Comparing Tools for Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment Technology

As I have been working on my master’s project, I have been thinking a lot about formative assessment. Formative assessment  is as much a part of the instructional process as lectures and activities. It involves the assessment of student knowledge in real time, in order for the instructor to adjust their pace or teaching style to accommodate the understanding of the students. Historically, formative assessment was achieved by asking the class a question and having students volunteer their answers. The problem here lies in that teachers were frequently hearing from the same students, students that were confident enough in their answer to raise their hand.  This results in the instructor gaining a very limited view of the class’s understanding as a whole. Several methods have been developed to more accurately assess the entire class from flash cards, to high tech devices. I will review two high tech means of formative assessment, giving the positives and negatives of each.

Turning Technologies

My site has been using “clickers” from Turning Technologies for approximately 5 years now, with our use ramping up significantly in 2009, when I came on board. Turning Tech clickers are platform specific and work by adding a Turning Point “ribbon” to the standard menu bar of Microsoft Power Point. You need to purchase each device, as well as a receiver that must be plugged into the USB port of the computer you will be using.

• Some pluses; the clickers each have a unique device ID, so you can assign one clicker per student and develop a “Participant List” which will attribute a score from quizzes or tests to that student. You can also create the Power Points from another computer that has Turning Point and save them or email them at your convenience. The more advanced clickers allow for multiple choice, true/false, and some short answer or numerical response questions. You also have the option of allowing students to respond anonymously by not using a participant list. This creates a safe risk taking environment. 

• Some minuses; In order to assign scores, students must use the same clicker every time and be assigned to a participant list. You need to have Turning Point installed in order to create or run presentations. You also need to have a receiver in each room where you intend to use the clickers (they are mobile). If two receivers are near one another, they need to be set to different channels to avoid interference. Response types are limited, and anything beyond true/false, multiple choice, and numeric response, are cumbersome and difficult.

Learning Catalytics

Recently, I have begun exploring a cloud based assessment tool called Learning Catalytics. Developed at Harvard by some of the same individuals who created the first clickers, I believe Learning Catalytics is the future of technology based formative assessment. 

 

• Some pluses; Learning Catalytics does not require installation, and you can access, and develop your presentations anywhere you have an internet connection. Students are able to respond from many different devices including; iPads, Smart Phones, laptop or desktop computers, as well as other tablets. All that is required is access to the internet.  Students are asked to log in to a specific session number, so their grades are appropriately recorded, and there is no risk of interference from another class. Learning Catalytics allows for multiple response types. In addition to true/false, multiple choice, and numeric response, Learning Catalytics allows for many exciting response types. Students can answer short answer, or even essay questions. They can sketch a graph (which the program will algorithmically grade), or predict the direction of a graph. They can select the region of a map, or image. They can rank answers from most correct to least, as well as many other options. This multitude of question types allows for the instructor to get a clearer idea of student knowledge. The program will also group students based on terms you identify, for example one student who answered A will be grouped with a student who answered B.

• Some minuses; Like any cloud based platform, you run the risk of not being able to access the cloud for some reason. Whether this is an internal issue, or an issue with the platform server, not being able to access your lecture presentation can nearly ruin a class. Because this platform uses a device that has internet access it is more difficult to ensure academic integrity, therefore it may not be the best choice for high-stakes testing.

If you are interested in learning more about Learning Catalytics you can view the video at the end of this page. Also, I will be working with Learning Catalytics quite a lot in the upcoming months, as it is the basis for my master's project, so I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

References

Audience Response Systems | Turning Technologies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.turningtechnologies.com/

Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom. (n.d.). Association for Middle Level Education - AMLE. Retrieved from http://www.amle.org/publications/webexclusive/assessment/tabid/1120/default.aspx

learning catalytics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://learningcatalytics.com/