EDU 533 | ASSESSMENT IN LEARNING 1

PRINCIPLES OF HIGH-QUALITY ASSESSMENT

CASE STUDY

Group 1 Case
Focus: Clarity in Learning Targets

Ms. Johnson, an enthusiastic biology teacher, is excited to delve into the topic of cellular
respiration with her students. She believes it is essential to set clear learning objectives that
guide both her teaching and the assessment of her students' understanding. However, in her
eagerness to cover the content, she inadvertently overlooks the importance of explicitly stating
the skills, competencies, and abilities that should be developed during the lesson.

As Ms. Johnson progresses through the lesson, she passionately explains the process of cellular
respiration and emphasizes its significance in energy production. However, without expl icitly
addressing the skills, competencies, and abilities that should be cultivated, she inadvertently
creates a learning environment where students struggle to see the practical application of their
knowledge or understand how their understanding will be assessed.

When it comes time to assess her students' learning, Ms. Johnson relies on a multiple-choice
test that primarily assesses factual recall. Although this form of assessment may provide some
insight into students' comprehension, it does not align with the broader skills, competencies,
and abilities that were not explicitly stated in the learning objective.

Realizing her oversight, Ms. Johnson reflects on the need to align her assessment methods with
the intended learning outcomes. She understands the importance of considering the specific
skills, competencies, and abilities that should be developed during the lesson on cellular
respiration.

Ms. Johnson revisits the learning objective and recognizes the need to explicitly state the skills,
competencies, and abilities that align with the content. She modifies the objective to read: "By
the end of this session, students will be able to analyze the process of cellular respiration and
explain its significance in energy production, demonstrating their understanding through
written explanations and diagrammatic representations."

With the revised learning objective in mind, Ms. Johnson explores alternative assessment
methods that align with the desired outcomes. She decides to incorporate written explanations
and diagrammatic representations as assessment tools. This allows students to demonstrate
their analytical skills, critical thinking abilities, and comprehension of the significance of cellular
respiration beyond mere factual recall.

Ms. Johnson also introduces collaborative discussions, problem-solving activities, and group
projects to assess students' practical application of their knowledge. By engaging in these
activities, students can showcase their ability to apply their understanding of cellular respiration
to real-world scenarios, fostering the development of essential skills and competencies.
Throughout the lesson, Ms. Johnson provides timely and constructive feedback to her students,
ensuring they have a clear understanding of their progress and areas for improvement. She also
incorporates peer assessments, allowing students to provide feedback on each other's written
explanations and diagrammatic representations. This not only enhances their comprehension
but also cultivates a collaborative learning environment.

In conclusion, Ms. Johnson learns a valuable lesson about the importance of aligning
assessment methods with the intended learning outcomes. By explicitly stating the skills,
competencies, and abilities in the learning objective, and incorporating alternative assessment
methods such as written explanations, diagrammatic representations, collaborative discussions,
and problem-solving activities, she ensures a comprehensive evaluation of her students'
understanding. Ms. Johnson's dedication to appropriate assessment methods not only
enhances the learning experience but also fosters the development of critical thinking,
analytical skills, and practical application of knowledge in the context of cellular respiration.

Group 2 Case
Focus: Appropriateness of Assessment Methods

Ms. Johnson, a dedicated biology teacher, had planned an engaging lesson on cellular
respiration for her students. She carefully crafted a learning objective that aimed to develop
her students' ability to analyze the process of cellular respiration and explain its significance in
energy production, while also demonstrating their understanding through written explanations
and diagrammatic representations. However, in her eagerness to gauge her students' progress,
she inadvertently misused observation and self-reports as assessment methods, which were ill-
suited for measuring the attainment of the learning objective.

As the lesson commenced, Ms. Johnson began by introducing the concept of cellular respiration
to her students. She provided a thorough explanation of the process, highlighting its steps,
inputs, and outputs. She then explained the importance of cellular respiration in energy
production, emphasizing how it fuels various cellular activities. Ms. Johnson believed that
observation and self-reports would offer valuable insights into her students' understanding and
progress.

During the lesson, Ms. Johnson frequently observed her students, hoping to gather evidence of
their comprehension and analytical skills. However, the nature of cellular respiration made it
difficult to assess through mere observation. The process takes place at the microscopic level
within cells, making it impossible to visually observe students' thought processes or their ability
to analyze the intricacies of the biochemical reactions involved.

Furthermore, Ms. Johnson encouraged her students to engage in self-reporting to evaluate their
understanding of cellular respiration. She provided them with questionnaires or prompts,
asking them to reflect on their learning and self-assess their comprehension. However, self-
reports alone proved insufficient to measure the depth of their understanding and analytical
skills. Students often struggle to accurately evaluate their own understanding, and self-
reporting may not capture the complexities of their comprehension or their ability to explain
the significance of cellular respiration in energy production.

Unaware of these limitations, Ms. Johnson continued to rely on observation and self-reports as
her primary assessment methods throughout the lesson. She diligently observed her students
during group activities, noting their engagement and interactions. She also collected their self-
reports, eagerly anticipating valuable insights into their understanding.

However, when it came time to evaluate her students' progress, Ms. Johnson realized the
inadequacy of her chosen assessment methods. While observation and self-reports provided
glimpses into students' behaviors and perceptions, they failed to capture the analytical skills,
critical thinking, and the ability to explain the significance of cellular respiration as outlined in
the learning objective. The use of these methods fell short of effectively measuring the desired
outcomes.

Realizing her oversight, Ms. Johnson reflected on alternative assessment methods that could
better align with the learning objective. She decided to incorporate written explanations and
diagrammatic representations as more appropriate means of assessing her students' ability to
analyze cellular respiration and demonstrate their understanding of its significance in energy
production. These methods would allow students to showcase their knowledge, critical
thinking, and communication skills more effectively.

Ms. Johnson learned a valuable lesson about the importance of carefully selecting assessment
methods that align with the intended learning outcomes. She recognized the need to adapt
and adjust her assessment strategies to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of her students'
abilities and attainment of the learning objective. Going forward, she committed herself to
providing her students with the most effective and meaningful assessments that truly measure
their progress and foster their growth in biology and beyond.

Group 3 Case
Focus: Properties of Assessment Methods

Ms. Johnson, an experienced biology teacher, embarks on a lesson about cellular respiration
with a clear learning objective in mind. She states that by the end of the session, students
should be able to analyze the process of cellular respiration and expl ain its significance in
energy production. To assess their understanding, she decides to employ a multiple -choice
assessment, without questioning its validity and reliability.

Throughout the session, Ms. Johnson delivers engaging lectures and incorporates visual aids
and real-life examples to illustrate the intricacies of cellular respiration. She encourages active
participation and fosters a collaborative learning environment where students feel motivated
to explore the subject matter.

As the session concludes, Ms. Johnson distributes the multiple-choice assessment, confident
that it aligns with her learning objective. She believes that the provided options encompass the
necessary knowledge and understanding students need to demonstrate their comprehension
of cellular respiration and its significance in energy production.

Unbeknownst to Ms. Johnson, she fails to acknowledge the potential limitations in the validity
and reliability of the multiple-choice assessment. She assumes that the selected options
accurately encompass the range of possible answers and effectively measure her students'
understanding of the topic.

With a sense of anticipation, Ms. Johnson collects the completed assessments and proceeds to
evaluate them. She believes that the students' choices will provide valuable insights into their
grasp of the process of cellular respiration and its significance in energy production. However,
she overlooks the potential drawbacks of relying solely on multiple-choice questions to assess
a complex concept.

Ms. Johnson's commitment to her students' learning and her faith in the effectiveness of the
assessment method prevent her from considering alternative approaches or questioning the
validity and reliability of the multiple-choice format. She misses an opportunity to explore
assessment methods that may provide a more comprehensive measure of her students'
understanding, analytical skills, and critical thinking abilities.

Although Ms. Johnson's intentions are sincere, her oversight inadvertently limits the a ccuracy
and fairness of the assessment. By not acknowledging the potential lack of validity and
reliability in her chosen method, she may fail to capture the nuanced understanding and higher-
order thinking skills that a more open-ended assessment might reveal.

In conclusion, Ms. Johnson's learning objective to analyze cellular respiration and explain its
significance in energy production drives her teaching approach. However, her reliance on a
multiple-choice assessment without acknowledging its potential lack of validity and reliability
hampers her ability to accurately measure her students' understanding. This highlights the
importance of critically evaluating assessment methods to ensure their appropriateness and
effectiveness in capturing the intended learning outcomes. By exploring alternative approaches
and embracing a broader range of assessment tools, Ms. Johnson can enhance the accuracy
and fairness of measuring her students' comprehension and foster their higher-order thinking
skills.