March 13, 2021
Upon reviewing the LX surveys, two common themes emerged: First, that students wished for “manageable and relevant” assessments, and second, that they deeply appreciated having their feedback heard and acted upon by their professors. It was these two sentiments that gave rise to the Assessing the Learning Experience Workshop.
The main goal of which was to optimize student learning, by improving the following practices:
- GOAL 1: To enable a direct and timely feedback system between teachers and students that is the result of well-planned [formative assessment activities] that allows the teachers and students to adjust the course (pacing, type of activities, etc.) in order to optimize learning outcomes.
- GOAL 2: To create assessment activities that will enable both teachers and students to check learning progress as close as possible to real-time.
- GOAL 3: To avoid basing a significant portion of the grade on only a few requirements that tend to be due at the same time for most subjects (e.g., mid-terms, final exams).
- GOAL 4: To create authentic assessment activities which are relevant to students’ future workplaces and/or professional development.
We invited 2 guest speakers from the faculty. First was Dr. Wanwan Lagos (Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs at the UA&P College of Arts and Sciences), who has received praise from her students for constantly seeking their feedback and incorporating these throughout her courses. Our second speaker was Mel Garcia (instructor for the UA&P School of Education and Human Development), who we thought would be a great resource speaker given her several years of teaching and experience with assessment.
We provided an online course wherein they could submit the output of their workshop activities and review the recording of the workshop. If you would like to view the recording of the workshop and try out the activities for yourself, do check out the links below (be sure to access them with you UA&P email)!
