Assessment of or for Learning

I've been looking for online resources on the topic of using assessment to improve student learning. So far, I've found two that I really like.

The first one is a Pearson Issue Paper titled Using Assessments to Improve Learning and Student Progress. This paper makes the distinction between assessment for learning (formative) and assessment of learning (summative) and the reasons both are needed to improve student learning and the organizations that support them.

The second is titled Using Assessment to Improve Instruction from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and outlines an eight-step process for data analysis and action. They promote their book outlining the steps, which I might just have to get a copy of.

Any other sites you know about on this topic?

Concept Maps

This week's assignment was to write 2-5 learning objectives and incorporate them into a concept map for an online course. Putting the competencies in a concept map format provides a "big picture" image of the course and its components and their relationships.

I used Inspiration to develop my concept map for the course I teach online, Curriculum and Course Construction, a Wisconsin Technical College certification course. This format follows the Worldwide Instructional Design Software, WIDS, model utilized by the Wisconsin Technical College System. The learning objectives (called competencies in the WIDS model) I mapped include the following:

1. Examine performance based learning course design.
2. Develop competencies that describe intended learning outcomes.
3. Develop performance standards (criteria and conditions) for each competency.
4. Write learning objectives for your competencies.


As an assessment tool, having learners create concept maps can help instructors and learners determine whether they have captured the major points of a learning experience and detemine the relationships among them. It would be interesting to see the similarities and differences in individual concept maps at the end of a learning experience. What are students taking away from the experience?