Planning tips
Plan your assessment as you plan your instruction to ensure good results. Using each of the following tips will help you in the planning process.
Integrate your assessment plan into your course design
Ensure that you set aside the time (both during and outside of class) to conduct your assessment properly. Examples of ways to integrate assessment into your instructional plan include:
- Creating assignments and exam questions that directly measure
the learning of course objectives. Creating a chart depicting how
exam questions and assignments relate to course objectives is often
helpful.
Example
Course Objectives Exam 1 Exam 2 Exam 3 Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Students will understand the various forms of contemporary journalism.
1, 3, 7, 16, 22, 26, 29, 30
4, 7, 20
14, 36
X
Students will learn to critique the various forms of contemporary journalism.
2, 3, 8, 22, 23, 26, 28, 33, 40
1, 4, 7, 18, 20
14, 23, 36, 45
X
Students will learn basic journalistic writing techniques.
X
X
Students will learn the basic elements of a news story.
43, 44, 45, 50
X
Note: The numbers in each exam column represent the question numbers that relate to the course objective for that exam. Exam questions and assignments may relate to more than one course objective
- Creating opportunities for student feedback about instruction through regular assignments or activities.
- Scheduling time to learn assessment techniques, develop assessment instruments, and analyze results.
- Scheduling in-class assessments (e.g., feedback devices, observations, surveys) into the course timeline/syllabus.
- Creating exam questions that assess instruction.
Example
- The use of technology in this class has helped my learning.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- The resources posted on Blackboard helped me learn the material.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- Participating in the discussion groups on Blackboard helped me
better understand issues related to the course content.
- Strongly Agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- How has the use of Blackboard in this course helped you learn the material? (open ended)
- How could technology be used in this course to help you learn? (open ended)
- The use of technology in this class has helped my learning.
- Developing assessment instruments prior to the semester.
- View an example assessment plan for classroom instruction.
Obtain resources before the semester starts
Obtain necessary materials, training or staff prior to the semester. Refer to the resource requirements for your chosen method(s) and make arrangements to have these resources in place prior to the semester whenever feasible. While some assessment methods, such as feedback devices and document analysis, require few resources and little planning, other methods work best when there is careful, advanced planning.
Fully understand any data gathering technique or analysis software prior to the semester so that you know its limitations and planning requirements. If you use volunteers to help you administer a survey, set aside time before hand to instruct them in how to do it correctly.
Schedule your assessment
Allow enough time to implement each assessment method appropriately. We have information about how to implement various assessment methods, including what resources you'll need. Our step-by-step implementation instructions are designed to assist you in planning for the method, creating necessary assessment instruments, and gathering the data.
Plan time to analyze and interpret your assessment data. Soon after implementation, set aside time to briefly review your data for any problems or errors. For some methods this is also a first step in analysis. You will need to reserve additional time to more systematically analyze and interpret the information you have collected.
