What Does an"A" Say?
Abstract
To what extent do the grades we give reflect students’ understanding of concepts and fluency with the discourse conventions that shape our respective disciplines? How can we become better at teaching the deep skills we want to test and vice versa? Building on the premise that the best assessments also serve as learning tools for students, this panel will offer the audience strategies for developing and using curricular instruments that can probe, prove, and improve students’ ability to engage in discipline-based inquiry and argument. By considering strategies for rethinking exactly what knowledge, skills, or competencies are demonstrated in students’ responses to a chosen assignment, participants will be prompted to consider how the connections among curriculum, assignments, and assessment (both formative and summative) might be improved in their classes. Panelists will offer brief classroom-based examples of research-in-progress from three different disciplines as prompts for audience analysis and reflection. We will also ask the audience to consider the meta-connections of such practices across disciplines. Framed by the expert/novice and critical-thinking perspectives of William Perry, Daniel Willingham, John Bransford, and others, this session also offers advice on building effective faculty learning communities to enhance classroom, program, and institutional assessment.
Location
Room 1220 A
Recommended Citation
Wilner, Arlene; Hunter, Brooke; Titus, Megan; and Zdan, Richard, "What Does an"A" Say?" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 65.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/65
What Does an"A" Say?
Room 1220 A
To what extent do the grades we give reflect students’ understanding of concepts and fluency with the discourse conventions that shape our respective disciplines? How can we become better at teaching the deep skills we want to test and vice versa? Building on the premise that the best assessments also serve as learning tools for students, this panel will offer the audience strategies for developing and using curricular instruments that can probe, prove, and improve students’ ability to engage in discipline-based inquiry and argument. By considering strategies for rethinking exactly what knowledge, skills, or competencies are demonstrated in students’ responses to a chosen assignment, participants will be prompted to consider how the connections among curriculum, assignments, and assessment (both formative and summative) might be improved in their classes. Panelists will offer brief classroom-based examples of research-in-progress from three different disciplines as prompts for audience analysis and reflection. We will also ask the audience to consider the meta-connections of such practices across disciplines. Framed by the expert/novice and critical-thinking perspectives of William Perry, Daniel Willingham, John Bransford, and others, this session also offers advice on building effective faculty learning communities to enhance classroom, program, and institutional assessment.
