In a perfect world, assessments give teachers a precise snapshot of students’ true abilities.
But that isn’t always the case—especially for traditional assessments that don’t always engage all students or accommodate different learning needs and preferences. When tests aren’t personalized, students may not perform to their potential.
Fortunately, a variety of innovative formative and summative assessment strategies can meet the needs of more students, boost student agency and engagement, and ultimately lead to better outcomes.
In this article, we explore 3 of these strategies: computerized adaptive testing, portable custom interactions, and project-based learning.
Key Takeaways
- Student performance on assessments is often affected by variables besides skills and knowledge, such as engagement or learning needs and preferences.
- When assessments are more engaging or personalized, students achieve better outcomes because they give more effort.
- Computerized adaptive testing, portable custom interactions, and project-based learning can provide teachers with a clearer snapshot of students’ skills and knowledge than traditional assessments.
3 Innovative Assessment Strategies
The following assessment strategies help students engage more deeply with performance tasks and achieve their full potential so that you can accurately gauge their learning.
Computer adaptive testing
Computer adaptive testing (CAT) goes beyond traditional tests by tailoring the experience to each student’s needs in real time. CAT platforms analyze the test taker’s performance on each question, and if they answer correctly the next question increases in difficulty. Incorrect answers prompt the system to present easier questions.
For example, a biology teacher could use a CAT compliant platform like TAO to pretest students before a unit on genetics. Each student would receive questions that were best suited to their knowledge. Students’ scores on the pretest would then help the teacher determine the content and pacing of the unit. If the majority of the students were not yet knowledgeable of requisite concepts such as cell structure, the teacher would cover those in the unit.
CAT improves outcomes in a couple of ways. First, students engage more closely because the test provides the ideal level of challenge. CAT also provides more exact measurements of students falling at either extreme of the ability range, whereas traditional tests are often only precise at measuring students in the middle. With this more accurate data, teachers are better able to align instruction to students’ needs.
Tips for CAT
- When administering CAT for formative assessment, clearly explain the purpose to your students. Emphasize that CAT is a tool to gather data and personalize their learning for the upcoming semester or unit.
- Use the CAT platform’s data analytics to identify patterns in student proficiency. Look for areas where the entire class needs extra support, as well as individual outliers that require targeted intervention.
- Use CAT data to guide unit planning. Incorporate lessons on significant skills gaps and adjust the pacing of the curriculum to accommodate the skills you need to cover.
Gamification through Portable Custom Interactions
Portable custom interactions (PCIs) are innovative alternatives to multiple choice questions that educators can implement within digital tests to impart interactive, contextual simulations. Drawing from elements found in video games—such as graphics, animated characters, and interactive features—PCIs require students to complete complex tasks that require higher-order thinking.
For example, the Assessment, Forecasting and Performance Directorate at the French Ministry of Education (Direction de l’évaluation, de la prospective et de la performance [DEPP]) has released a variety of PCIs that are available with TAO. One of these PCIs assesses student knowledge of the physics principle of relativity. With this PCI, students interact with characters on the screen to see how each character perceives the movement of objects.
PCIs improve engagement by motivating students to stay focused and give their best effort. They also improve teachers’ ability to measure learning. These items capture more than just a final answer. Through rich log data, teachers can see each student’s response time, mouse movements, use of the on-screen tools, and idle time. This data helps teachers understand which parts of the item were most difficult and where students need additional support.
Tips for PCIs
- Ensure that the skills and knowledge students need to complete the PCI are aligned with school-based learning objectives.
- After students complete the test, check the rich log data for each PCI, and pay close attention to when the student paused or incorrectly engaged with the on-screen tools. Then, consider which gaps in understanding caused the idle time or errors. Use this data to decide which aspects of the learning standard to re-teach or which interventions will help the student better understand the concept.
Project-based learning
In a project-based learning (PBL) assessment, students collaborate over an extended period to create products or presentations that serve real-world purposes. While the projects address students’ authentic questions and goals, they also give students the opportunity to achieve school-based learning objectives. The project becomes the primary means of instruction as well as a summative assessment.
For example, a Grade 6 ELA and History teacher engaged students in a March Through Nashville Project. The final product was a virtual museum app that educated users about the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville. Students worked in teams to write about leaders and events—such as John Lewis and the Nashville sit-ins.
To create the app, students visited historical sites, gathered artifacts, and collaborated with community experts. At various stages, the teacher formatively assessed student progress and provided targeted feedback. She also integrated lessons on school-based standards into project activities.
PBL is an effective assessment strategy because it gives students more agency than traditional assessments. Since they have decision-making power about the final product and the project goals, they’re motivated to give their best effort. The public-facing aspect of the final product is also a significant motivator.
Tips for PBL
- Early in the process, collaborate with students to make a “Need to Know” list of what they will learn about the topic. Refer back to the list and reflect on progress at various stages of the project.
- Collaborate with students to organize the project into manageable parts, steps, and deadlines. Display these details on Google Classroom or a class website.
- After setting project goals, determine ways to teach learning objectives within the context of the project. For example, the teacher in Nashville incorporated lessons on point of view and text analysis.
- Recruit community experts to mentor students during class visits or field trips. The Nashville students worked with a historical librarian to learn how to analyze primary sources and artifacts. They also met with app design experts.
The Bottom Line
Computerized adaptive testing, portable custom interactions, and project-based learning are innovative and exciting alternatives to traditional pencil-and-paper tests.
Teachers can use these strategies to engage students, unlock a deeper understanding of their true abilities, and ultimately boost outcomes.
For more information about innovative assessment methods, please see The Future of Education & Assessment: 5 Predictions for 2024, 5 Creative Ways to Assess Student Learning, and more articles in the TAO blog.
FAQs:
What are the limitations of traditional assessments?
Traditional assessments—such as fixed tests—are less engaging for some students and overlook learning differences. Innovative online assessments, like computerized adaptive testing and project-based learning improve engagement, which in turn improves outcomes.
Why do innovative assessment strategies improve outcomes?
Innovative methods of assessment improve outcomes because they inspire students to put in more effort and to engage with the assessment content more closely. They also provide teachers with clearer data about students’ true abilities so that teachers can further personalize instruction.
