Three Learning Assessment Techniques to Gauge Student Learning

learning assessment techniques
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 that have been achieved from those learning activities. LATs are correlated to Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning, such that there are about 6–10 techniques for each of the learning dimensions, including techniques to help students learn the foundational knowledge of the subject and help students apply that foundational knowledge to real situations so that it becomes useful and much more meaningful to them. There are techniques that help students integrate ideas—different realms of knowledge—so that the learning is more powerful. There are techniques to help students recognize the personal and social implications of what they are learning, which is what Dee Fink calls the human dimension. There are techniques to help students care about what they are learning so that they’re willing to put the effort into what they need to learn. And finally, there are techniques to help students become better and more self-directing learners (learning how to learn).

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
A team icebreaker activity for which there is no obvious solution can help scaffold student behavior in group...
Traditional slide decks for hosting content in live videoconferences have the major drawback that the content is static...
Academic integrity is one of the most critical aspects of education. Despite this, students' ability to cheat is...
In 1936, psychologist Muzafer Sherif reported a landmark study on the creation of social norms. Sherif made use...
Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, are in our classrooms whether we are aware...
The rolling TV cart: a beloved icon of the educational system in the 1980s and ’90s. As students,...

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.

The Teaching Professor Conference 2024

June 7-9, 2024 • New Orleans

Connect with Fellow Educators at The Teaching Professor Conference!