Assessment and Evaluation

  • Assessment and Evaluation,  Generative AI

    Getting AI to make questions for you

    You know you should make your class active. Asking students regular, low stakes questions about the key concepts, skills, and process you are teaching is essential. In a  50 minute lesson, it is great to do that 5 times.  You shouldn’t grade any of the questions, and you should asks students to talk with with each other about each one.  Even when you know it is important, it can be hard to do. Who actually has time? We wind up avoiding doing making active components because we are already spending so much time making slides of our content and creating assessment we then spend even more time marking. The good…

  • Assessment and Evaluation,  Educational Technology,  Generative AI

    Prompting Generative AI to help you plan for your class quickly

    Having a good teaching assistant (TA) can be so important.  While anyone needs clear direction to grade an essay with the same criteria you use, it is incredibly helpful to have someone help carry the teaching load. Turns out that Generative AI (like Chat GPT) doesn’t just force you to redesign your assessments for academic integrity reasons – with good prompting it can even help you do that redesign. It just needs the clear direction and oversight you give a TA. Learning to prompt can save you time Prompting AI is the process of giving clear parameters for what you want. When you start chatting with an AI you are…

  • Academic Integrity,  Assessment and Evaluation

    Recommendations for Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

    These recommendations were provided in June 2023 in response to a request from Deans to provide guidance to the campus community with respect to ChatGPT – a generative artificial intelligence tool that can produce content that is difficult to distinguish from that produced by humans.  Some links were updated in July 2023. Advice in this area is evolving and questions and suggestions are invited for future updates of this resource (contact susan.bens@usask.ca).  * On May 1, 2023, the European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) published recommendations on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in education.  The ENAI recommendations are summarized, paraphrased, re-ordered, and grouped below, along with some supplementary information.   …

  • Academic Integrity,  Assessment and Evaluation,  Uncategorized

    Need to learn more about ChatGPT?

    Are you looking for a comprehensive and digestible introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)? GenAI is the term in use now for the category of machine learning tools that ChatGPT falls under. A new module titled “Understanding Generative AI” has been added to the academic integrity tutorial.  It is a recommended resource for both student and faculty.    Check out this resource by Sidney I. Dobrin and download the free 37 page pdf booklet that provides a helpful overview of the technology, speaks to the academic integrity and misconduct challenges, and suggests strategies for the new context. In the section on pp. 18-19 under the heading “Assignment Design in the…

  • Assessment and Evaluation,  Curriculum Development,  Inclusivity,  Instructional / Course Design,  Uncategorized,  Wellness

    Maximizing Learning Potential with Student Wellness

    Your Brain on Teaching and Learning: Series 2 Are your students showing signs of anxiety? Are your students experiencing a sense of purpose and engagement in the classroom?  ______________________________________________________________________________________________ The impact of teaching and learning practices on student wellness cannot be overstated ______________________________________________________________________________________________ By integrating insights from brain science, we can create powerful learning environments that prioritize student wellness. Let’s explore three ways to associate your teaching practices with student wellbeing: Alignment for Clarity: Alignment refers to the process of strategically planning your learning outcomes to clearly define what your students will be able to do, know, or value. Then, intentionally plan how you will assess and teach based on…

  • Assessment and Evaluation,  Canvas,  Educational Technology,  Uncategorized

    New Quizzes – Adding Accommodations

    by Roberta Campbell-Chudoba If you need to provide students with quiz accommodations, it is important to know that adding accommodations in New Quizzes looks quite different than Classic Quizzes.   Options for accommodations in New Quizzes include:  Time adjustments for all quizzes in the course (Accommodations and Edit Pencil) Add extra time for a student Remove time limits Multiply time limits using a ‘Time limit multiplier’  Attempts and additional time for a single quiz and student (Moderate Button) Manually unlock quiz attempts  Add extra attempts for a quiz   Add additional time for timed quiz attempts  Remove time limits Where do I set accommodations?  Once a quiz has been published, return…

  • Academic Integrity,  Assessment and Evaluation,  Educational Technology

    Make your “ChatGPT” and other artificial intelligence expectations clear

    Students want to know what your expectations are. Sometimes students feel uncertain about what to ask or how to ask. Students learn quickly that different instructors, in different programs, handle and regard some things differently when it comes to rules for academic integrity. The reasons for this can relate to discipline, to learning outcomes, to assessment type, and to the philosophy of the educator. The syllabus and any information posted alongside assessment details are excellent “placements” of clear expectations. Here are some pointers and resources: A link to the USask syllabus guide suggested language related to permitted or unpermitted use of ChatGPT similar tools appears in the academic integrity section.…

  • Academic Integrity,  Assessment and Evaluation,  Copyright,  Educational Technology,  Instructional Strategies,  Uncategorized

    10 Guidelines for Assessment Practice in an Artificial Intelligence Environment

    Artificial intelligence (AI) text generators, such as but not limited to ChatGPT, are increasingly available with quickly advancing capabilities.  Proper and ethical use is important for transparent and valid assessment.  The following are 10 general guidelines for educators.   To prepare Learn about relevant, new AI technologies and their applications in contexts of interest. Discuss approaches and emerging practices with disciplinary colleagues. Design assessment to meet course learning outcomes in ways that include appropriate uses of artificial intelligence tools and/or reduces the likelihood of inappropriate uses. During the course Explain how students should and should not complete their assessments and the reasons for these expectations. Be explicit about the tools,…

  • Assessment and Evaluation,  Indigenization, Decolonization, Reconciliation

    Indigenization and Assessment – Rethinking Traditional Practice

    “Education got us into this mess, education will get us out of it.” – Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, December 2015 Higher education is embarking on a journey of Indigenization, decolonization and reconciliation (IDR). Location will impact understanding of how to accomplish IDR and who will be involved in actualizing the initiative. One thing will be consistent, how we define assessment. Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the action or an instance of making a judgment about something.” This definition highlights the challenge when educators work to Indigenize assessment actions that may be subjective. In a world where people of First Nation, Inuit, and Métis identities face bias…

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    Assessment and Evaluation,  Educational Technology,  Remote Teaching

    Formative Assessment: A comparison of two online quizzes 

    This post aims to compare the design of two online quizzes to determine how each design impacts student learning.   Formative assessment is a process used to:  Identify what students already know and where they need more support to reach the desired learning outcomes. Provide feedback that the student can use to increase learning before a final assessment. For example, using feedback from a draft assignment that can be used to increase understanding for future revisions. Evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction during the learning process so the teacher can adjust instruction to meet students’ needs.   “You almost want kids to make mistakes on formative assessments because that’s how you figure out…