I learned the difference between norm referenced and criterion referenced tests and questions. I was already familiar with the difference between subjective and objective assessments and the appropriate use of both.
Our course doesn’t give us too much information about Bloom's Taxonomy, but it mentions it multiple times, so I reviewed several papers/articles. Below is information on the revised taxonomy. The information that I gathered is by Patricia Armstrong, former Assistant Director, Center for Teaching. The paper has a lot of important information on both Bloom's Taxonomy and the Revised Taxonomy.
The Revised Taxonomy (2001)
The authors of the revised taxonomy underscore this dynamism, using verbs and gerunds to label their categories and subcategories (rather than the nouns of the original taxonomy). These “action words” describe the cognitive processes by which thinkers encounter and work with knowledge:
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Remember
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Understand
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Interpreting
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Exemplifying
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Classifying
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Summarizing
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Inferring
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Comparing
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Explaining
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Apply
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Analyze
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Differentiating
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Organizing
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Attributing
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Evaluate
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Create
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Generating
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Planning
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Producing
In the revised taxonomy, knowledge is at the basis of these six cognitive processes, but its authors created a separate taxonomy of the types of knowledge used in cognition:
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Factual Knowledge
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Conceptual Knowledge
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Knowledge of classifications and categories
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Knowledge of principles and generalizations
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Knowledge of theories, models, and structures
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Procedural Knowledge
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Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms
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Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods
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Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures
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Metacognitive Knowledge
Mary Forehand from the University of Georgia provides a guide to the revised version giving a brief summary of the revised taxonomy and a helpful table of the six cognitive processes and four types of knowledge.
This unit discussed subjective assessments and how they should be created. Based on what I read I will put thought into how I want to assess my students and what way or ways I should go about doing it. Sometimes an essay may be the best way or sometimes short answer may be the best.
By using both types of assessments I feel you can better evaluate how much the student retains.
What I learned most from this section was the difference between norm and criterion referrenced assessments.
I learned about the types of assessments I primarily use in my courses, while also learning about types of assessments that I do not use as often.
I found the importance objective and subjective assessments. I often give essay questions and agree that essay type questions help the instructor gain insight to student's level of understanding beyond the simply recalling facts.
The difference between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments are used for comparisons. Objective assessments are used to determine correct or incorrect. Subjective assessments are used for opinions. All assessments should be sound and free from bias or distortion. Must be both reliable and valid.
A well written test reveals what students know, what they have been taught, and what they do not know.
There are difference ways of creating objective and subjective assessments. The goal for this assessments, though is to make sure that the questions will cover the outcomes/objectives of the course. Providing rubrics to students when doing subjective assessments can help in grading them.
I learned that I need to be better when making tests for my students. It needs to be valid and reliable at all times. I try to make some tests tricky but it may not be in the best interest of the kids since it can cause the quiz to have ambiguous questions.
It is important for online instructors to keep in mind that all assessments must be sound, free from bias and distortion.
Take away from this session. Instructors have several choices to use as assessment tools. The validity and reliabity are important aspects of the tools and should be considered when designing an assessment.
Objective assessments are necessary and should be used to determine whether students have mastered the content. However, objective assessments should not just be right or wrong answers. Feedback should be provided for objective assessments so that students understand why their answers are wrong or right. Additionally, subjective assessments should be used when you are trying to determine the perspective of the student in reference to the content being covered. Last, I can apply what I learn in this module by ensuring my objective assessments are rigorous, meaningful and avoid incorrect answers. Second, I can use subjective assessment as another form of checking for understanding with students via essays or short answer quizzes.
Im learning that test of all kinds can be used in combination to benifit the students, to know where they are in a group, what they know in the group and what they need to do to improve.
It's good practice to establishing within your course what method of assessment best suits the needs of your students and the class as well. Personally, I prefer to use objective assessments as it is easier to get a baseline of the class's understanding of the material that has been presented.
This module provided a review of objective vs subjective assessment and their inherent uses and functions. It emphasized the importance of determining test validity and reliability for accuracy and effectiveness of assessment, as well as the advantages of using norm-referenced vs criterion-referenced assessments. Our students sit for a final competency exam that is norm-referenced, however, I find that in my course classes, especially in labs, I more often use criterion-used assessments as a checklist to indicate mastery of necessary professional skills.
In this module I learned that objective information is fact based and subjective is based on personal opinions or different points of view.
I've learned that there is a difference between norm and criterion based assessments. Criterion based assessments seem most useful in the context of my courses, but norm based assessments could be useful for helping me to determine the perfomances of current students vs prior cohorts to see if they're better grasping the material (or not).
I have used and taken both the Norm and Criterion-referenced assessments and never knew they were different. I know, now, I deffinately will use the Criterion-referenced assessments in my course.
