Improving Assessment in University Classrooms

Abstract

actually learned. We use tests to assign grades and to determine if students are working. As a result of teaching testing and measurement to teacher education majors, I have become increasingly aware of a need to look at the overall assessment in the classes that I teach. After hearing comments from my stu dents such as, You really should teach this to our other professors, I decided to share some ideas with professors in other disciplines across the university. At a minimum, all of us could improve our testing after a careful analysis of our tests and test items. However, with the current trend toward nontraditional cours es and classes, we should look for new strategies of assessment. Using more interactive lessons, such as group work, we can implement new measures to eval uate learning in nontraditional ways. I will present some of the strengths and weak nesses of different types of assessment and some specific alternative measures. Professors should carefully review the traditional assessments they are using and conduct some item analysis of test questions, as well as generally look at