Beyond Another Paper – Measuring student learning via authentic student creations

Why not another paper?

• What do you want your students to learn?
• What do you want your students to do?
• What are the learning objectives for your course?
• What type of artifact could demonstrate that students mastered the course material?

Why papers?

• Practical
• Familiar
• Demonstrate knowledge

Why not papers?

• Demonstrate deep understanding
• Show cause and effect
• Authentic assessment

How to determine if “different” is appropriate?

• Start with the learning objectives
• Review Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Consider what “appropriate” might be

Example 1:

Learning Outcome:

“ Analyze institutional formation in early Western civilizations and evaluate its influence on political, economic and social organization and control in at least three distinct societies.”

Scaffolded Assignment:

• Students select an “institution” topic
• Collaboratively track info in wiki and discussions
• Independently create timelines or infographics

Example 2:

Learning Outcome:

“ Compare and contrast three aspects of the Aztec, Mayan and Incan civilizations.”

• Students brainstorm list of things to compare
• Independently create posters or slideshows
• Share links or embedded images on discussion board

Example 3:

Learning Outcome:

“Students should be able to construct an econometric model, use an econometric software to estimate the parameters of the model, and interpret the results.”

Poster session:

• A two-day poster session replaced traditional student presentations
• Students spent class sessions explaining their results to their classmates, friends, members of the economics department, and the Dean of Arts and Sciences

What have you tried?

What might work for your learning outcomes?

• What activities might increase student engagement?
• What might the students remember ten years from now?
  

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Resources

note: all URLs open in a new window/tab

General Resources:

• University of Houston – New Technologies: http://newtech.coe.uh.edu/
• OSCQR – Content and Activities: http://oscqr.org/content-activities/
• Beyond the Essay: Making Student Thinking Visible in the Humanities – https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/beyond-the-essay/
  

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Infographics Resources:

• Infographics as a Creative Assessment – Kathy Schrock
• 13 Incredible Tools for Creating Infographics – Creative Blog
• Creating Infographics – Penn Libguide
• Piktochart – https://piktochart.com/
• Canva – https://www.canva.com/create/infographics/
  

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VoiceThread (and related) Resources:

• Voicethread – https://voicethread.com/
• Voicethread Examples – https://www.nccu.edu/knowledgebase/faq.cfm?id=480
• VoiceThread – “Tea for Teaching” podcast with Jeffrey Riman
• Flipgrid
• Kimber Underdown and Jillian Hartman – “Remote Learning with Flipgrid”
  

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Animation Resources:

• Animoto – https://animoto.com/
• Moovly – https://www.moovly.com/
• Powtoon – https://www.powtoon.com/home/
  

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Video Creation Resources:

• iMovie (Mac/iOS)
• VSDC (Windows 10)
• Windows Story Remix – PC Mag article
• Screencast-o-matic
• Adobe Spark

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Timeline Resources:

• Top 10 Free Timeline Creation Tools for Teachers – https://elearningindustry.com/top-10-free-timeline-creation-tools-for-teachers
• Vanderbilt University – Digital Timelines Teaching Guide https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/digital-timelines/

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Podcast Resources:

• Phillips, Birgit. “Student-Produced Podcasts in Language Learning – Exploring Student Perceptions of Podcast Activities.” IAFOR Journal of Education 6, no. 3 (2017).
• Student Writing – podcast examining a student podcast assignment
• Patrick Allan – “How to Start Your Own Podcast”
• Audacity

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Online Quiz Resources:

• QuizBean – https://www.quizbean.com/home
• ClassMarker – https://www.classmarker.com/
• QuizStar – http://quizstar.4teachers.org/
• Quizlet – https://quizlet.com/

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Poster Resources:

• Canva – https://www.canva.com/create/posters/
• Implementing Posters in the Classroom – Yale Center for Teaching and Learning
• Creating a Poster – The Writing Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Adobe Spark Free Online Poster Maker

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Flow Charts

• Canva 
• Draw.io
• Gliffy
• yED
• Google Draw
• Edraw – Cause and Effect diagrams – https://www.edrawsoft.com/education-cause-and-effect-diagram.php

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Mind Maps

• Mind Mup – https://www.mindmup.com/
• Bubbl.us – https://bubbl.us/
• 5 Free Mindmap Tools – http://www.mindmapsoft.com/free-mindmap-tool/

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Collaborative Online Content Resources:

• Rachelle Dene Poth – “10 EdTech Tools for Encouraging Classroom Collaboration”
• Christina Hendricks – “Open Pedagogy: Examples of Class Activities“
• Open Education Resources: Open Pedagogy Examples – Austin Community College Libguide
• Google – Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides
• Slack

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Story Resources:

• Schwartz, Daniel L. and John D. Bransford. “A time for telling.” Cognition and Instruction 16, no. 4 (1998): 475-522
• Powerful Tools for Teaching and Learning: Digital Story Telling – Coursera MOOC
• Educational Uses of Digital StoryTelling
• Reacting to the Past – https://reacting.barnard.edu/

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Performance and other artistic expression Resources:

• Dance Your PhD
• Mary Beth Hertz – “Full Steam Ahead: Why Arts are Essential In STEM Education”
• Richard Lachman – “STEAM not STEM: Why scientists seed arts training”