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13 - Assessing for Deep Understanding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Sharon M. Carver
Edited by
R. Keith Sawyer
Sharon M. Carver
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University
R. Keith Sawyer
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
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Summary

Imagine that at the end of this chapter I have written some well-crafted comprehension questions related to the chapter's key content and that you are highly motivated to answer them to the best of your ability. Will your answers provide a good assessment of your understanding of the topic? How well will I understand what you have learned from reading, based on reviewing your answers? What might you, and I, be missing?

In part, the answers to these questions depend on the goals I have for your learning and for my assessment of your progress. To the extent that my goal is only for you to be able to restate my key points soon after reading the chapter, then the assessment may fit, assuming that you understand the questions and have the communication skills to formulate answers. By contrast, since my goal is really for you to be able to use the assessment principles that you glean from these pages to strengthen your own research designs and, thereby, gain a deeper understanding of the learning you are studying, then your answers to the comprehension questions likely have little to do with your ability to apply the principles effectively (although perhaps the comprehension is a prerequisite).

This reflection begins to highlight the challenge of assessment in the learning sciences where the goal is for students to acquire deep understanding, the kind of knowledge experts use to accomplish meaningful tasks.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences , pp. 205 - 222
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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