It is for this reason that the Sheridan Center advocates that assessments should be considered as a component of an integrated course design and lesson planning process. Specifically, that classroom assessments work in dialogue with learning goals and activities (see Fink, 2003) to emphasize learning over evaluation (i.e. grading).
The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning
Feedback on Student Learning
By making assessment an integral part of the teaching and learning process instead of an add-on, we hope to accomplish what should be the primary goal of assessment: to improve learning.
Here are some examples and advice on how to effectively integrate assessment in ways that emphasize its pedagogical utility alongside resources for “digging deeper” into effective assessment practices.
Entry and exit tickets are short prompts that can provide instructors with a quick student diagnostic. These exercises can be collected on 3”x5” cards or small pieces of paper, or online through a survey or course management system.
Learn how colleagues at Brown have designed mid-semester feedback forms to get feedback from students for feedback on how well various aspects of the course are facilitating their learning and solicit their suggestions for ways to improve the course during the semester.
How can I establish and apply grading criteria or rubrics that promote and measure student learning?
Inclusive Assessment of Student Learning
Scholarship on inclusive assessment focuses on three approaches: framing of feedback, transparent assignment design, and blind and systematic grading processes.