Pre-Institute Online Activity:

Preparing for an Assessment Institute

Note that this activity must be completed online. You are welcome to do the pre-reading in one sitting and submit your responses in another but once you begin submitting responses, you cannot save your work and come back to it later.

Learning Skills

assessing performance, meeting individual needs, recognizing personal potential

Why?

Any learning experience is more valuable when the learner is able to personally assume ownership for the learning. Each of you made the decision to participate in this institute for reasons that met some personal need. In this pre-Institute activity, you have the opportunity to do some preparatory reading, thinking, and writing that will enrich your experience at this event. At the start of the Institute we will ask each of you to share your background, your strengths and areas for growth, and your personal goals for the event. This will help the facilitators customize the agenda to better meet the needs of the audience. 

Plan

1. Read the following resources: 

• Faculty Guidebook 4.1.1. Overview of Assessment

• Faculty Guidebook 4.1.3. Mindset for Assessment

• Faculty Guidebook 4.1.9. SII Method for Assessment Reporting

• Ten Critical Ideas About Assessment to Benefit Every Educational Professional

2. View the following Learning Objects:  Assessment and Evaluation   SII Method for Assessment Reporting

3. Review the Broad Learning Goals for the Assessment Institute (listed below)

4. Review the following terms and phrases (terms have been highlighted and may be found in the Glossary—.pdf):

   Assessment Assessment Culture Attribute Evaluation Evidence Growth/Development Learner Development

   Measurement Peer Assessment Peer Coaching Performance Performance Criteria Preassessment Process Education

   Real-time Assessment Rubric Scale Self-Assessment Self-Grower SII Method of Assessment Reporting

5. Once you have finished all reading, answer the following Critical Thinking Questions, based upon your reading. (Your responses will go to the institute facilitator(s) specifically to help them tailor the institute as effectively as possible.)

6. Share three (3) personal goals for the Assessment Institute.

Critical Thinking Questions

Name:                     Location of Institute:

1.	What is the key difference between assessment and evaluation?
2.	What is the role of measurement in assessment and evaluation?
3.	Is there a minimum level of quality for assessment to be effective? Explain.
4.	Why does assessor-instigated assessment tend to be less successful than assessee-sought assessment?
5.	What are performance criteria and how do these support high-quality assessment?
6.	What does the phrase "assessment culture" mean? What actions can you take to promote a culture of assessment at your institution?
7.	In academia, what is the optimum percentage of time/effort that should be allocated to assessment? To evaluation?

List three (3) personal goals you would like to meet during your participation in the Assessment Institute