Learner Outcomes Assessment Portfolio

Use of Assessment to Improve Teaching Strategies

A growing number of faculty in NREM have adopted classroom practices that involve both formative and summative assessment. Most frequently, it is the formative assessment conducted throughout the course that leads to course modifications. Many of the formative assessment tools used in NREM come “Classroom Assessment Techniques” by T. A Angelo and K. P. Cross. Examples of techniques from that publication that have been used in NREM classes include:

• Analytic Memos
• Background Knowledge Probes
• Categorizing Grids
• Concept Maps
• Minute Papers
• Muddiest Point, and
• One-Sentence Summaries

Other formative assessment used in the classroom have included Plus/Delta charts to find out what changes both the instructor and the students need to make to improve learning effectiveness for the students. In some classes, emphasis has shifted from a course and instructor assessment to a learning assessment to better evaluate what the students have learned, and what they still feel they haven’t learned. At present, a uniform semester-end learning assessment has not been developed for all courses in NREM.

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