DOCUMENT RESUME ED 359 994 JC 930 342 AUTHOR Catlin, Anita; Kalina, Michelle TITLE How To Institute the Cross/AngeloClassroom Assessment Training Program on a College Campus, or, How To Create a Dynamic Teaching/Learning Partnership between Teachers and Students. INSTITUTION Napa Valley Coll., Napa, CA. SPONS AGENCY California Community Coll. Fund for Instructional Improvement. PUB DATE [93] CONTRACT FII-92-0016 NOTE 198p. AVAILABLE FROM Napa Valley College Bookstore, 2277 Napa-Vallejo Highway, CA 94558 ($18, including tax, shipping, and handling). PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom Use (055) Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Budgets; Classroom Techniques; College Faculty; *Community Colleges; Educational Research; *Feedback; *Institutes (Training Programs); Models; Outcomes of Education; Program Descriptions; Program Implementation; Student Attitudes; Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance; Student Reaction; Teacher Response; Teacher Workshops; Two Year Colleges IDENTIFIERS *California Community Colleges; Cross Angelo Classroom Assessment Model ABSTRACT This manual offers practical guidelines, based on the work of K. P. Cross (1988) and T. A. Angelo (1991), on implementing a Classroom Assessment Training Project (CATP) at a high school or college. The manual contains information on planning, budgeting, training, and content. The Cross/Angelo Classroom Assessment Model relies on quick, anonymous written feedback from students about their understanding of course content and their reactions to instruction. Unlike tests and quizzes, Classroom Assessment Techniques are ungraded, allowing instructors to adjust instruction rather than assess achievement. Chapter 1 of the manual provides an overview of the Classroom Assessment Model, defining terminology, reviewing the model's philosophical and historical background, and outlining related research. Chapter 2 details the steps to implementing a CATP, covering administrative support, fiscal requirements, training of faculty leaders, reassigned time for coordinators, compensation for faculty participants, clerical support, purchase of textbooks, sources of funding, budget breakdown for sample college, factors to ensure program success, selecting and training a leader/trainer, timeline for implementation, recruitment of faculty, and length and mix of training. Chapter 3 describes the faculty training sessions, providing information on planning, the content of the first training session, follow-up workshops, encouragement of teacher participation, and responses to problematic feedback. Finally, chapter 4 provides supplementary materials, including samples of a faculty leader contract, participant contract, and agenda and handouts for the first training session; the names, phone numbers, and disciplines of California community colleges faculty who have been trained in the techniques; and 18 references. (FAA) L HOW TO INSTITUTE THE CROSS/ANGELO CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT TRAINING PROGRAM ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS. csa OR cn HOW TO CREATE A DYNAMIC in TEACHING/LEARNING ctz A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS THIS PROJECT (FII GRANT 92-0016) WAS SUPPORTED IN PART BY THE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FUND FOR INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT, CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE SECTIONS 84381-84387 AND WAS PRODUCED BY NAPA VALLEY COLLEGE Anita Catlin, MSN, FNP PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Project Director MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Office of Educational Research and Improvement A. Catlin EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Napa Valley College C This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. teMinor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Michelle Kalina, Ed.D. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy Research Coordinator Sierra College and College Leaders Andrea Salmi, MS, Cosumnes River College Theresa Lebeiko, Ph.D., Chabot College Jill Mayer, MSW, Merced College Vince Piro, MA, Merced College Sandra Verhoogen, MA, Skyline College Margaret Brown, MA, Me.D., Butte College Mane Bumgarner, MA, Gavilan College 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW METHOD DEFINED 1 IMPORTANCE OF METHOD 2 PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS 3 TERMINOLOGY 4 STEPS TO METHOD 6 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 8 RESPONSE MODEL 10 RESEARCH OVERVIEW 11 CHAPTER TWO: PLANNING FOR IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT 14 FISCAL REQUIREMENTS 14 TRAINING OF FACULTY LEADERS 14 REASSIGNED TIME FOR COORDINATORS 14 COMPENSATION FOR FACULTY PARTICIPANTS 15 CLERICAL SUPPORT 15 PURCHASE OF TEXTBOOKS 16 PROVISION OF REFRESHMENTS 16 SOURCES OF FUNDING 16 BUDGET BREAKDOWN FOR SAMPLE COLLEGE 18 CRITICAL FACTORS TO ENSURE PROGRAM SUCCESS 19 SELECTING A LEADER/TRAINER 21 TRAINING THE LEADER/TRAINER 22 RESPONSIBILITIES AND SUGGESTED TIMELINE FOR PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 24 RECRUITMENT OF FACULTY TO BE TRAINED 26 IDEAL MIX AND LENGTH OF TRAINING 29 CHAPTER THREE: THE TRAINING SESSIONS PLANNING THE FIRST TRAINING SESSION 32 CONTENT FOR INCLUSION IN TRAINING SESSION ONE 33 FOLLOW UP WORKSHOPS 37 ENCOURAGING TEACHER PARTICIPATION ONCE RECRUITED 39 RESPONDING TO PROBLEMATIC FEEDBACK 41 CHAPTER FOUR: ADDENDUM USE OF CROSS/ANGELO HANDBOOK 45 USE OF INFO-NET 46 SAMPLE FACULTY LEADER CONTRACT 4' SAMPLE PARTICIPANT CONTRACT 48 SAMPLE AGENDA FOR FIRST TRAINING SESSION 49 HANDOUTS TO BE INCLUDED 50 SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS FROM THE DISCIPLINES 151 CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS IN CALIFORNIA 176 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 MANUAL ORDER FORM 249 CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW METHOD DEFINED IMPORTANCE OF METHOD PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS TERMINOLOGY STEPS TO METHOD HISTORICAL BACKGROUND RESPONSE TO MODEL RESEARCH OVERVIEW METHOD DEFINED The Classroom Assessment method is a new paradigm which changes the classroom experience for both teachers and students. By using this method, the traditional "instructor in front of the class" lecture process changes to a dynamic partnership where both orties direct the pathway to knowledge acquisition. Classroom assessment cons;sts of small-scale assessments conducted continuously (and anonymously) in college classrooms by discipline based teachers to determine what students are learning in that class (Cross, 1989). The primary purpose of classroom assessment is to improve learning directly, by providing teachers with the kind of feedback they need to make informed instructional decisions (Angelo, 1991). Initially, faculty are prone to confuse Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) with the tests and quizzes they use to evaluate student learning. Unlike tests and quizzes, however, CATs are ungraded and anonymous. The purpose of doing CATs is to quickly assess learning in order to adjust instruction, not to evaluate achievement. Classroom Assessment Techniques are to be used between the teaching and testing moment (Angelo, 1991). These CATs focus on developing instructor awareness by providing a fresh view of what happens in the classroom. They offer faculty the opportunity to discover not just whether students are learning, or what they are learning, but how they learn and how well they learn in response to how we teach, and they give faculty the opportunity to find these things out in time to help students immediately (Kort, 1991). If teaching and testing are thought of as two legs of an instructional "tripod", then Classroom Assessment is the third leg and is used to provide stability to support learning. Developed and disseminated by Drs. K. Patricia Cross and Thomas A. Angelo, the Cross/Angelo Classroom Assessment Model has been embraced by instructors throughout the country. It makes instructors feel better anci more successful about teaching, and makes students feel better and more successful about, learning. 1 IMPORTANCE OF METHOD The thoughtful, active and creative process of Classroom Assessment contributes to the professionalism of teaching. "It provides the knowledge, understanding, and insights that will sensitize teachers to the struggles of students to learn" (Cross, 1990). "Despite the fact that all good teachers elicit feedback and use the responses informally, very few do so systematically and regularly enough to use that feedback to help students improve the quality of their learning" (Cross). First, in informal data gathering, only a brave few may be willing to give an instructor feedback. Shy students, those whose culture teaches that questioning authority is undesirable or those students whose mastery of the spoken language is limited, would be hesitant to give oral or public feedback. Second, "many community college faculty, who are well-trained experts in their fields of study, have little or no formal training or experience in systematically studying student learning" (Angelo, 1991). "What keeps many (instructors) from being more effective teachers is not a lack of wanting but of not knowing quite how to do it" (Katz, 1987). This statement is also true of students, who often want very much to learn, but don't know quite how. "Classroom Assessment is an effective assessment model because it occurs as close as possible to the scene of action in teaching and learning (the classroom) and provides diagnostic feedback to both teachers and students -to teachers on how they can improve their teaching, to students on how they can improve their learning" (Cross, 1988). In addition to facilitating a student's academic success in an individual course, the California Community College Consortium learned that using Classroom Assessment Techniques helped to save students who normally would not have succeecied in staying in school. Social, economic and personal problems which were identified by students as standing in the way of their learning could be recognized early on and instructors could then assist in problem solving by directing students to appropriate campus services. Dr. Jon Kangas (1993) at Evergreen Community College District in California has developed a program of early warning matriculation using Classroom Assessment Techniques. 2 PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS Shared Locus of Control In this new teaching methodology, the control of the class, or the flow of the material presented, shifts from "teacher centered" to "student influenced." A dynamic partnership is created in which the teacher and student interact for their mutual benefit. Instructors need for students to master the material, the students need to have the material presented in a form that is "user friendly." Partnership in the Classroom No longer is the model "I taught it, you learn it." The Cross/Angelo model shifts the paradigm to "You help me teach it and I'll help you learn it." Teaching Without Learning is Just Talking Faculty are introduced to the notion that there are two distinct yet interwoven components of instruction--The instructor's job which includes preparation and delivery of material, and the student's job which includes the ability to learn this material. ClaSsroom Assessment allows the instructor to identify any impediments to a students learning, and to work with the student, help properly place the student or refer the student to appropriate outside assistance. Cross uses the analogy of retailing to discuss teaching, where a product is available for purchase and successful if sold. She states that if teaching is offered but learning does not take piece, that we must consider the product as having gone unsold, and the retailing to have failed. Classroom Assessment helps prevent "unsold" teaching. Everyone Participates As access to higher education becomes more and more available to non-traditional and new majority students, new types of faces appear in our classrooms. Some may not have the comfort level or confidence of traditional students to speak up and ask questions or contribute in class. Patricia Cross is quoted as to have said that in these times of open door enrollment, we must change our focus from "Educe tion for All" to "Education for Each." The anonymous classroom feedback paradigm allows for each student's contribution. The California Consortium Group has found that students often come to us who have the absolute desire to succeed, but don't know how to be a successful college student. The model, which allows instructors to assess where each person in the class "is," allows us to teach students not only the discipline specific material, but assist them with how they can be helped to learn the material. 3 7 TERMINOLOGY Clarification of common terminology in the Classroom Assessment field and in this document. Classroom Assessment The process of using informal in which data feedback techniques is systematically gathered from students frequently and anonymously about their understanding of course content and reactions to instruction. Classroom Assessment could also include questiort about student attitudes and background which may contribute to or impede their learning. CATs This abbreviation or acronym stands for "Classroom Assessment Techniques" or the actual small, continuous and anonymous assessment exercises done in the classroom. Summative Assessment Often times called testing, summative assessment is usually done at the time instruction is completed or for purposes of grading. Summative assessment outcome is in the form of grades is unchangeable. Formative Assessment Formative assessment is done while there is still time to change the outcome. When instructors use formative assessment prior to testing, there is still time for instructors to alter instruction to ensure that learning occurs. It "shapes" or "forms" learning while it is in progress. Formative assessment is an aid to students. Classroom Research Classroom Research is used to increase the teacher's understanding of the learning process. It differs from Classroom Assessment in that it usually tests a hypothesis or addressed a question - -often one that arises from a Classroom Assessment. It capitalizes on teacher's knowledge of their disciplines and their students and does not require the knowledge of formal research design or statistical methods. Classroom The place where an instructor meets and works with students and does assessments, could be a classroom, clinical area or field placement. 4 3 Feedback The data gathered from students as a result of the assessment which is turned into helpful information for the instructor. Retention In this study, those students who receive any grade (A, B, C, D, F, I or CAC) on the final grading report are considered to be retained. This does not include those who dropped the course with a "W." This number is then compared to the number of students enrolled in the class at first census. The percentage generated between the number of students receiving grades and those enrolled at first census is called retention. California Consortium Group The term used to describe the participants in the project who compiled this manual and conducted a large institutional research study on the effectiveness of the Cross/Angelo model. Leaders are listed on cover of document. 5 9 STEPS TO METHOD The classroom assessment process contains four major steps, which can be followed in various sequences. Typically, the steps include TEACH, ASSESS, RESPOND and ADJUST. The instructor begins the process by teaching a particular lesson, then assessing student understanding by asking students for feedback on that lesson using a quick and easy technique. For example, the instructor may ask the students to indicate which point of the lecture was least clear ("muddiest"). The students respond anonymously on paper or 3x5 cards. The instructor collects the feedback, compiles the data and then responds to the feedback in the classroom. The collected data is analyzed by the instructor to provide him or her with meaningful information about his or her teaching. Ideally, the response should occur quickly. The feedback could be compiled during a break in the class and then responded to after the break. Or, the instructor may choose to spend more time reviewing the feedback and respond at the next class session. As a result of the feedback, the instructor may find that 60% of the class still needs clarification of one point. S/He may then reteach that point immediately, using a different teaching technique. The instructor's response could also include an invitation to students to seek help during office hours or suggestions of additional helpful reading materials. In addition, s/he may ask the class for direction on how the topic should be taught in the future so that it will be less confusing. The instructor thus adjusts his or her teaching techniques so that s/he becomes a more effective teacher. When the locus of control changes from the instructor to the student, the students give the instructor guidance on how to improve teaching. Students asked to solve class problems do so readily. Instructors are always astounded by how seriously students take questions about teaching and by the excellent suggestions students offer. Students will present expert advice on how they need to be taught if the instructor will simply ask. The same sequence of TEACH, ASSESS, RESPOND, and ADJUST can also be used to help students develop better learning strategies. The instructor can start by delivering a lecture, then ask students to work in groups and list all the important concepts from that lecture (focused listing). The instructor then collects the lists, quickly compiles the data and responds. The instructor is able to respond to the feedback on three different levels. First, the instructor responds to the content of the lists. For example, if most students remembered five points but missed two additional points, the instructor can reinforce the importance of the two points. Second, s/he could develop a new teaching strategy, such as an overhead or hands-on demonstration, which would address different learning styles, to enumerate the seven points. Third, s/he can indicate to students how the focused listing can be used as a study technique throughout the course. Based on the knowledge that the two missed 6 10