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)