'Learning Outcomes'
During this era in education, when standards are being stringently enforced and instructors are being held accountable for what they get done in their courses, the use of rubrics is becoming more common. They are a designed evaluation guide for instructors and students to use as a point of reference, with specific assessment criteria for any assignment, project, requirement, and/or course. Rubrics allow students to have an idea of what is expected of their work, thus putting responsibility into the hands of students. Students can see what the instructor is looking for when their work is assessed. The amount that a teacher has to repeat their expectations, and students feeling misguided, can be significantly reduced.
The traditional rubric with percentages and listed criteria for earning an “A” or “B” in a course have drastically changed. Today rubrics have become creative and versatile. A rubric can be created for essentially any aspect of any course. The website addresses below provide examples of different rubric designs and creations, and their rationale.
Indiana University at Kokomo’s Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Kappa Omicron Nu Honors Society website
Chicago Public Schools online resource to rubrics
May 27th, 2008
As exam time nears, some pointers on writing good or effective questions might be helpful. Here are some tips to consider:
Twelve Tips for Writing Good Questions (from Questionmark)
“Writing effective questions takes time and practice. Whether your goal is to measure knowledge and skills, survey opinions and attitudes, or enhance a learning experience, poorly worded questions can adversely affect the quality of the results. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you write and review questions:
- Keep stems and statements as short as possible and use clear, concise language.
- Use questions whenever possible (What, Who, When, Where, Why and How).
- Maintain grammatical consistency to avoid cueing
- List choices in a logical order.
- Avoid negatives, especially double negatives.
- Avoid unnecessary modifiers, especially absolutes (e.g. always, never, etc.).
- Avoid “All of the above” and use of “None of the above” with caution.
- Avoid vague pronouns (e.g. it, they).
- Avoid conflicting alternatives.
- Avoid syllogistic reasoning choices (e.g. “both a and b are correct”) unless absolutely necessary.
- Avoid providing cues to correct answer in the stem.
- Avoid providing clues to the answer of one question in another question.”
Writing Effective Questions to Promote Learning (Penn State)
This detailed website provides “easy-to-follow, quick-to-read guidance for creating questions of varied types: 1-minute essay, short essay, short-answer, check-all-that-apply, matching, along with the traditional multiple-choice and true-false.”
Each question type has three sections: an overview (description & samples), construction (how to write them effectively), and check yourself (how to spot faults in your own questions).
What other sites give good suggestions about writing effective questions?… Click on the COMMENTS link below to share your thoughts!
April 15th, 2008
As a follow up from the Questions and Learning: The Dynamic Duo workshop, here is an activity for your students to participate in or create your own list of the Top 10 Questions related to your discipline:
Top 10 Questions from Conversation Week.org (March 24-28, 2008)
For more information on using questioning strategies in the classroom, visit:
Facilitating Discussion: A Brief Guide
by Katherine K. Gottschalk, Director of Freshman Writing Seminars,
John S. Knight Writing Program, Cornell University
Fostering Effective Classroom Discussions
Jennifer Barton, Paul Heilker, and David Rutkowski, English Department, Virginia Tech
Question-Only Session
Stacey Osborn, BGSU
The “Pop Quiz” on Questioning
by Donna Sawyer
What are some critical questions for learning? Are there any “bad questions”?
Click on the COMMENTS link below to leave your thoughts!
February 28th, 2008
The BGSU learning community is invited to present or attend the 2nd Annual Teaching & Learning Fair !
Date
: Friday, March 14, 2008
Location: Bowen-Thompson Student Union, Lenhart Grand Ballroom and Rooms 314, 315, and 316
Schedule of Events:
9:00-10:30 a.m. – Fair Presentations (Lenhart Grand Ballroom)
9:30-10:30 a.m. – Discussion Sessions (BTSU 314, 315, and 316)
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. – Welcome, Introductions, and Keynote
Dr. Shirley Baugher, Provost
Dr. Diane Halpern, keynote speaker
“Applying the Science of Learning in the Classroom and Beyond”
1:00-2:30 p.m. – Fair Presentations
1:30-2:30 p.m. – Discussion Sessions (BTSU 314, 315, and 316)
3:00-4:00 p.m. – Discussion Sessions (BTSU 314, 315, and 316)
For more information about the BGSU Teaching and Learning Fair
To register to present – contact information only is requested
February 11th, 2008
According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ website:
Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP): Excellence for Everyone as a Nation Goes to College is a ten-year campaign to champion the value of a liberal education—for individual students and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality. The campaign seeks to expand public and student understanding of what really matters in college—the kinds of learning that will truly empower them to succeed and make a difference in the 21st century.
The recently released LEAP Report, College Learning for the New Global Century (pdf), “highlights 16 schools or educational systems whose innovative educational practices and programs embody the report’s recommendations and Principles of Excellence,” including BGSU’s BGeXperience program. A clear recommendation from the report concludes:
The LEAP National Leadership Council recommends, in sum, an education that intentionally fosters, across multiple fields of study,wide-ranging knowledge of science, cultures, and society; high-level intellectual and practical skills; an active commitment to personal and social responsibility; and the demonstrated ability to apply learning to complex problems and challenges.
The council further calls on educators to help students become “intentional learners” who focus, across ascending levels of study and diverse academic programs, on achieving the essential learning outcomes.
The following are the Principles in Practice identified in the LEAP Report (click each link for more details):
Aim High — and Make Excellence Inclusive
Give Students a Compass
Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation
Engage the Big Questions
Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action
Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning
Assess Students’ Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems
What types of learning experiences are your students doing that support some of these principles?… Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
January 8th, 2008
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