16 Since the early 1980s, postsecondary education has been carefully scrutinized by political, economic, consumer, and educational forces to ensure appropriate student performance. As a result, institutions of higher education—faculty and students—are being held more accountable for student learning in the classroom (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Curtis, 1985). To improve learning, educators are attempting to reform classroom instruction. One way of doing this is to use classroom techniques that allow assessment of learning (Cross, 1990). These techniques help the teacher gather data that will help to improve teaching and learning (McKeachie, 1994). The purpose of this chapter is to explain these techniques and how nursing faculty can use them to improve teaching and learning. Formative evaluation is the foundation of classroom assessment. Bloom, Madaus, and Hastings (1981) describe formative evaluation as a tool useful in the process of evaluation to guide revisions and facilitate improvement of classroom instruction and student learning. By the late 1980s, Cross (1990) was advocating the use of teaching activities—classroom research—to ascertain whether students are learning and to discover the best methods for teaching. At present, these activities are called classroom assessment techniques (CATs) (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Halpern, 1994). Classroom assessment “consists of small scale assessments conducted continuously in the college classroom by discipline-based teachers to determine what students are learning in that class” (Angelo, 1994, p. 5). Classroom assessment is (Angelo, 1994; Angelo & Cross, 1993): 1. Learner centered: Students actively learn, become responsible for their own learning, and critically evaluate their own learning. 2. Teacher directed: Teachers decide why, when, and how to include CATs in their classes. 3. Mutually beneficial: Teachers improve their teaching and students improve their learning with the use of CATs. 4. Formative: CATs help with learning, not with the evaluation or grading of student efforts. 5. Context-specific: Classes within different disciplines, courses, and even sections of a course develop their own personalities, and the techniques of classroom assessment may need to vary to “fit” the situation. 6. Ongoing: Frequent, current feedback to both the student and the teacher is an important feature in improving student learning. 7. Rooted in good teaching practice: Classroom assessment puts already established good teaching practices into a more systematic framework. Thus classroom assessment provides for an assessment of learning in progress for both teachers and students in a nonthreatening environment. In addition, classroom assessment incorporates active learning strategies that facilitate learning (Astin, 1985; Halpern, 1994; McKeachie, 1994). The term classroom assessment represents conceptual thinking. Techniques used for classroom assessment are called CATs. Many sources provide examples of CATs. The most comprehensive is the collection of 50 different techniques presented by Angelo and Cross (1993). There is an emerging body of evidence about the impact that CATs have on both faculty and students. The evidence seems to support the thinking of Angelo and Cross (Angelo, 1994; Angelo & Cross, 1993). CATs can be a valuable tool for improving student learning. However, the evidence that CATs improve student learning outcomes is mixed. Boles (1999) found that using an e-mail–designed CAT improved student learning in a data communications class. However, Cottell and Harwood (1998) did not find the same results in an accounting class. Their conclusion was that many variables affect student learning outcomes and more study of CATs is needed. Steadman (1998) studied the effects of using CATs in a community college setting. When using CATS, faculty found the following advantages: “ability to tune into students’ voices, opportunity to engage in reflection on and systematic change of their teaching, student improvement and involvement in learning and the opportunity to join a community of other faculty committed to teaching” (Steadman, 1998, pp. 26–27). Student advantages include “increased control and voice in the classroom, students are more involved in their own learning and students benefit from improved teaching because faculty use feedback from CATs to improve instruction” (Steadman, 1998, p. 30). CATs also have disadvantages for students and faculty. They take up classroom time that is typically used for other activities, but the major disadvantage for faculty is the difficulty “in dealing with negative feedback” (Steadman, 1998, p. 27). Students also reported the use of class time as a disadvantage associated with CATs. Use of CATs means that students must be active participants in the classroom. Students who prefer to be passive participants in the classroom do not like the experience of CATs (Steadman, 1998). During the second activity of the planning phase, the teacher clearly identifies the desired information to be gained by using a CAT. Most teachers have multiple goals for any one class period. These goals may come from a variety of sources, such as the overall curriculum plan, level objectives, course objectives, unit objectives, and so on. Because all of these goals cannot possibly be measured with any one CAT in a single session, the teacher should focus on one specific goal. The activity in this part of the planning phase forces the teacher to reflect on and prioritize what specifically should be assessed (Fox, 2000). The last activity in the planning phase is identification of the specific CAT to be used. Obviously, the most important feature in the selection of a CAT is a close match between what the CAT will measure and what the teacher has previously identified as the priority goal for use of the CAT. The selected CAT should be adjusted to fit the purpose of administration or the personality of the class. For example, Angelo and Cross (1993) describe an exercise called “everyday ethical dilemmas” (p. 271). They present the exercise as a brief ethical dilemma after which the students respond to two questions. The teacher then analyzes the student answers and presents the responses to the class, which generates further discussion about the ethical situation.
Improving teaching and learning: classroom assessment techniques
Classroom assessment
Cat outcomes
Advantages of CATs
Disadvantages of CATs
Classroom assessment techniques
Planning CATs
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