Assessing Student Work to Support Student Learning
Many instructors are drawn to the Collaborative Research Model because it promises fewer papers or presentations to grade at the end of the process. Keep in mind, however, that for the model to support students well, feedback for milestones needs to be provided throughout, as discussed elsewhere in this site. However, that doesn't necessarily mean formal feedback, as we shall see below.
Though many assessment types will work well with the Collaborative Research Model, authentic assessment (also called “performance assessment”) is particularly useful—and particularly resonant with the spirit of the model. Authentic assessments measure student tasks against performance rubrics for evaluation.
What Are Assessment Rubrics?
Assessment rubrics allow instructors to determine levels of achievement for students by matching standards to pre-determined set of criteria for evaluating the students' performance levels, with the performance levels often carrying point values.
Many sample rubrics have been created for learning across the curriculum. You can likely find several samples on the web from your own teaching field. Jon Mueller's site, in addition to including a detailed, useful discussion of authentic assessment 1, also includes samples from fields as diverse as earth science, special education, and fine arts. Other rubrics banks are also available online. (Feel free to ask the staff at TEP to direct you to some rubrics repositories that might hold valuable samples for you.)
How Should Assessment Vary According to Deliverable?
Ideally, an instructor using authentic assessment would use standards and rubrics for each formal assignment, especially assignments that are difficult to assess, such as participation in a roundtable performance or a think tank. Time permitting, instructors may wish to work with students to create these rubrics, negotiating what the key standards are for a given deliverable or performance. In any event, students should know how they will be assessed for each item that will receive a grade.
For informal assignments, consider designating a portion of your overall assignment to “participation,” and counting CATs responses, quickwrites, and short papers toward that requirement. Doing so will save you some grading time, and will also take the pressure off your students so that they can focus more fully on the big pieces of the project.
1 Available: http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm
