Advancing Teaching and Learning Conference

Spend less time grading
& more time engaging
INCORPORATE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (AND ACTIVE LEARNING)
INTO ANY COURSE.

LISA DU BOIS LOW
 Background:
 Marketing, Strategic Communications (25 Years)
 Industries:
 Higher Education
 High Tech Manufacturing
 Inorganic Chemicals
 Licensed Apparel
 Small Business (Chemical Manufacturing)
 Education
 BA Marketing, Finance Minor
 MBA

ASSISTANT.
PROFESSOR OF
PRACTICE IN
PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Third Year
 Graduate and
Undergraduate Courses,
Social and Digital Media for
the College of Media &
Communication
 Expertise and focus on
social media use.
 No prior formal
teaching/curriculum
development experience.

Disclaimers
I found my calling in teaching hybrid and online courses. (I’m
a bit of a nerd).
Not all methods demonstrated today will be scalable or fully
accessible for all students. I have noted accessibility
resources.
If you’d like a copy of my Presentation, text @ttutlp to 81010
P.S. Remind.com is a FREE and EASY way to engage with
students via their favorite device. You can easily send
reminders, pre-class activities or extra credit opportunities
to open class with.

Teaching is Hard
Hello,
I just wanted to tell you I will not be in class today
because of an exam tomorrow. This test has a lot of
information and I do not feel prepared for it at all,
even after a whole week of studying. I need to
continue to study continually to try and learn the
information to give myself the best chance I can.
If you could please email me an update about
information or assignments I missed in class today I
would be extremely grateful.
Best Regards,
Students Everywhere

Professional Development (and Moral Support)

I started with
two questions:
How can instructors improve student
motivation and confidence in the
classroom?
How can we teach and connect with
today’s college student more
effectively?

What we process,
we learn.
“Lecturing for 50 minutes and then
expecting students to make sense of
it on their own doesn’t work for all
but the highest performers.”
Dr. Peter Doolittle, Educational
Psychology

Behavioral Economics
I am not “dumbing down” my curriculum.
My goal is to make it easy for students to access my
curriculum and connect to their natural learning abilities and
tendencies.
By removing barriers, my curriculum seems easier which
builds student confidence.

Where do we
start?
Formative
Assessment
Summative
Assessment

Definitions
Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods
that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of
student comprehension, learning needs, and academic
progress during a lesson, unit, or course.
Summative assessments are used to evaluate student
learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the
conclusion of a defined instructional period—typically at the
end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school
year.

Why Won’t
Students
Respond To
Discussion
Prompts?
Fear
Boredom
Apathy

What about
introverted
“thinkers?”

Inspire with
Padlet
Free
Easy to use for face-to-face and online
learning.

Padlet
Why It Works
Opens the door for Thinkers & Introverts
Easier than paper.
Gradeable

How many of you …
1. Have never heard of formative
assessment techniques?
2. Know what formative
assessment techniques are,
but don’t use them currently.
3. Use formative assessments in
their curriculum.

Why This Works
1. Easy to use.
2. “Confidential”
3. Can be used for everything
from complex concepts to
“agree/disagree” straw polls.
4. Real-time formative
assessment/redirect
opportunities.

Declarative vs. Procedural
Knowing what is very different than knowing how or when.
When we understand the difference, it makes sense to
“think backwards”
1. Identify the prior knowledge you expect students to
have.
2. Use Backwards Design: Ask yourself, “what do students
need to know to be able to _____________
(successfully complete an assessment, meet a learning
objective, etc.)”
3. Use formative tools to assess declarative knowledge.
4. Use games and activities to assess procedural
knowledge.
Knowing
What
Knowing
How
Knowing
When

Get Active
ACTIVE LEARNING ENABLES LEARNERS TO DEEPEN
THEIR PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE.

Kahoot!
Kahoot! is a game-based platform that
makes material fun.
Free and simple to use!
So. Many. Options.
Kahoot.it
Speed & Accuracy Count

Why This Works
It’s fun and competitive.
Students use the devices they love so
much.
Low-risk, no-shame redirection.
You can turn off music.
Everything from math problems to
chemical equations to SWOT analysis.
No grading! You can download results
if needed.

#WHW
STUDENT-LED
BAKED-IN ENGAGEMENT
GRADED ON THE SPOT
INSTEAD OF LECTURING
ABOUT PR CRISES, I
ELABORATE, EMPHASIZE AND
REDIRECT.

Why This Works
#WHW
GET IT?
HELPS STUDENTS SHIFT FROM
“CONSUMERS” OF COURSE
CONTENT TO “CONTRIBUTORS”
STUDENTS LEARN THE
MATERIAL AND HOW TO
ENGAGE AUDIENCES.

During Prep to You Ever …
1. Dread grading assessments?
2. Ask yourself WHY you create assessments
at all?!!!
3. Cuss.
While grading my students’ latest projects I
have decided four things could be possible:
1) I am in an alternate universe where
everyone does the opposite of what I say,
2) Students in my classes were replaced by
aliens during some sort of abduction,
3) I have been speaking a foreign language
all semester, or
4) I am completely ineffective as a teacher
and need to consider a new career where
I am not responsible for educating our
future leaders.
I will now go curl up in the fetal position
and sob uncontrollably.

Benefits
Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts
that students are struggling to understand, skills they are
having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they
have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made
to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic
support.
Helped me be a better teacher. I went from early student
evaluations in the low-mid 3s to high 4s and 5s!
Alleviated stress and made teaching fun!
Students learn!

Advancing Teaching and Learning Conference

Where do we
start?
Textbook
Curriculum Map

Working backwards …
What key terms, concepts, etc. do students need to learn?
Create formative reading quizzes in Blackboard (machine graded or hybrid).
◦ Learn Blackboard
◦ Use Test Pools!

Formative Reading Quizzes
Due each week.
Grading for three
courses, 104
students takes
approximately one
hour.
Analysis guides
classroom lecture
and face to face
formative
assessments.
SLO/CLO
Curriculum
Map
Quiz
Questions
Lecture
Prep

Meet my friend
Lynda
Free via Texas Tech University Libraries
Fully Blackboard Integrated
Declarative Learning
No grading necessary!

I started with
two questions:
How can instructors improve
student motivation and
confidence in the classroom?
How can we teach and connect
with today’s college student more
effectively?

Let’s Connect!
LISA.LOW@TTU.EDU | @LDLOW

Advancing Teaching and Learning Conference

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