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)