Formative Assessment

The Instructional Value of Formative Assessment and Feedback

Formative writing assessments, like writing-to-learn activities, provide instructors with valuable and ongoing insights into student learning. Often ungraded, these activities or assessments can create opportunities for instructors to generate formative feedback that helps students see where they are in the course, what they are

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Formative Assessments for Online Learning

There are three types of assessments. A diagnostic assessment comes before learning, is ungraded, and measures prior knowledge of the upcoming learning material. It can be used to determine what needs to be taught. A summative assessment comes at the end of learning, is

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Integrated Testlets for Building Knowledge

Those in higher education have long used assessments to measure learning, whether for a grade, to determine prior knowledge, or to see how well students are following a current lesson. But assessments can also serve as learning devices. One way to put assessment in

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Using the Traffic Light Response to Improve Learning

As educators, we assume that students are learning what we teach. But students often do not learn as much as we expect, and high-stakes assessments reveal their knowledge gaps when it is too late to do anything about it. Thus, many instructors use classroom assessment

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A hardworking student in a coffee shop reflects on his learning

From Traditional to Cyber CATs: Different Breeds for Different Needs

Research has shown that using formative assessment to inform instruction is one of the most important components of good teaching (Rosenshine, 2012). While many teachers rely solely on questioning and discussion techniques to gauge a class’s comprehension and learning, formative assessment strategies are needed to

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gamification in class

Gamification Rescues Course with High Failure Rates

In the fall of 2017, Niki Bray had a problem. The University of Memphis instructor and instructional designer was tasked with redesigning and teaching an Intro to Kinesiology course that had failure rates of 43 percent on the first attempt and nearly 50 percent on

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eportfolios

Five Ways to Use ePortfolios for Reflection

Please show me innovative teaching strategies I can actually use!

As educators, we are often seeking new and exciting ways to engage our students, only to find that our teaching load leaves little time for focusing on the more innovative approaches. This dilemma is compounded by

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group reading quizzes

The Daily Quiz

I use a daily quiz that has a two-fold purpose: first, it tests the students’ knowledge of the day’s reading material; and second, it provides a focus for the lecture and activities scheduled that day in class. Whether attendance is required or just encouraged, a

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using specs grading

Using Specifications Grading to Deepen Student Thinking

Do you use auto-graded multiple-choice and true-false quizzes and exams? If so, why?

Is it because you’re convinced that these forms of assessment are rigorous and authentic instruments for measuring student learning? Or is it because, given that you are teaching larger enrollment classes with

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