We know that tests can measure only a small portion of what we really want students to know. Furthermore, the usual environment for testing is very artificial relative to the environments in which they will later have to demonstrate their knowledge. If we are to teach, say, how to solve realistic problems, then we have to assess students on their ability to solve such problems -- not just on the small pieces we can ask about on tests. If we are to teach conceptual understanding, then we have to find ways to measure such understanding. And if we really want steady, sustained effort from students, it will not do to assess only every four or six weeks.
Fortunately, the solution to all these problems is the same: Make every learning activity an assessment activity as well. For this to mean anything, there has to be a lot more going on in the classroom than just the instructor talking. There is no way to assess listening, and it makes no sense to assess note-taking. On the other hand, when students are actively engaged in learning, everything they do can be assessed, formally or informally. For example, an instructor interacting with a problem-solving group is both facilitating the learning process (coaching) and observing how well they are doing (keeping score). This is likely to be an informal assessment -- it may not be assigned a visible grade, but it certainly informs the instructor's subsequent grading process. The outcome from the problem-solving process -- a blackboard presentation or a written report, say -- can and should be the object of a more visible assessment. Students need feedback on everything they do, the more frequently the better.
Let me emphasize that assessing and grading are two different things. I have already noted that informal assessment processes are likely not to be assigned grades. But even formal processes can be for “practice.” This is especially important early in a term when students may have to learn such things as reading, writing, and working with a group. If they know that the same activities will later be assessed in the same ways -- and that the resulting grades will “count” -- they will take the practice activities just as seriously as the “real” ones.
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Send comments to the author <das@math.duke.edu>Last modified: May 17, 1997