Assessment For, As and Of Learning

Assessment For Learning

This type of assessment is sometimes called formative or diagnostic assessment. Some of the reasons to administer a diagnostic assessment are:

Create a baseline

With this baseline, you can track more accurately what students have learned

Determine which topics should be emphasized at the beginning of the semester

Provide students information on what areas they need to focus on

Assessment for Learning in Top Hat

In Top Hat, you can create questions that allow students to answer anonymously. Selecting this box means that student responses are made anonymous to the professor as well, making them perfect for Pre-Tests to assess what students already know before class starts. This type of assessment will not be recorded in the Top Hat gradebook.

Many professors like to begin their course with a pre-test to get a better understanding of what their students know. You can chart the growth of your class overall (and your efficacy as an instructor) by administering the same pre-test as a study guide for the final exam.

Assessment As Learning

This type of assessment takes place during the learning process, and is intended to provide valuable information to both student and professor on the growth and progress of individual students and the entire class. Assessment as learning is sometimes called formative assessment.

Assessement as Learning in Top Hat

Embedding Top Hat questions in your presentations is a fantastic way to incorporate assessment as learning. By using the instant feedback feature on Top Hat questions, students can easily evaluate which concepts they need to focus on. Conversely, the instant feedback feature provides valuable information to professors--perhaps the whole class does not understand a topic. This is a good indicator that you might want to re-teach a concept, or send the class supplemental resources to ensure they master the topic before moving on to a more advanced idea.

By clicking on the button with a check mark, you will show your students the correct answer to your question (if there is a correct answer). The button with a bar graph will show you and your students the distribution of student responses, and looks like this:

Assessment as learning is a teaching strategy that allows professors to monitor for understanding within their classroom. Many professors choose to make this type of assessment formative, and award marks only for participation as opposed to correctness. Below are some examples for how to use

1.) Exit tickets, or exit questions are a great way to gather information about how successful your class was. Here are a few examples:

2.) Another way that you can use assessment as learning to monitor for understanding is to set up a classroom parking lot. "Parking lots" are used as a safe space for students to ask questions in-class without disrupting the flow of the lecture. You can pause in the middle of class to review the parking lot, at the end of the class, or you can address the questions at the start of your next lecture. Here is an example:

3.) Professors can also monitor for understanding by implementing the Red, Yellow, Green strategy: as you conclude a topic or main idea, simply ask your students if they understood the objective. Instruct student's to answer Green if the topic makes complete sense and they do not need any help, Yellow if they could benefit from a bit more time, or Red if they are totally lost. This quick and easy teaching strategy effectively gives professors a lot of information in a short amount of time- instructors can quickly evaluate the efficacy of that specific class and make teaching decisions accordingly.

4.) Top Hat allows professors to generate a word cloud with student responses on a word answer question. This feature is a great way for professors to monitor for understanding, especially for visual learners, as it will show the overall thought process of the class.

Below is what your word cloud might look like:

*What happens when I am monitoring for understanding and my class tanks? Nobody understands the learning objectives, and my teaching strategies aren't getting through to my students...Use this as a teachable moment! This is an opportunity to guide your class through common misconceptions, or motivate them to pick up their pace on their homework/reading responsibilities and be accountable for their learning. These moments can also serve as useful information to the instructor about what teaching strategies are effective this term- remember, your group of students who have an 8 AM class might respond very differently than your group who you taught at 1 PM last semester, and that's ok!

Assessment Of Learning

This type of assessment formally measures and reports on student's understanding or achievement of key learning objectives/expectations and is typically reflected through a grade. This type of assessment is sometimes called summative assessment.

Assessment of Learning in Top Hat

There are many ways that you can formally assess your students for learning using the Top Hat response platform.

1.) Reading comprehension checks - many professors will use the first few minutes of class to administer a quick Top Hat assessment in order to ensure that student's have completed their readings for homework. This is an effective summative assessment because it forces student's to take accountability for their independent learning while simultaneously judging whether or not students have achieved basic understanding of background knowledge before beginning a new topic in class.

2.) Some professors will also administer a type of previous lecture comprehension check at the start of their class. Again, this holds students accountable for attending all classes and taking ownership of reviewing their course materials. Many professors choose to use this type of assessment of learning as it reinforces the study habits necessary to be a successful and professional student.

3.) Top Hat can be used to administer In-Class Quizzes. The process for creating quizzes is slightly different from creating Top Hat questions that you would use for other purposes. Below is a step-by-step guide on the basics of creating and administering a quiz:

Create and label a new folder for your quiz

Create your quiz questions within the new folder

When you are administering your quiz in class, first make sure that you select the quiz folder (not an individual question). Next, click on the drop-down menu next to the present button and select "Present All At Once". This will open all questions simultaneously so that your students can answer the questions at their own pace.

*If you would like to time your quiz, ensure that each quiz question has a timer set for the entire length of the quiz. For example, if you have a quiz that will last 10 minutes, each quiz question must have a timer of 600 seconds. Each question needs to have a timer the full length of the quiz as each question should be open throughout the entire quiz.

4.) Some professors choose to administer Out-Of-Class Quizzes through Top Hat. However, it is prudent to note that Top Hat is not a formal assessment tool, and students are able to reference their notes, Google, peers, or other types of resources that might not be as readily available during class. That being said, some believe that students will be learning even with access to these tools, and that students should be allowed and encouraged to use these resources, as this is how students will problem solve once they are members of the workforce. You can administer quizzes outside of class in a few ways- either by creating pages content and embedding your questions there, or by creating a quiz folder with all questions inside the quiz folder. With either option, you will need to Assign the quiz to your students in Homework mode (as this will record your student's grade in the gradebook).

Teaching Strategies and Best Practices