CNDLS offers a range of classroom and program assessment services to Georgetown faculty, graduate students, and administrators. These include designing and gathering customized mid- or end-of-semester student feedback, designing and implementing student focus groups, providing statistical support and analysis, and advising on assessment portions of grants.
Our services typically begin with a consultation and discussion about learning goals and the development of questions for investigation, resulting in a recommended assessment plan, data gathering and analysis, and discussion about how to incorporate findings from the data into teaching practice and curricular designs.
We also provide support for classroom research, such as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and technology-enhanced learning, and administer small grants for assessment activity, currently through the Closing the Loop and Student Writing Study programs.
Classroom assessments are short, ungraded ways to check student comprehension and gain feedback on the effectiveness of your classroom teaching techniques. For instance, when you ask students in a large lecture to give a show of hands in response to a multiple-choice question, you are conducting a simple classroom assessment on their current understanding of the concept you are about to address. Similarly, designing a short survey and sending it to students halfway through the semester to gauge their attitudes toward the textbook or other materials is another form of classroom assessment.
Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross made popular the term "Classroom Assessment Techniques" (CATs) with their Handbook for College Teachers in 1993, available for check-out from the CNDLS library in 314 Car Barn. CNDLS offers assistance with a few of the more time-intensive techniques, such as videotaped think-alouds and mid-semester teaching feedback sessions. However, there are many simple techniques that faculty members can implement in a single class session.
To set up a consultation, please email cndls@georgetown.edu and one of our staff members will be in touch with you.