Interact at the Center

How Do We Know That Students are Learning?

Recently, the BGSU community has been introduced to a conceptual learning model, designed by BGSU’s Connecting the Undergraduate Experience (CUE), Faculty Senate Committee. The learning model combines the major elements of the teaching and learning process, such as the subject matter, the instructional methodology, optimization of learning context, and recognition and measurement of the learning process itself.

Among the many questions raised at the CUE workshops in early November, the issue of how to measure such learning experiences seemed to be among the most common. Educators want to discuss alternative ways to recognize and measure students’ learning. Ultimately, we are all asking: how do we know that students are learning?

The main problem seems to be that many educators think of examinations when they think of measuring or evaluating. They believe the purpose of evaluation is to assign a final grade. In the learner-centered classroom that CUE seeks to promote, both the methods and the purpose of measurement are broader in their scope. Moreover, evaluation must be directly connected to course objectives and learning outcomes.

A primary purpose of evaluation is to help students develop broad knowledge of the subject and, more importantly, the skills to apply this knowledge effectively and efficiently. Evaluation exists to help students construct knowledge and set goals for further achievements.

To develop a broad knowledge of the subject, students need continuous feedback on their work in progress, which might include self-assessment and peer review. Evidence shows that student performance improves with this type of evaluation, which allows students to track their own progress, thus increasing their motivation to learn. Additionally, assessment does not necessarily have to be one way – from teacher to students. It is also important for students to have a chance to give their feedback on their learning experiences to their teachers. This practice allows students to use critical thinking and reflective skills that are necessary to their achievement of the University Learning Outcomes.

There are many ways for educators to measure students’ knowledge and skill development. The Chronicle of Higher Education offers a list of assignments that can be implemented in a learner-centered classroom (http://chronicle.com/article/Chart-More-Faculty-members/48848).

As the CUE committee’s learning model is discussed and debated, we hope to continue the dialogue about measuring student learning that will inform our curricula, instruction, construction of productive learning environments and the learning process itself. In the coming weeks this blog will present a number of new ways to think about measuring learning. We hope that you will join us for a frank and fruitful discussion about how we know when students are learning.

Add comment November 16th, 2009

This I Believe: Common Reading Goes Across Campus

As this semester winds down we wanted to consider how our use of This I Believe as the common reading assignment could be brought to a close. One option may lie within the BGSU Honors Program, where there has been a concerted effort to bring together a wealth of student perspectives within a special BGSU Believes Book. Dr. Jodi Devine, Associate Director of Academic Affairs for the Honors Program, said that the idea for the book developed from a program-wide effort to keep pushing students further in their interactions with the common reading.  Dr. Devine explained that the program wanted to “encourage a sense of pride and a sense of ownership in the writers. This way we do not just publicly acknowledge student contributions, we publicly display them.”

Student essay submissions have already arrived at the department offices and program directors have begun the review and editorial process. Artwork developed by students has also become an integral part of the book with both the cover art and thematic icons growing out of work created by the students.

While the contributions have been piling up, the ultimate goal of this cumulative work is not merely to show off the work of a few, but to engage with ideas of the many. To this end, the program is also soliciting submissions from professors. Given the desire to collaborate and share ideas across campus, it makes sense to provide a forum for both students and faculty to share their ideas, their beliefs and their writing with one another. “This is an important question to ask,” says Dr. Devine, “regardless of whether it’s graded or not”, and certainly regardless of whether you’re a humble freshman or a venerated Ph.D.

One might be tempted to think that the end of a semester allows teachers and students to end our engagement with the curriculum, but truly effective teaching rests on ongoing interaction with materials, questions and each other. Continuing our examination and exploration of beliefs and values in a free exchange of ideas, as the Honors Program has suggested, allows us to do just that.

If you are faculty member interested in contributing to the Honors Program’s publication project, you can contact Jodi Devine or Paul Moore for more information, or e-mail completed essays to honors@bgsu.edu by January 15^th 2010.

November 6th, 2009