Dianne - I echo what Dee has offered. As you so well know
students never learn what we teach: they learn (1) what they
think might be on a test coming up (ever so briefly) and (2) what
they think they might need in the real world coming up (authentic).
Dean
On May 3, 2010, at 8:32 AM, Dee Fink wrote:
> Dianne,
>
> First, a question; then a thought to consider.
>
> The question: How many units does your course have?
> Often people find that 4 to 7 is an optimum number of units
> for a semester-length term.
>
> The thought: Instead of giving a multiple-choice exam at the end of
> each unit, what would you think about having a culminating project,
> done by the groups?
> A culminating project would be an activity that would call
> for students to use what they have studied during the past 2-3
> weeks. Then, as you go from unit to unit, these projects can become
> more challenging and can integrate the topics of later units with
> the topics of earlier units.
> Or, if you want more individual accountability, what some
> people like, is to alternate: one unit with an individual test and
> the next unit have a group project. But even then, the individual
> test should have an significant application component as well as
> testing whether they "got" the content knowledge.
>
> Some of these ideas come from my book on course design (Creating
> Significant Learning Experiences). One of the ideas in it is that a
> good course design has a good teaching strategy, and TBL is a superb
> teaching strategy. A second idea is that of educative assessment
> (which was created and named by Grant Wiggins).
> One of the central ideas of educative assessment is that of
> needing to use authentic or forwarding-looking assessment tasks. An
> authentic task is one the students can look at and say: "Wow, that
> is something that I might have to do with this knowledge after I
> leave college, and this task calls for me to use what I have learned
> about this subject."
> Multiple choice tests are useful for assessing whether
> students "got" the content knowledge; they are not as good as other
> procedures at replicating authentic tasks, e.g., decision making,
> problem solving, making choices, etc.
> So, putting these two ideas together, using a good strategy
> like TBL, which you are already doing, and then incorporating some
> powerful ideas about how to assess student learning at the end of
> each unit (borrowing from the concept of educative assessment),
> would make a powerful combination.
>
> Good luck! -Dee Fink
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 4:49 AM, York, Dianne <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> I teach an undergraduate human biology course for nonmajors, and I
> have used TBL for the past 3 semesters, starting Spring 2009. All
> has gone very well. I enjoy using TBL, the students enjoy it,
> attendance is better, etc. I can’t imagine going back to traditional
> lecturing.
>
> My question concerns the testing process, both RATs and unit tests.
> I end each unit with a test, mainly multiple choice, to assess
> individual student learning. I do not give a mid-term and there is
> no cumulative final, just the last unit test at the end of the
> course. The first semester I tried TBL, there was a lot of grumbling
> over the back-to-back tests i.e., unit test on the material we’re
> finishing one day and then RATs on the new unit the following class
> period.
>
> My solution has been to assign a few homework questions on the new
> unit. The assignment is worth minor points, but does give students
> some incentive to open the text. I collect homework at the beginning
> of the class, then lecture on some of the new material. We take the
> RATs on the second day of the new unit. Typically questions for the
> RAT are on a different chapter in the text book than the one I just
> lectured on. I’m really not happy with this work-around though
> because students are not prepared yet, of course, for any
> application activities, and I’m stuck lecturing on the first day of
> the new unit.
>
> How does everyone else handle this situation? Do you typically give
> unit tests or only a mid-term and a final? Should I just ignore the
> grumbling and insist they prepare for and take the RATs the class
> after the unit test? Is there a better way to build in a day off
> from testing during the transition from one unit to the next?
>
> Thank you for any advice you can offer.
>
> Dianne York
> Lecturer, Biology
> Lincoln University, PA
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> --
> ***********************
> L. Dee Fink
> 234 Foreman Ave.
> Norman, OK 73069
> Phone/FAX: 405-364-6464
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Website: www.finkconsulting.info
>
> **National Project Director: Teaching & Curriculum Improvement
> (TCI) Project
> **Senior Associate, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services
> **Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences
> **Former President of the POD Network in Higher Education (2004-2005)
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