Excerpt: On being invited to write something informative or evocative. I really couldn't resist the temptation to be a little provocative and return to a theme that I have touched on before (Rust, 2007), and is a particular bête noir of mine. Although I have to admit that, given I have no reason to believe that what I wrote previously has had any discernable impact, there is a slight sense of futility even as...

Part 1 of a two-part series on my current use of specs grading.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Curriculum Mapping” color=”custom” style=”double” border_width=”10″ accent_color=”#a8a57c”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]NILOA’s Mapping Toolkit was developed alongside faculty and experts in the field to provide framing, tips, and insights into the process of mapping learning. The Mapping Learning Toolkit presents approaches to identify alignment with learning outcomes within program, co-curriculum, general education, employment, and elsewhere learning occurs. The Mapping Learning... Read more »

Carry the Innovation Forward grant recipients Stacy Tantum and Sophia Santillan organized a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) for the academic year 2021-2022 about Inclusive Assessment for Quantitative Disciplines. This group ...

Teaching

The goal of the ISEE Assessment is to pool the multi-disciplinary expertise on educational systems and reforms from a range of stakeholders in an open and inclusive manner and undertake a scientifically robust and evidence-based assessment that can inform education policy making at all levels and scales.

AAC&U’s Teaching-Learning-Assessment (TLA) Framework is a web-based tool developed to help campuses build capacity and lead institutional transformation to Ensure Students Are Learning, as part of the Guided Pathways model for student success.

One place to keep up with all your information sources. With Inoreader, content comes to you, the minute it's available. Follow RSS Feeds, Blogs, Podcasts, Twitter searches, Facebook pages, even Email Newsletters! Get unfiltered news feeds or filter them to your liking.

“@karenraycosta This is why we came up with Self Mapped Learning Pathways - it doesn’t have to be either/or. But people that were very focused on ungrading didn’t understand the need for the structured side of the idea. People with a strong focus on equity got it.”

“I've been noticing some storm clouds on the horizon for ungrading related to equity. We need to think about the students who need more structure in order to succeed. I think the research on structured active learning would really benefit those of us who use this model. 1/x”

Like so, so complicated.

Research shows that grades are often not a good reflection of student learning and growth, and that being graded can be stressful for students. In addition, many traditional grading practices ...

Current and archived sites for courses I've taught.

Leadership & Teaching Resources Link here to learn about the FDC’s Leadership & Teaching Series and how you can build your evidence-based decision making skills. General Education Assessment Planning General Education Program Courses, Distribution, & Functional Competencies Maps GEP courses to the UMBC Functional Competencies, including First-Year Seminars. Assessment of General Education Courses Contextualizes General […]

You might be interested in reflecting upon or assessing your individual inclusive teaching efforts,  or have general questions about the climate of inclusion within your department or more broadly at your institution. You may want to know what tools already exist in the literature or are otherwise available. The list below captures several of such …

As soon as I learned Campbell's Law, how I conceived my teaching changed.

(2015). Co-creation of Marking Criteria: Students as Partners in the Assessment Process. Business and Management Education in HE. Ahead of Print.

Weave's Knowledge Center provides higher education professionals with institutional effectiveness, assessment, and accreditation content in one, easy-to-access place.

Thanks for registering for the Weave webinar! We can't wait to share helpful information on implementing and sustaining assessment practices.

Over the past semester or two, as COVID has been disrupting most parts of our lives, I’ve been thinking more about teaching, learning, and assessment in my classes. This is more than just an opportunity to modify my practice when things go sideways. I think this pandemic has given us an opportunity to think deeply... Continue reading →

IntroductionI recently offered a series of "small things you can do tomorrow to start ungrading." I’ve never been a fan of best practices. In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks writes about bringing our full selves to the classroom, and creating space for students to bring their full selves. This

The Office of Teaching and Learning is offering a series of active workshops designed to support your planning for your Fall 2021 courses. Workshops are focused on topics related to course design, assessment, and active learning, and our discussions will be relevant across course delivery modes (e.g., in-person, blended, hybrid, virtual). All session handouts and worksheets are available under each session box below. August Workshops Expand the session boxes to view information about each session, register, and to download the session handouts and worksheets. 1. Balancing High- and Low-Stakes Assessments in your Course Session Date: August 4th, 1:00-2:30pm - Cancelled. Expand to view Session Resources. General Description: This workshop offers an opportunity to review the overall structure of your course assessments, including the balance and distribution of high- and low-stakes assessments and assessment workload. We’ll discuss strategies that can improve workload balance for you and your students, assignment transparency, and student effort. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Would like to modify the overall structure and design of their course assessments using strategies that consider instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify and discuss challenges with assessment balance, flow, organization and consider what modifications are needed. Identify key considerations and strategies to balance assessment workload, distribution, and weighting for students and instructors. Discuss options for improved assessment workload balance in your course and the pros and cons of various approaches. Design or modify an assessment plan for your upcoming course(s) that take into account instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being and the benefits and challenges of different approaches. Session Materials and Worksheets: Finding the Balance Between Low and High Stakes Assessments (Handout 1) Common Challenges and Potential Solutions for Balancing the Workload, Flow, Organization, and Weighting of Course Assessments (Handout 2) Session Worksheets 2. Transitioning Exams to Other Forms of Assessment Session Date: August 9th, 10:00-11:30am - Register General Description: This workshop offers an opportunity to discuss the current challenges with your exams, explore alternative assessments that could replace your exams and align with your student learning outcomes, and share pros, cons, and strategies for different assessment approaches. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to explore different forms of assessment in their course instead of traditional closed-book exams Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Identify the challenges associated with the use of exams in previous course offerings. Explore different approaches to replacing exams with alternative assessments Evaluate alternative assessment options for your course through session materials and discussions with colleagues. Session Materials and Worksheets: Principles of Effective and Inclusive Assessment (Handout 1) Exploring Alternative Assessment Types (Handout 2) Assessment Checklist (Handout 3) Session Worksheets 3. Synchronous and Asynchronous Active Learning in In-Person, Virtual, or Hybrid/Blended Modes Session Date: August 16th, 1:30-3:00pm - Register General Description: This workshop offers a guided opportunity to review asynchronous and synchronous active learning strategies and consider which activities to add or modify for your upcoming courses to facilitate student engagement and learning. Our discussion will include active learning activities completed individually (e.g., polling, reflection, guided notes) and in groups (e.g., collaborative brainstorming, small group discussions, think-pair-share), and activities that are in-person, online/virtual, or a combination. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to refine or add synchronous or asynchronous active learning strategies to their course(s) Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues who have tried various active learning strategies or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify what active learning opportunities worked well, what opportunities need modification or to be removed, and where you might want to add active learning opportunities to facilitate student engagement and learning Identify where synchronous or asynchronous active learning activities might be most beneficial within the overall structure of your course Collaboratively brainstorm with colleagues to discuss potentially effective strategies and their implementation, and to address gaps, challenges, and questions related to your course(s) Select promising active learning strategies for your course that align with your other course elements (e.g., learning outcomes, assessments, other teaching and learning activities). Session Materials and Worksheets: Effective Practices for Designing and Implementing Synchronous Active Learning (Handout 1) Effective Practices for Designing and Implementing Asynchronous Active Learning (Handout 1) Exploring Synchronous Active Learning Activities (Handout 2) Exploring Asynchronous Active Learning Activities (Handout 2) Using a Backchannel in In-Person Synchronous Classes Session Worksheets June/July Workshop Sessions The following workshops were held in June/July 2021. Expand the session boxes to view and download the session handouts and worksheets. 1. Keep the Best, Ditch/Change the Rest: Reflecting on What Worked, What Didn’t, and Deciding Where to Go From There General Description: This two-part workshop offers a guided opportunity to plan the overall structure and balance of your Fall 2021 courses through guided reflection, collaborative brainstorming, sharing, and problem solving, and a discussion about different course structures (e.g., blended, hybrid, flipped). We will explore how you might repurpose materials from your remote courses as you plan for your Fall 2021 courses. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to reflect on, revisit, or reconsider the design and structure of their courses, especially with respect to how to integrate and repurpose aspects of face-to-face and remote teaching into hybrid/blended/flipped designs Want to think through their course planning and design ideas, challenges, and questions with colleagues Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify what worked well (gains, promising practices, assessments, or outcomes) and what you’d like to modify (gaps, challenges, unanswered questions) Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different course delivery model options, including blended, hybrid, and flipped approaches Collaboratively brainstorm with colleagues to address gaps, challenges, and questions related to your course planning Plan the overall structure, flow, or balance for your course(s), including how different elements of your course (e.g., instructional activities, learning activities, assessments) might be delivered, and incorporating gains and effective or promising practices from prior course offerings Session Dates/Times: May 31 & June 2, 1:00-2:30pm - Register June 8 & 10, 9:30-11:00am - Register Session Materials and Worksheets: Course Design Models: Blended, Hybrid, Flipped, HyFlex (Handout 1) Delivery and Engagement Modes for Each Course Element (Handout 2) Key Effective Practices in Blended and Hybrid Courses (Handout 3) Session Worksheets 2. Balancing the Flow of Assessments in Your Course General Description: This two-part workshop offers an opportunity to review your assessment workload balance in previous course offerings, learn about strategies that can improve workload balance for you and your students, and design alternative assessment plans for your upcoming offering. We will also discuss assignment transparency and student effort. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Would like to design or modify an assessment plan using strategies that consider instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify and discuss challenges with assessment balance, flow, organization and consider what modifications are needed. Identify key considerations and strategies to balance assessment workload for students and instructors. Evaluate assessment distribution and weighting across the term in previous delivery modes, or planned assessments for upcoming course(s). Discuss options for improved assessment workload balance in your course and the pros and cons of various assessment plans. Design or modify an assessment plan for your upcoming course(s) that take into account instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being and the benefits and challenges of different approaches. Session Dates: June 14 & 16, 9:30-11:00am - Register Session Materials and Worksheets: Finding the Balance Between Low and High Stakes Assessments (Handout 1) Common Challenges and Potential Solutions for Balancing the Workload, Flow, Organization, and Weighting of Course Assessments (Handout 2) Session Worksheets 3. Transitioning Exams to Other Forms of Assessment General Description: This two-part workshop offers an opportunity to discuss the current challenges with your exams, explore alternative assessments that could replace your exams and align with your student learning outcomes, and create an assignment outline for your n

Just getting rolling(already a day behind! argh!) in a week-long @BCcampus FLO Micro-course on Alternative & Authentic Assessment with @NickiRehn and @olaoluadeleye. I'll use this thread to drop in stuff about what I learn throughout the week!