- Assessment and Evaluation, Curriculum Development, Experiential Learning, Instructional / Course Design, Uncategorized
Time for a Jump Start? Teaching and Learning Fund at the GMCTL
Feeling stuck? Even though good ideas for change are exciting and energizing, sometimes they sit still or do not progress. Common reasons include: Working at it sporadically or “off the side of your desk” Attending to more urgent or pressing issues Being at (or beyond) your limit in terms of projects and things to do Uncertainty about next steps, or seeing the next steps as daunting Questioning if this is really what you’re supposed to be doing, anyway If the time has come for an infusion of help and your project is about one or more of the following Program-level curriculum change (see the 4-step process for successful change) Assessment improvement across…
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Will you allow ChatGPT? Considerations.
Many instructors are surprised by the capabilities of a new artificial intelligence text generator – ChatGPT – that was released in November, 2022. Try it out . Many are asking what the right thing to do is in terms of allowing or disallowing its use. In the short-term, it is reasonable to be contemplating whether to “ban” use of ChatGPT for course assessments. In the long-term, these tools will become even better and more pervasive and our assessment practices will surely need to change. In fact, opportunities to incorporate this tool and those like them are set to inspire all kinds of exciting changes in higher education and the world…
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ChatGPT and Academic Misconduct Regulations
What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence text generator that has been trained on data sets of mind-boggling size. It produces apparently “original” and coherent text responses in what is referred to as natural language. Tools of this kind have been in use in a range of sectors and have been on the radar of writing, technology, and academic integrity experts for at least two years. The ChatGPT functionality and its open availability have leapt ahead in public awareness and reaction since November 30, 2022. If you haven’t yet heard about ChatGPT, to find out more and to try it, go here. Experiment with the tool, including putting in some…
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Defining Competencies and Outcomes
by Racquel Biem Defining Competencies and Outcomes Although there is no widely accepted distinction between a competency and an outcome, there is sufficient commonality for the following working definition to be used to improve the structure and clarity of courses and programs. A competency is an overarching capability the learner can do. Examples include critical thinking, problem solving, effective communication, design functions, or physical performative skills. Since a competency is generally too complex to measure on its own, it must be broken down into its core, and often interconnected, measurable outcomes (sometimes called objectives). Learning outcomes, then, are the core measurable components that together make up the competency. A competency…
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Defining Authentic Assessment
by Racquel Biem The term “authentic assessment” is often misleading as it is not just about assessing a student submission ‘authentically’; rather, it focuses on the context and relevance of learning beyond academia. The following definition considers the interconnectedness of learning tasks, activities, and feedback in designing authentic assessments. Authentic assessments are evaluations of student learning that use real-world tasks or performance-based assessments in authentic contexts. Authentic assessments rely on continuous feedback for improvement in their design. The goal of authentic assessment is to assess student learning in a way that is meaningful and relevant to the student and is often connected to the student’s future academic or career goals.…
