Dianne,
Thanks for the excellent question—this is a concern I have run
into with several teachers and it never occurred to me to post to the list.
Many teachers have the need to get individual, summative
assessment data (e.g., end-of-unit tests), so you speak for a great many folks.
Question: How large is your class?
-M
From: Team-Based Learning
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dean Parmelee
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 8:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Back-to-back tests
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
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***********************
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)