How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses

Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergr...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Jack T. H. Wang, Mark A. Schembri, Roy A. Hall
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2013
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d7989c983de745e9bafdcdd7eddfc835
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:d7989c983de745e9bafdcdd7eddfc835
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d7989c983de745e9bafdcdd7eddfc8352021-11-15T15:03:50ZHow Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.4491935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/d7989c983de745e9bafdcdd7eddfc8352013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.449https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergraduate microbiology, but has yet to define best-practice assessment guidelines. This study assessed the applicability of Biggs’ theory of constructive alignment in designing consistent learning objectives, activities, and assessment items that aligned with the American Society for Microbiology’s concept-based microbiology curriculum in MICR2000, an introductory microbiology course offered at the University of Queensland, Australia. By improving the internal consistency in assessment criteria and increasing the number of assessment items explicitly aligned to the course learning objectives, the teaching team was able to efficiently provide adequate feedback on numerous assessment tasks throughout the semester, which contributed to improved student performance and learning gains. When comparing the constructively aligned 2011 offering of MICR2000 with its 2010 counterpart, students obtained higher marks in both coursework assignments and examinations as the semester progressed. Students also valued the additional feedback provided, as student rankings for course feedback provision increased in 2011 and assessment and feedback was identified as a key strength of MICR2000. By designing MICR2000 using constructive alignment and iterative assessment tasks that followed a common set of learning outcomes, the teaching team was able to effectively deliver detailed and timely feedback in a large introductory microbiology course. This study serves as a case study for how constructive alignment can be integrated into modern teaching practices for large-scale courses.Jack T. H. WangMark A. SchembriRoy A. HallAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 12-24 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Jack T. H. Wang Mark A. Schembri Roy A. Hall How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
description	Designing and implementing assessment tasks in large-scale undergraduate science courses is a labor-intensive process subject to increasing scrutiny from students and quality assurance authorities alike. Recent pedagogical research has provided conceptual frameworks for teaching introductory undergraduate microbiology, but has yet to define best-practice assessment guidelines. This study assessed the applicability of Biggs’ theory of constructive alignment in designing consistent learning objectives, activities, and assessment items that aligned with the American Society for Microbiology’s concept-based microbiology curriculum in MICR2000, an introductory microbiology course offered at the University of Queensland, Australia. By improving the internal consistency in assessment criteria and increasing the number of assessment items explicitly aligned to the course learning objectives, the teaching team was able to efficiently provide adequate feedback on numerous assessment tasks throughout the semester, which contributed to improved student performance and learning gains. When comparing the constructively aligned 2011 offering of MICR2000 with its 2010 counterpart, students obtained higher marks in both coursework assignments and examinations as the semester progressed. Students also valued the additional feedback provided, as student rankings for course feedback provision increased in 2011 and assessment and feedback was identified as a key strength of MICR2000. By designing MICR2000 using constructive alignment and iterative assessment tasks that followed a common set of learning outcomes, the teaching team was able to effectively deliver detailed and timely feedback in a large introductory microbiology course. This study serves as a case study for how constructive alignment can be integrated into modern teaching practices for large-scale courses.
format	article
author	Jack T. H. Wang Mark A. Schembri Roy A. Hall
author_facet	Jack T. H. Wang Mark A. Schembri Roy A. Hall
author_sort	Jack T. H. Wang
title	How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
title_short	How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
title_full	How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
title_fullStr	How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
title_full_unstemmed	How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses
title_sort	how much is too much assessment? insight into assessment-driven student learning gains in large-scale undergraduate microbiology courses
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/d7989c983de745e9bafdcdd7eddfc835
work_keys_str_mv	AT jackthwang howmuchistoomuchassessmentinsightintoassessmentdrivenstudentlearninggainsinlargescaleundergraduatemicrobiologycourses AT markaschembri howmuchistoomuchassessmentinsightintoassessmentdrivenstudentlearninggainsinlargescaleundergraduatemicrobiologycourses AT royahall howmuchistoomuchassessmentinsightintoassessmentdrivenstudentlearninggainsinlargescaleundergraduatemicrobiologycourses
_version_	1718428344412798976

How Much Is Too Much Assessment? Insight into Assessment-Driven Student Learning Gains in Large-Scale Undergraduate Microbiology Courses

Ejemplares similares