Assessment is helpful for both measuring student learning and improving teaching, but if we aren’t assessing our students’ abilities to learn what we want them to learn, then how can we improve our teaching? Summative assessments are often high-stakes, end-of-unit or end-of-course assignments that we use to evaluate student learning. The term “alignment” is used to refer to the ways in which the summative assessment asks students to demonstrate the kind of learning or skills described in the course learning outcome.
Why should we align assessments and learning outcomes?
Our course design should be guided by course learning outcomes, the knowledge, skills and/or attitudes we want students to develop by the end of the semester. Our course learning outcomes should be clear, achievable, learning-focused, measurable, and specific. These learning outcomes should then inform what we teach over the course of the semester so that students have opportunities to practice and develop those skills and attitudes – and then have an opportunity to demonstrate that learning later in the semester. In order to assess that learning, we need to ensure that how we ask students to demonstrate their learning is aligned with the course learning outcome.
Example: 100-level political science course
- Learning outcome: “By the end of the semester, successful students will be able to explain how government and politics impact their daily life.”
- Aligned summative assessment: Students identify one aspect of their daily life that is particularly impacted by government and politics, then explore that impact in some detail by tying in course concepts
- Unaligned summative assessment: Students write an essay about the structure of the American government.
Ensuring assessments are at the right level of learning
Additionally, we need to make sure that the summative assessment is at the same level of complexity as the course learning outcome.
Example: 200-level History of Math course
- Learning outcome: “Students will be able to do mathematical calculations using various historical civilizations’ numeracy, ideas, and systems.” (At the apply level in Bloom’s taxonomy)
- Assessment at the same level: Students will take a group exam where they do basic math calculations using ancient civilizations’ numeracy, ideas, and systems would also be at the apply level.
- Assessment at an unequal level: Students evaluate the ease with which mathematicians could do various calculations in different number systems. (That assessment would be at a higher level (evaluate) than the learning outcome and thus not a good fit.)
This article from the Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University includes examples of types of assessments for different types of learning outcomes.
Why is alignment important?
There are many reasons why it is important that we align our summative assessments with our learning outcomes, including:
- If we are using our assessments as information about how well students have achieved our learning outcomes, then the assessments need to be aligned with those outcomes.
- If our course learning outcomes are what we want students to learn during the course, then we need to provide students with opportunities to demonstrate that very learning through the aligned assessment.
- If our summative assessments aren’t aligned, we’re potentially asking students to do things (demonstrate learning) that the course hasn’t prepared them to do.
Conclusion
In summary, a key aspect of course design is ensuring that the summative assessments that we design are aligned with our course learning outcomes (i.e., that the assessment asks the students to demonstrate the knowledge, skill or attitude described in the learning outcome). If our learning outcomes are our goals at the end of the semester, then our assessments should be designed to match. View this resource on assessment alignment to learn more about aligning assessments and find additional examples.
Resources
- Bowen, R. S. (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved 10/22/23 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/
- Shabatua, J. (2022). Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Outcomes. Retrieved 10/22/23 from https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/
- Why should assessments, learning objectives, and instructional strategies be aligned? Retrieved 10/22/23 from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/alignment.html
Written by:
Dr. Megan Frary
Senior Educational Development Consultant, Boise State Center for Teaching and Learning
Clinical Associate Professor, Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering