through writing.  I find using these multiple modes of assessment provides students opportunities to demonstrate their achievement in ways that they are proficient, but also allows them opportunities to improve upon their skills in the modes that they are not as accomplished.   

 

Instructional Goal	Method of Assessment
Knowledge	Multiple choice exams that test terms students have learned from both lecture and text.
Application of classical psychological principles to self and social situations	Multiple choice exam questions that test the students’ ability to apply concepts to problems.  Evaluation of participation in class discussion.   Application of principles applied to problems presented in class activities.
Identifying students’ own values in thinking.	Evaluation of the students’ ability to identify their own values in problem solving opportunities presented in class discussion.
Ability to express knowledge and ideas in the area of psychology.	Evaluation of communication skills demonstrated in class discussion.   Evaluation of writing skills in class writing project, which integrates information learned from the text and lecture with information from a book that applies psychological principles to health (The Relaxation Response).