A learning assessment technique (LAT) is a three-part integrated structure that helps teachers to first identify significant learning goals, then to implement effectively the kinds of learning activities that help achieve those goals, and finally—and perhaps most importantly—to analyze and report on the learning outcomes
Although still not at all that widely used, there’s long-standing interest in letting students work together on quizzes or exams. Upon first hearing about the approach, teachers’ initial response is almost always negative. Here are the most common objections.
There’s been a noticeable increase in the amount of pedagogical literature that references what’s been documented about learning in cognitive psychology. It seems to be part of the ongoing interest in making instructional practices more evidence-based. But there’s an issue that makes the application of
As professors, we have all been there—trying to decide the best way to assess students to determine whether learning has taken place. The goal of education is, after all, to get the information into the student’s long-term memory so that he or she can draw
Here’s one of those articles that really shouldn’t be missed, particularly for those with interest in making teaching and learning more evidence-based. Current thinking about evidence-based teaching and learning tends to be more generic than specific. Use any active learning strategy intermittently or even regularly,
Most entry-level science classes are test-centric, meaning that the course grade is based primarily on tests and only minimally on homework, quizzes, or other grades. For students with test anxiety, that can be devastating.
How do we get students to act on the feedback we provide? When papers are returned, they look at the grade first and then (but not always) briefly peruse the comments. Do they read them more carefully at home? When asked, they say they do,
A recent survey of 175 economics professors who teach basic principles of economics courses revealed a widely diverse set of grading practices for the course. These instructors taught at 118 different institutions, including doctoral degree-granting universities, two-year colleges, and everything in between. The findings are
How much will students remember from your course tomorrow, next week, next month, next semester, or next year? Let’s be honest, in most cases, not as much as we would hope or as much as they should. What’s at the root of this problem? Students
The “testing effect,” as it’s called by cognitive psychologists, seems pretty obvious to faculty. If students are going to be tested on material, they will learn it better and retain it longer than if they just study the material. And just in case you had
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Adapted from the Magna Online Seminar Learning Assessment Techniques: How to Integrate New Activities That Gauge What and How Well Students Learn. It also appears in the book Active Learning: A Practical Guide for College Faculty.
