Teaching: Teaching Skills for Small Classes

Certificate in University Teaching

The most common question

from new faculty members is….

What should my grading scheme

look like?

Teaching to the Test

Testing to the Teaching

Most common form of blueprints relate to tests – tables of specifications

Important to assure content

validity and face validity in tests

Blueprints are based on

matching instructional objectives / course content to test items in correct proportions

Level on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning (1956 or 2001) Detailed course content topics

Questions at the higher mental

processes level subsume knowledge and understanding and application levels.

the list of course objectives, the topics covered in class, the amount of time spent on those topics, textbook chapter topics, and the emphasis and space provided in the

text. In some cases a great weight will be assigned

to a concept that is extremely important, even if relatively little class time was spent on the topic.

A Table of Specifications benefits students in two ways. First, it improves the validity of teacher-made tests. Second, it can improve student learning as well.

A Table of Specifications helps to ensure that there is a match between what is taught and what is tested. Classroom assessment should be driven by classroom teaching which itself is driven by course goals and objectives.

In the following chain, Tables of Specifications provide the link between teaching and testing.

Objectives Teaching Testing

Tables of Specifications can help students at all ability

levels learn better.

By providing the table to students during instruction, students can recognize the main ideas, key skills, and the relationships among concepts more easily. The Table of Specifications can act in the same way as a concept map to analyze content areas.

Teachers can even collaborate with students on the construction of the Table of Specifications- what are the main ideas and topics, what emphasis should be placed on each topic, what should be on the test? Open discussion and negotiation of these issues can encourage higher levels of understanding while also modeling good learning and study skills.

choosing the measurement goals and domain to be covered,

breaking the domain into key or fairly independent parts- concepts, terms, procedures, applications, and

constructing the table.

Table of Specifications (Test Blueprint) is a two-way chart which describes the topics to be covered by a test and the number of items or points which will be associated with each topic.

Sometimes the types of items are described, as well. A simple table might look like this:

Quiz 2: Animal Farm

Facts About the Book (e.g. Author, Influence)

Characters And Events

Thematic Elements

Number of Questions 2 5 3

Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Level

Knowledge Application Analysis or Synthesis Total

Classification 3 3 6 (24%)

Structure 5 3 8 (32%)

Reproduction 2 2 4 (16%)

Medical 2 2 3 7 (28%)

Total 12 (48%) 5 (20%) 8 (32%) 25

Learning Objective Levels – Cognitive Domain % of representation on test

Subject Matter % of representation in the unit of

study

Knowledge only

Comprehension

Nature of Electricity

30 15 15

Ohm’s Law 10 5 5 Series Circuits 15 15 10 Parallel Circuits 15 10 5 Series-Parallel

Circuits 30 15 5

Content Knowledge Comprehension Application Total Percentage

Real Estate Law 16 8 8 32 40%

Real Estate Practices 4 12 16 20%

Financing/ Mortgage Markets

8 8 8 24 30%

Real Estate Math 8 8 10%

Total 28 28 24 80

Percentage 35% 35% 30% 100%

Can be very detailed Often used in distance / modular learning

programs Indentify detailed content divisions and

learning types as well as activities and objectives

Best of both worlds - test and course blueprints

Allows you to generate an evaluation scheme for any course based on valid assessment

Considers learning objectives and desired student outcomes in assembling your grading scheme

Learning objectives must be detailed, clear, and behavior-based

Consider levels of Blooms’ (or similar) taxonomy carefully

Make sure that the assessment tools you choose complement the specific learning objectives

Learning objective: To demonstrate effective communication skills in a group

setting. Appropriate assessment tool: Peer-evaluated group project Inappropriate assessment tool: Multiple-choice exam

Learning Objective: Identify all dog breeds, their associated groups, common breed characteristics and inheritable

conditions.

Appropriate Assessment Tool – Multiple Choice Exam Inappropriate Assessment Tool – Term Paper

Learning Objective

Unit Quiz

Term Paper

Group Project

Final Exam

List …… 60% 40%

Describe … 20% 40% 20% 20%

Compare…. 50% 10%

Design…. 80% 20%

Explain….. 20% 10% 10%

Learning Objective

Midterm Applied Assignment

Group Project

Final Exam

List the primary symptoms of the childhood psychological disorders addressed in the course.

60% 40%

Describe the effects of these disorders on family systems

20% 20% 20%

Compare treatment protocols for designated disorders.

50% 40% 10%

Design a treatment plan for a child with a designated disorder given case information

40% 40%

Explain the biological influences on the childhood disorders covered in class.

20% 10% 10%

Learning Objective

Quiz 1 Project Quiz 2 6 Lab Assignments

Final Exam

Describe the primary research methodologies used in the Social Sciences

60% 40% 30%

Apply published descriptive statistics to concrete problems for accurate interpretation

40% 20% 20% 30%

Critically analyze the validity and reliability of published research studies

40% 40% 10%

Compare the validity of different research methods to a variety of concrete research problems.

60% 30%

Using SPSS to analyze datasets and interpret findings

80%

Learning Objective

Taxonomy Level Tool (%)

Tool (%)

Tool (%)

Tool (%)