Six Classroom Assessment Techniques

Minute Paper - Students are asked to answer briefly 2-4 questions. They might include:

• How was pace of the class?
• What 1-2 key ideas do you recall?
• Were examples clear?
• Were topics presented sufficiently?
• What specific questions do you have?

Email Minute - The Minute Paper may be adapted to email. Encourage sending additional comments privately through email. Return summary of class responses via email.

One Sentence Summary - Students are asked to form a long summary statement, answering “who does what to whom, when, where, how and why.” This will help instructors assess student’s ability to identify critical features of a particular topic or lesson.

Direct Paraphrasing - Students are asked to paraphrase a topic, concept, lecture or article for a specific audience. This helps assess how well students understand and can explain a topic from an individual’s perspective. It is a useful technique for those fields in which practitioners are expected to explain or to instruct others.

Two-way Fast Feedback - Instructors give feedback on the students’ feedback. Questions are answered on a Likert scale with a comment box following. Questions related to aspects of lecture and notes’ clarity and student’s preparation beforehand. The essential step in this process in the reverse feedback, according to Huba and Freed (2000). Faculty will be able to “fix” the assignment or clarify content at the time it becomes a problem to students.

Resources

Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000).  Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Needhan Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.