Shawnalee,

As I read this, I just finished grading one of my summative assessments. At the end of each unit, students complete a culminating activity. The activity typically combines multiple topics from the unit (or even previous units, as the units are interconnected) into complex problems or case studies. The teams are then asked to solve the problem or answer questions pertaining to the case. I usually will give students 2 or 3 problems and they have the duration of the class period (50 minutes) to develop and document their team responses. I do still give a midterm (or 2) and a final exam in a traditional, usually multiple choice, format. My students seem uncomfortable with eliminating this traditional exam all together, as they don't often trust themselves to be to successful with the culminating activities alone. I find that they do struggle with the culminating activities early on, but as the semester progresses, I find that their answers become sophisticated and thorough.

I would love to hear what others do for summative assessment as well.

Nicole Arduini-Van Hoose

From: "Shawnalee A Whitney" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 11:55:22 PM
Subject: SXSWEdu

Hello, all.

 

I was just reading this blog piece summarizing the top innovations and educational trends emerging from SXSWEdu. You may learn more about other sessions from SXSWEdu here, but in this summary I wanted to highlight two things that might be useful for the TBL community.

 

First, I was interested in what was said in item 2 re: the need for student voice in education innovations. I wonder if it might not be useful to have a student panel at an upcoming regional or national conference of the TBLC? I think the TBLC’s website includes a good number of videos that represent the student experience in using TBL, but I wonder if there are ways that student voice might help us continue to shape the pedagogy?

 

Second, in item #4 the author of the blog says that testing is obsolete. I believe the kind of testing that is done in the RAP is generally formative assessment and, as such, is used to help guide learning, but I’m curious about the various ways in which TBL practitioners may be approaching summative assessment. It sounds like many (most?) faculty use periodic content exams, but I’d like to hear more dialogue exploring a range of options that might be used for summative assessment in classrooms with a TBL focus. Again, this might make for an interesting panel.

 

I enjoyed the conference in Fort Worth. Thank you to everyone who presented, and to all the participants!

 

All my best,

 

Shawnalee Whitney

Associate Professor of Communication

Department of Journalism and Communication

University of Alaska Anchorage

[log in to unmask]