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Identifying Course Learning Objectives

Copy and paste or re-type your course learning objectives here.

Identifying Existing Student Learning Assessments

What are your current assessments?

Assessment Scheduling and Frequency

• What campus events or deadlines are important to be aware of as I schedule assessments?
• How is feedback on assessments distributed across the semester in terms of intensity and frequency?
• Does the distribution align with the best practices (need to state them here)?
• What periodic feedback mechanisms have I employed to monitor learning (e.g., graded and non-graded quizzes, tests, lecture-response systems, tests, reflection papers)?

Assessment Variety

• How many different ways am I assessing student learning?
• What is the balance among no-stakes, low-stakes, and high-stakes assessments in the course?
• Have I used both summative and formative evaluations (e.g., oral presentations, group work, self-evaluation, peer evaluation)?
• Have I included opportunities for students to self-assess their learning or understanding?
• How do assessments create desirable difficulties (Bjork & Bjork) that activate prior knowledge while pushing students to higher levels of achievement?

Course Framing and Purpose

• Have I had a conversation with students about the overall purpose of the course (why the course “matters”)?
• Have I considered course-level and assignment-level learning goals or objectives when planning my assessments?

The Nature of Learning

• What opportunities do students have to identify prior knowledge about the subject?
• What opportunities do students have to find connections between course material?
• Have I given adequate time for students to engage in the process of learning?
• What opportunities do students have to engage in the social nature of learning?
• How have I considered the affective nature of learning?

Helping Students Choose Integrity

• Have I explained how practicing integrity relates to the overall class or discipline?
• Have I discussed how specific habits in the course relate to success and integrity?
• Have I clearly and specifically outlined acceptable and unacceptable forms of collaboration or sharing of work?
• Have I clearly explained guidelines for source use and citation in assessments and provided resources for this?
• Have I explained what resources or assistance students are allowed to use on assessments?
• Have I discussed or assessed students’ assumptions and understanding of what is expected from them with regard to academic integrity in the course?

Communication of Expectations and Instructor Feedback

• Have I clearly stated expectations for timely and regular feedback from me (e.g. through questions, email, assignments, etc.)?
• Have I explained the evaluation methods explicitly?
• Have I explained how final grades will be assigned?
• Have I provided ways that students can easily calculate or find their grades at any point in the course?
• Have I explained typical time needs to complete assessments?
• Have I explained my expectations for academic integrity in the course?
• Have I explained how each assessment relates to specific course learning outcomes?
• Are feedback mechanisms designed to be developmental, with the goal of improvement?

Using Learning-Centered Language

• How does the language used in the syllabus, assignments, and feedback focus on learning rather than grades?
• What learning improvement strategies are embodied in my course goals, assignments, and feedback offered to students?
• How does the language I use when giving feedback focus on continuous improvement?
• How does the language used in my grading mechanisms link assessment to learning?

Assessment and Learning Objectives

Which levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives do the assessments address? Does this match what I aspire students to be doing in the course? Use the chart below to help you answer this question.

• Based on the above chart, do you have any course course objectives that lack a related assessment?
• Based on the chart above, do you have any course assessments that are not aligned with any course learning objects?

This chart can be used to analyze your full assessment scheme for the course.

Complete it as you work your way through the questions above to identify gaps between your current assessment practices and the best practices suggested by the questions.