Evaluation of Student Learning

Educ 3604 D
Professional Semester II – Spring 2020
Tuesday, 9:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Room: TH373
Instructor: Dr. Richelle Marynowski Secretary: Margaret Beintema
Office: TH 314 Office: TH 323
Email: Richelle.marynowski@uleth.ca Phone: 403-329-2732
Phone: 403-929-0048 (cell)
403-329-2269 (office)
Twitter: @rmarynow

If you need assistance or have any questions regarding course content, assignments, or any other
course-related concern, please speak to me in class or send me an email with your question.

The course outline, all references and supplementary resources,
https://moodle.uleth.ca as well as other related course resources and materials can be
accessed on the course Moodle.

Calendar Description:
This course emphasizes data gathering, summarizing, and interpreting data and use of results to improve
curriculum, teaching, and learning.

Course Description:
The Evaluation of Student Learning module consists of 21 hours (7 three-hour classes) of instruction in
Professional Semester II focused on:
• unit assessment plans and test blueprints,
• performance task design and construction,
• test design and construction,
• item and test results analysis,
• assessment data management, and
• communication of assessment results.

This module attends to Teaching Quality Standard 3. Demonstrating a Professional Body of Knowledge: A
teacher applies a current and comprehensive repertoire of effective planning, instruction, and assessment
practices to meet the learning needs of every student.
(c) applying student assessment and evaluation practices that:
o accurately reflect the learner outcomes within the program of study;
o generate evidence of student learning to inform teaching practice through a balance of formative and
summative assessment experiences;
o provide a variety of methods through which students can demonstrate their achievement of the learning
outcomes;
o provide accurate, constructive and timely feedback on student learning; and
o support the use of reasoned judgment about the evidence used to determine and report the level of student
learning.

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Resources and Supplementary Resources:
The required textbook for this course is listed below with additional readings being provided via the course
Moodle and in class.
Gareis, G. & Grant, L. (2015). Teacher-made assessments: How to connect curriculum, instruction, and
student learning (2nd Ed.). New York: Routledge.

Course Overview:
The Understanding by Design approach to planning, instruction and assessment, described by Wiggins and
McTighe (1998), is the theoretical framework utilized in planning the content of the course. The UbD approach
is a variation of the backward design model, which is comprised of the following three stages:
1. Identify desired results
2. Determine acceptable evidence
3. Plan learning experiences and instruction

The course overview is represented in the organizer below:

Stage 1: Desired Results
Understandings Essential Questions
• Students will understand the purposes of • What does effective assessment and evaluation
classroom assessment and evaluation look like in a classroom?
• Students will understand the principles of • What is the relationship between assessment and
effective assessment construction and its uses in student learning?
relation to student learning
Outcomes
Students will
1. Demonstrate an applied understanding of assessment for, as, and of learning
2. Demonstrate an applied understanding of validity and its implications for assessment design
3. Apply principles of fair assessment
4. Analyze assessment data
5. Develop effective objective-style questions
6. Develop effective constructed response questions
7. Construct valid and reliable summative assessments
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Summative Assessment Formative Assessment
• Quiz • Formative Assessment Design
• Unit Assessment Plan • Performance Task and Rubric
• Assessment Portfolio • Blueprint and Test
• Unit Assessment Plan
• Exit Slips
• Peer Feedback
Stage 3: Learning Experiences
• Reviewing Prior Assessment Knowledge • Data Analysis
• Summative Assessment Construction • Unit Assessment Planning
• Blueprinting of Summative Assessments • Evaluation and Reporting
Adapted from Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

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Course Assessments/Assignments:
Evaluation will be based on the following summative assessments.

Unit Assessment Plan Draft for Peer Feedback due – January 21

35% weighting Final Draft due – January 23
This assignment will demonstrate your ability to address step two of the UbD planning model by identifying all
of the general and specific outcomes you are assessing and evaluating within your chosen unit, designing
essential understandings and questions, identifying the formative and assessment tools you will use, and
including a descriptive overview of each tool. A template will be provided for this assignment. Please complete
this assignment with outcomes from the program of studies for your major discipline and for a grade between
grades 7 to 12. This assignment can be completed individually or in pairs. More detailed description and grading
criteria will be provided in class and on Moodle.

Quiz
25% weighting Quiz date – February 4
There will be one in-class open book quiz. The quizzes will be completed in class and will address content from
the previous seminars. A quiz blueprint will be given to students before the quiz.

Assessment Portfolio Draft for Peer Feedback due – February 25

40% weighting Final Draft due – February 27
This assignment is based on your Unit Assessment Plan assignment. Choose 3 of the assessment tools (3
different forms of assessment including at least one formative assessment and one summative assessment) and
fully develop those tools. Compile them into one document with a title page and table of contents and submit via
Moodle. A rubric is included in the assignment overview that will be provided in class and on Moodle.

Final Grade:
The final grades for Education courses are determined according to the following table, used for all modules in
the Faculty of Education.
96 – 100 A+ 81 – 85 B+ 67 – 70 C+ 57 – 59 D+
90 – 95 A 76 – 80 B 63 – 66 C 53 – 56 D
86 – 89 A- 71 – 75 B- 60 – 62 C-
Although a “C” represents a passing grade in any particular module, students are required to maintain a 2.5
average in their professional semesters.

Attendance, Participation, and Non-Academic Criteria:

You are required to attend all scheduled class meetings and workshops and to participate fully in each planned
class activity/discussion. When preparation outside of class is assigned, you are expected to come fully
prepared and submit work that reflects a standard of excellence in appearance, form and content. If you are
going to be late or miss a class, please e-mail me, call me, or text me in advance. Additionally, if you are unable
to submit an assignment on time, please contact me in advance to make other arrangements.

Students with Disabilities Policy:

If you have a disability, special learning needs, or a recent injury that requires academic accommodation to
complete the required activities and/or assignments, please follow the procedures outlined in the University
Calendar. You are encouraged to contact the Accommodated Learning Centre
(http://www.uleth.ca/ross/accommodated-learning-centre/) for guidance and assistance. Counselling Services
(http://www.uleth.ca/counselling/) is another resource available to all students.

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Student Conduct:

Students are subject to the student discipline policy for academic and non-academic offences in accordance
with the University Calendar (https://www.uleth.ca/ross/academic-calendar). Additionally, in the Faculty of
Education, students are required to adhere to the conduct expectations as stipulated in Faculty of Education
policies and the Code of Professional Conduct for the field, as noted below.

ATA Code of Professional Conduct

https://www.teachers.ab.ca/TheTeachingProfession/ProfessionalConduct/Pages/CodeofProfessionalConduc
t.aspx

Course Alignment
It is important that students understand the direct correlation between learning outcomes, assessments and
instruction.

Outcome Related TQS Summative Assessment Learning Focus

1 - Demonstrate an applied • Assessment Portfolio • Seminar 1 and 3
understanding of assessment for, 2, 4 • Quiz
as, and of learning • U.A.P.
2 - Demonstrate an applied 2, 4 • Assessment Portfolio • Ongoing
understanding of validity and its • Quiz
implications for assessment design • U.A.P.
3 - Apply principles of fair 2, 3, 4 • Assessment Portfolio • Ongoing
assessment • Quiz
• U.A.P.
4 - Analyze assessment data 2, 4 • Quiz • Seminar 4 and 5
5 - Develop effective selected response 2, 4 • Assessment Portfolio • Seminar 4
style questions • Quiz
6 - Develop effective constructed 2, 4 • Assessment Portfolio • Seminar 5
response questions • Quiz
7 - Construct valid and reliable 1, 2, 4 • Assessment Portfolio • Seminars 2 – 7
formative and summative • Quiz
assessments • U.A.P.

Privacy and Confidentiality:

Although we place a heavy emphasis in this course on your own school settings, practices, and data, it is
imperative that we refrain from using personal identifying information in our dialogue. The personal
information your classmates and course instructors disclose to you should not be discussed with anyone outside
the course, now or in the future, unless the author of the personal narrative has stated otherwise. Unless you
have the person’s specific permission, please do not mention identifying information about the person’s story
(e.g., no names, no agency, no school) and keep the disclosure broad rather than specific. If you are aware of
any situations where individuals are not honoring the expectation of privacy/confidentiality, you are encouraged
to intervene by discussing the matter with that individual. If you are not comfortable doing so, or if a resolution
is not forthcoming, please contact your instructor as soon as possible. While faculty/staff and students are
expected to take all possible precautions to safeguard the personal information that is exchanged in each course,
whether it be in discussion forms, web conferencing, recordings, assignments, etc., there is no guarantee of
confidentiality. Recording lectures or class discussions is not permitted unless the instructor and all audience
members have granted permission in advance.

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Course Schedule
The course schedule is intended to provide a long-term glance at the upcoming events, seminar topics and
assignment due dates. This schedule is tentative and may be adjusted, as determined collaboratively by the
instructor and students.
Date Description Assignments Due
Tuesday, Seminar 1 – Introduction to Evaluation
January 7 • Reviewing Formative and Summative Assessment
• Understanding Assessment “of”/“for”/“as” Learning
• “Understanding by Design” for Assessment Planning
• Defining Evidence of Student Learning
• Exploring Outcomes and Assessments
Tuesday, Seminar 2 – Unit Assessment Planning
January 14 • Planning for Formative and Summative Assessment
Gareis & Grant Ch. 3
• Reviewing Purpose, Outcomes, and Assessment Types
• Unit Assessment Planning
Tuesday, Seminar 3 – Inclusion, Mapping, Validity, Reliability
January 21 • Assessment Differentiation UAP for Peer Review
• Aligning/Mapping Outcomes and Assessments
• Determining Acceptable Evidence of Student Learning Gareis & Grant Ch. 2
• Validity & Reliability
Tuesday, Seminar 4 – Selected Response Question Design and
January 28 Data Analysis
Gareis & Grant Ch. 4
• Fundamentals of Test Design and Development
• Selected Response Question Design
Tuesday, Seminar 5 – Constructed Response Question Design Quiz
February 4 • Constructed Style Questions Gareis & Grant
• Exam Data Analysis Ch. 5: pages 143 – 151
Tuesday, Seminar 6 – Exam Data Analysis and Unit Assessment
February 11 Planning Gareis & Grant
• Reviewing Question Design Ch. 6: pages 143 – 151
• Outcomes, evidence, and assessments
-------------- READING WEEK ---------------
February
Teacher’s Convention February 20/21
15-23
*Attendance at Teacher’s Convention is Mandatory*
Tuesday, Seminar 7 – Evaluation and Reporting
Gareis & Grant
February 25 • Analyzing Assessment Evidence
Ch.6: pages 151 – end of
• Determining Marks and Grades
chapter
• Reporting Student Achievement

Practicum: March 2 – April 8 or 17

Culmination Day: April 9

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