Stuart Birnbaum

Department of Geological Sciences

The University of Texas at San Antonio

Learning objectives and assessments

November 10, 2014

Identify Course & Module

Learning Goals

Identify learning

objectives for individual

lessons

Determine how to assess and measure

student success on goals and objectives

Design teaching

resources and materials to

match assessments

Plan Instructional Strategies to implement teaching

resources

Pilot Materials, Make changes

for individual lessons

• Cognitive: What do students know?• Affective: What do students care about?• Behavioral: What can students do?

Learning Objectives

Student Learning Objectives are the intended results of the teaching

activities

• Describe conditions under which behavior is to be performed

• Use action verbs• State Criteria• Add the product, process or outcome

Learning Objectives

Writing Learning Objectives

• Describe conditions under which behavior is to be performed• Use action verbs• State Criteria• Add the product, process or outcome

Learning Objectives

Writing Learning Objectives

From “Humans’ Dependence on Mineral Resources” (

http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/mineral_resources/overview.html):

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:Describe how elemental abundance relates to mineral abundance and hence to resource availability.

• Developmental: lower level tasks required before moving on

• Mastery: complex tasks likely to have varying levels of progress

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives target different levels of learning

Learning objectives support your learning goals.

• A module goal: Students will recognize and develop an understanding of how to identify and apply credible data sets to identify local natural hazards, vulnerable groups and structures, and levels of risk for their community.

(http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/map_hazards/overview.html)

• A unit objective: Students will identify and label areas prone to natural hazards on a map that includes all or a section of their community, including a well-referenced reasoning for why and how often hazards may occur.

Learning Objectives support your learning goals

Example from “Map Your Hazards”

(http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/map_hazards/unit1.html)

Assessment: Students should be provided with the map activity rubric prior to the start of Unit 1 to explain expectations and how they will be evaluated: Unit 1 Rubric

Learning Objectives – using rubrics

Example from “Map Your Hazards”

(http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/map_hazards/unit1.html)

Learning Objectives – using rubrics

(http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/map_hazards/unit1.html)

Task 5 Points 3 Points 1 Points 0 PointsEarned Points

Mapping Hazards

Identified and accurately placed top three hazards. Credible data sources provided.

Identified top hazards but did not accurately place them. Shapes extend beyond hazard zones. Or hazards correctly placed but credible data sources not provided.

Identified 1 hazard or less. Credible data sources not provided.

Did not complete

assignment /5

Mapping Vulnerability

Identified and accurately placed 3–5 important vulnerabilities. Credible data sources provided.

Identified 2–3 important vulnerabilities but missed at least one important vulnerability. Or vulnerability correctly identified but credible data sources not provided.

Identified <2 vulnerabilities. Credible data sources not provided.

Did not complete

assignment /5

Mapping Risk      

Students identified risk based on their mapping of hazards and vulnerability.

One or more hazardous areas that overlap with vulnerabilities were not ranked in terms or risk.

More than three hazardous areas that overlap with vulnerabilities were not ranked in terms or risk. Students did not demonstrate understanding of risk

Did not complete

assignment

/5

Map Reasoning Students clearly used reasonable logic in their explanation behind assigning risk levels.

Students did not clearly use logic in their explanations of how they assigned risk levels.

Students did not use logic or reasoning for their explanations of how they assigned risk levels.

Did not complete

assignment /5

Total Points /20

Learning Objectives

You will develop learning outcomes that support your learning goals

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

Creating

memorization and recall

getting the meaning of

using knowledge

taking apart

information

reorganizing

information

generating, producing

Mast

ery

Develo

pm

enta

l

See the Bloom’s Taxonomy: A Framework for Learning Handout

• Learning objectives describe measureable geoscience literacy goals

• Instructions and/or rubrics provide guidance for how students meet learning goals

• Learning objectives and goals are appropriate for the intended use of the course/module

• Learning objectives and goals are clearly stated for each module in language suitable for the level of the students

• Learning objectives and goals address the process and nature of science and development of scientific habits of mind

Learning Objectives

What is required from the Materials Development Rubric?

Must score 13/15 on this section

Learning Objectives

What questions do you have about

learning objectives?

Learning objectives form the basis of assessment.

Identify Course & Module

Learning Goals

Identify learning

objectives for individual lessons

Determine how to assess and measure

student success on goals and objectives

Design teaching

resources and materials to

match assessments

Plan Instructional Strategies to implement teaching

resources

Pilot Materials, Make changes

• Formative: While the learning is occurring• Purpose to monitor student learning• Immediate feedback• Help students & faculty identify weaknesses• Low stakes

• Summative: After learning has occurred• Purpose to evaluate learning against some benchmark• High stakes (graded)

Assessment and Measurement

There are two broad categories of assessments:

• Formative:

Objective 2-3. Identify physical characteristics associated with the collection, transport and

deposition zones in a river system

Assessment and Measurement

There are two broad categories of assessments:

Example from “Water, Earth’s surface, and Human Activity”http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/activity_2.html

• Summative:

Explain how stream velocity (assume the steeper the slope, the faster the velocity) relates to the transportation and

deposition of sediment. Use specific examples from Part 2 and 3 to support your answer.

Assessment and Measurement

There are two broad categories of assessments:

Example from “Water, Earth’s surface, and Human Activity”http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/activity_2.html

• Assessments measure the learning goals• Assessments are criterion referenced• Assessments are consistent with course activities

and resources expected• Assessments are sequenced, varied and

appropriate to the content• Assessments address goals at successively higher

cognitive levels

Assessment and Measurement

What is required from the Materials Development Rubric?

Must score 13/15 on this section

Assessments are criterion referenced

http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/energy_and_processes/assessment.html

In class activity: Mining a Muffin Exercise

Minerals Module: Formative

Students are given a muffin and a variety of tools to extract the “ore.”

Students are asked a variety of questions related to the costs and benefits of removing the “ore” from the muffin

Exam Question: The drawing shows a hillside in which a mining company wants to open a mine, along with a scale bar to illustrate size and distances. What are the potential costs and benefits of extracting ore in this location?

Minerals Module: Summative

Assessment and Measurement

Some Really Good Summative AssessmentsLiving on the Edge: Units 5 and 6 Summative Assessment – apply concepts related to

volcanic eruptions to disaster relief and disaster planning for a community.http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/living_edge/assessment.html#file59223  Soils: Final project evaluation template (Soils and Society Kit Summative Assessment and Evaluation) encodes InTeGrate goals in a final assessmenthttp://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/soils/assessment.html  Sustainable Ag: Fact sheet developed for local farmers (fact_sheet_student_handout.v6) – shows assessment overview and “Addressing Stakeholder Needs” http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/integrate/teaching_materials/sustain_agriculture/activity6.html

• Enough assessment opportunities to conclusively demonstrate the level of learning achieved• Learning Objective level

• Both formative and summative• Module/course goal level: Summative

• These assessments need to show what students know and are able to do as related to the broader goals

Assessment and Measurement

What will the assessment team need?

• Assessments measure the learning goals• Assessments are criterion referenced• Assessments are consistent with course activities and

resources expected• Assessments are sequenced, varied and appropriate to the

content• Assessments address goals at successively higher cognitive

levels

Learning Objectives

What is required from the Materials Development Rubric?

Must score 13/15 on this section

Summary

Identify Course & Module

Learning Goals

Identify learning

objectives for individual lessons

Determine how to assess and measure

student success on goals and objectives

Design teaching

resources and materials

to match assessments

Plan Instructional Strategies to implement teaching

resources

Pilot Materials, Make changes