Developing Course Assessments

Introduction

The work of a nurse educator does not end after teaching materials have been designed, developed, and delivered to students. In any learning environment, it is necessary to evaluate the impact of those teaching materials on student learning. Assessment is the process of gathering data in order to evaluate and make decisions regarding student learning.

There are many approaches to measuring student acquisition of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. A successful nurse educator will rely on the full breadth of evidence-based assessment theories and strategies to design an assessment implementation plan that is most appropriate for their setting. After designing an assessment tool, nurse educators must construct it using best practices to support reliability, validity, and fairness. Once designed and implemented, data gathered by the assessment must be analyzed using rigorous methods to evaluate student performance. Finally, the results of this analysis must be used to continually improve both the assessment tool and the teaching materials.
Scenario

You are the lead faculty in the Community Health Nursing Course for a prelicensure baccalaureate nursing (BSN) program. Your students represent varied experience, age groups, and cultures reflective of their diverse community population.

The director of the nursing program has charged you with developing an eight-week course titled, “The Role of the BSN Nurse in Promoting Community Health.” The class meets for two hours weekly. The typical class size for the course is 40 students. In C919, you created a course outline that listed eight weekly course module topics. In C920, you created three of the eight weekly course modules, including course objectives, student learning outcomes, and learning resources and activities.

In this task, you will develop a different assessment for each of the three course modules you created in C920. For the first module you created, you will develop a formative assessment intended to measure student progress and identify potential areas for improvement as the student progresses through the module.

For each of the second and third modules, you will develop a summative assessment intended to measure student learning after they have completed the module. One of these summative assessments must be performance-based assessment to measure students’ ability to apply skills or knowledge by creating a product or completing a process. The other summative assessment must be an objective assessment consisting of 10 items.
Requirements

Your submission must be your original work. No more than a combined total of 30% of the submission and no more than a 10% match to any one individual source can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. An originality report is provided when you submit your task that can be used as a guide.

You must use the rubric to direct the creation of your submission because it provides detailed criteria that will be used to evaluate your work. Each requirement below may be evaluated by more than one rubric aspect. The rubric aspect titles may contain hyperlinks to relevant portions of the course.

NOTE: Prompts A through D include the steps to create an assessment for the “Role of the BSN Nurse in Promoting Community Health” course. You must complete each of these prompts three times to create three unique assessments: (1) one formative assessment, (2) one summative, performance-based assessment, and (3) one summative objective assessment. Each assessment must be based on the three modules that you developed in your C919 and C920 assessments: one assessment per module. Please note that certain prompts apply to only certain assessments where explicitly stated.

A. Design an assessment blueprint for each of the three assessments by doing the following:
1. Develop an overview for each assessment, including the type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment.
2. Include the module title, three course objectives, and two student learning outcomes (developed in your C920 assessment) for each assessment blueprint.
a. Describe how each assessment activity aligns with each course objective and student learning outcome in the module.
3. Identify the cognitive level that will be measured by each assessment activity for each assessment.
4. Identify the allowable assessment item types for each assessment.
5. Identify the total number of items for each assessment, if applicable. If numerous items are not applicable, explain why.

B. Develop the student-facing assessment materials for each of the three assessments by doing the following:
1. Include the instructions for each assessment.
2. Develop a formative assessment activity to align with your formative assessment blueprint from part A.
a. Develop the feedback and goal setting language to correspond with different levels of student performance on the formative assessment.
3. Develop an authentic summative performance-based assessment task to align with your summative performance-based assessment blueprint from Prompt A.
a. Develop a rubric to evaluate and assign scores to student submissions for the summative performance-based assessment.
4. Develop ten assessment items to align with your summative objective assessment blueprint from part A. Be sure to include at least two items of different item types.
a. Include an answer key for all ten items.

C. Develop an implementation and evaluation plan for each of the three assessments by doing the following:
1. Describe the step-by-step procedures for administering each assessment, including each of the following:
• who will administer it
• when it will occur during the learning module
• duration of the assessment, and
• what resources will be required.
2. Describe how assessment results will be communicated to students for each assessment.
a. Describe the pass/fail criteria for each assessment, if applicable. If not applicable, explain why.
3. Describe the analytical methods and item- and test-level statistics you will use to evaluate assessment performance for each assessment. If not applicable, explain why.
a. Develop a specific plan of action to improve each assessment based on assessment results.
4. Describe the procedures that will ensure test security for each assessment. If not applicable, explain why.

D. Use the information in the three assessments you developed to complete the following:

Note: A formal narrative paper in APA format will be submitted that includes parts D1 through D5.

1. Describe an assessment theory, concept, or principle that guided your design choices for each assessment.
2. Describe a potential barrier to implementing each assessment in the online environment and how your assessment design choices will minimize its impact.
3. Discuss the importance of authenticity in designing a performance-based assessment task.
4. Discuss potential contributing factors and ways to address each of the following objective assessment outcomes:
• low test-level reliability
• low item discrimination
• low pass rates
5. Discuss how the results of a performance-based assessment and objective assessment can be used to improve teaching strategies and student learning.

E. Submit your formal narrative paper in APA style, including, but not limited to, title page, headers, in-text citations, and references.

F. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
File Restrictions
File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! – _ . * ‘ ( )
File size limit: 200 MB
File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z
Rubric

A1:ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW

Not Evident
Assessment overviews are not provided for all 3 assessments.

Approaching Competence
One or 2 assessment overviews are provided, or 1 or more of the 3 provided assessment overviews do not indicate the type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment.

Competent
Each assessment overview indicates the type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment.
A2:MODULE TITLES, COURSE OBJECTIVES, AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Not Evident
Module titles, course objectives, and student learning outcomes are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The module title, 3 course objectives, or 2 student learning outcomes are not included on 1 or more of the assessment blueprints.

Competent
The module title, 3 course objectives, and 2 student learning outcomes are included on each of the 3 assessment blueprints.
A2A:ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY ALIGNMENT

Not Evident
Descriptions of assessment activity alignment to course objectives and student learning outcomes are not provided.

Approaching Competence
A description is not provided on each assessment blueprint, or 1 or more of the descriptions do not articulate how the assessment activity aligns with each course objective and student learning outcome, or the description of alignment is not reasonable or accurate.

Competent
A description is provided on each of the 3 assessment blueprints. Each description articulates how the assessment activity aligns with each course objective and student learning outcome. Each description of alignment is reasonable and accurate.
A3:COGNITIVE LEVEL

Not Evident
Cognitive levels are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The cognitive levels measured by the assessment are not identified on each assessment blueprint, or are inconsistent with Bloom’s taxonomy, or do not reasonably align to the course objectives of the given module.

Competent
The cognitive levels measured by the assessment are identified on each of the 3 assessment blueprints, are consistent with Bloom’s taxonomy, and reasonably align to the course objectives of the given module.
A4:ITEM TYPES

Not Evident
Allowable assessment item types are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The allowable assessment item types are not identified on each of the 3 assessment blueprints.

Competent
The allowable assessment item types are identified on each of the 3 assessment blueprints.
A5:NUMBER OF ITEMS

Not Evident
The number of assessment items per assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The number of items on the assessment is not identified on each of the 3 assessment blueprints, or the number of items is insufficient to measure the intended student learning outcomes. If the assessment does not require numerous items, the explanation for why is illogical or inaccurate.

Competent
The number of items on the assessment is identified on each of the 3 assessment blueprints. The number of items identified is reasonably sufficient to measure the intended student learning outcomes. If the assessment does not require numerous items, the explanation why is logical and accurate.
B1:ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Not Evident
Assessment instructions are not provided.

Approaching Competence
Assessment instructions are not included for each of the 3 assessments, or 1 or more of the instructions fail to provide sufficient information for the average reader to complete the assessment without further clarification.

Competent
Assessment instructions are included for each of the 3 assessments. The instructions provide enough information for the average reader to complete the assessment without further clarification.
B2:FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Not Evident
A formative assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The formative assessment is missing prompts, items, answer keys or other information necessary to administer the assessment. Or the assessment is not written clearly, does not align to the course module, or its level of rigor is too low or too high for the needs of the course module. Or the assessment activity does not provide students sufficient opportunity to display the knowledge and skills listed in the assessment blueprint. Or the assessment contains bias by creating an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.

Competent
The formative assessment includes all prompts, items, answer keys, and any other information needed to administer the assessment. The assessment is written clearly, its content aligns with the course module and its level of rigor is appropriate for the course module. The assessment activity provides students sufficient opportunity to display the knowledge and skills listed in the assessment blueprint. The assessment activity does not create an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.
B2A:FEEDBACK AND GOAL SETTING LANGUAGE

Not Evident
Feedback and goal setting language for the formative assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The feedback and goal setting language does not provide students with a clear understanding of their current state of learning, or it does not provide feedback across the full range of possible performance on the assessment. Or the feedback does not explain why a give response is correct or incorrect. Or the goal setting language does not help students understand what they should focus on based on their performance or does not prompt them to set their own goals for future learning.

Competent
The feedback and goal setting language provides students with a clear understanding of their current state of learning based on varying levels of performance on the formative assessment. The feedback explains why a given response is correct or incorrect. The goal setting language helps students understand what they should focus on and prompts them to set their own goals based on their performance.
B3:SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Not Evident
A summative performance-based assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The summative performance-based assessment is missing background, scenario, prompts, or other information necessary for students to complete the assessment. Or prompts are unclear, excessively wordy, immeasurable, or contain more than one verb per prompt. Or the assessment activity is neither an authentic recreation of an activity relevant to the role of the BSN nurse in promoting community health, nor does it require students to engage in creative thinking or self-reflection related to content learned in the course module. Or the assessment is not written clearly, does not align to the course module, or its level of rigor is too low or too high for the needs of the course module. Or the assessment activity does not provide students sufficient opportunity to display the knowledge and skills listed in the assessment blueprint. Or the assessment contains bias by creating an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.

Competent
The summative performance-based assessment includes all background, scenario, prompts, and any other information needed for students to complete the assessment. Prompts are written concisely, clearly and with a single, discrete measurable verb per prompt. The assessment either consists of an authentic recreation of an activity relevant to the role of the BSN nurse in promoting community health, or it requires students to engage in creative thinking or self-reflection related to content learned the course module. The assessment content aligns with the course module, and its level of rigor is appropriate for the course module. The assessment activity provides students sufficient opportunity to display the knowledge and skills listed in the assessment blueprint. The assessment activity does not create an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.
B3A:SUMMATIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT RUBRIC

Not Evident
A rubric for the summative performance-based assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The summative performance-based rubric descriptors are not clearly written, are excessively wordy or do not inform students exactly how their performance will be evaluated. Or the rubric does not precisely describe student performance for each assessment prompt or dimension of performance on the assessment. Or the rubric does not include a descriptor for multiple performance levels for each prompt or dimension of performance, or the number of performance levels is too few or too numerous for the performance task. Or descriptors of performance are not clearly discreet from other descriptors of higher and lower performance.

Competent
The summative performance-based rubric descriptors clearly and concisely inform students exactly how their performance will be evaluated. The rubric includes a precise description of student performance for each assessment prompt or dimension of performance on the assessment. The rubric includes a descriptor for multiple performance levels for each prompt or dimension of performance on the assessment. The number of performance levels is appropriate for the performance task, and each descriptor of performance level is discrete from descriptors of higher and lower performance.
B4:SUMMATIVE OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT

Not Evident
A summative objective assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
Fewer than 10 assessment items are provided, or 1 or more of the 10 assessment items are written with language that is unclear, excessively wordy. Or 1 or more of the 10 items are inadequate to measure student mastery of course outcomes and student learning outcomes on the summative objective assessment blueprint. Or 1 or more of the 10 item stems are written with negative wording or do not ask a single, discrete question. Or 1 or more of the answer options within 1 or more items are grammatically inconsistent or are implausible answers to the stem. Or 1 or more of the items have more than 1 correct answer option when only 1 correct answer option is intended. Or 1 or more of the 10 items contain bias by creating an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.

Competent
Each of the 10 assessment items is clearly and concisely written to measure mastery of the course outcomes and student learning objectives on the summative objective assessment blueprint. There are at least 2 items of different item types. Each item stem is written with positive wording and asks a single, discrete question. Answer options within each item are grammatically consistent and each can plausibly answer the question. There is only 1 correct answer option, unless otherwise stated in the item. None of the assessment items create an advantage to students based on personal characteristics.
B4A:SUMMATIVE OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT ANSWER KEY

Not Evident
An answer key for the summative objective assessment is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The answer key does not clearly indicate the correct answer for each of the 10 assessment items.

Competent
The answer key clearly indicates the correct answer for each of the 10 items on the assessment.
C1:ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES

Not Evident
Administration procedures are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The description does not include each of the listed details for each assessment. The description is vague, confusing, or otherwise does not convey all of the information a teacher would need to administer the assessment.

Competent
The description includes each of the listed details for each assessment. The description contains all of the information needed to reasonably expect a teacher to be able to administer the assessment without further information, resources, or clarification.
C2:ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Not Evident
Descriptions of how assessment results will be communicated to students are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The description does not articulate the procedures for delivering assessment results to students for each assessment. Or the description for any assessment is vague or inappropriate for the given type of assessment or does not ensure results are delivered clearly and constructively.

Competent
The description articulates the procedures for delivering assessment results to students for each assessment. Each procedure is appropriate for the given type of assessment. The description ensures that assessment results are delivered clearly and constructively.
C2A:PASS/FAIL CRITERIA

Not Evident
Pass/fail criteria are not provided.

Approaching Competence
The description does not articulate pass/fail criteria for each assessment, or the pass/fail criteria are determined via a subjective process, or the description does not logically or accurately explain why a given assessment does not require pass/fail criteria.

Competent
The description articulates the pass/fail criteria for each assessment. The pass/fail criteria are determined using a systematic and empirical approach. If an assessment does not require pass/fail criteria, the explanation of why is logical and accurate.
C3:ANALYTICAL METHODS

Not Evident
Analytical methods to evaluate assessment performance are not provided.

Approaching Competence
A description is not included for each assessment, or if a description is not included, the explanation why is illogical or inaccurate. Or the description does not accurately describe the methods for measuring and evaluating difficulty, reliability, and item discrimination for each applicable assessment.

Competent
The description includes specific and accurate methods for measuring and evaluating difficulty, reliability, and item discrimination for each assessment. If an assessment does not require analytical or statistical analysis, the explanation why is logical and accurate.
C3A:ASSESSMENT IMPROVEMENT

Not Evident
Assessment improvement plans of action are not provided.

Approaching Competence
Assessment improvement plans are not provided for each assessment, or 1 or more of the assessment improvement plans do not provide specific short- and long-term procedures for making improvements to assessment based on varying levels of results, or are not rigorous, reasonable or appropriate for the assessment.

Competent
The assessment improvement plans for each assessment include specific short- and long-term procedures for making improvements to the assessment based on varying levels of results. The plans are rigorous, reasonable, and appropriate for the assessment.
C4:TEST SECURITY PROCEDURES

Not Evident
Test security procedures are not provided.

Approaching Competence
A description is not included for each assessment, or if a description is not included, the explanation why is illogical or inaccurate. Or the descriptions do not include specific measures that will be taken to prevent, detect, and respond to test security breaches, or the measures are not rigorous, reasonable, or appropriate for the assessment.

Competent
The description includes specific measures that will be taken to prevent, detect, and respond to test security breaches for each assessment. The measures are rigorous, reasonable, and appropriate for the assessment. If test security is not applicable for an assessment, the explanation why is logical and accurate.
D1:ASSESSMENT THEORY, CONCEPT, OR PRINCIPLE

Not Evident
An assessment theory, concept or principle that guided design choices is not provided.

Approaching Competence
A description is not included for each assessment, or 1 or more of the descriptions are inaccurate or do not describe the theory, concept, or principle in context of the specific assessment design choices.

Competent
The description accurately summarizes an assessment theory, concept, or principle in the context of specific design choices for each assessment.
D2:POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION BARRIERS

Not Evident
A potential implementation barrier is not provided.

Approaching Competence
A description is not included for each assessment, or 1 or more of the descriptions inaccurately presents ways the online environment hinders implementation of the assessment, or does not make a reasonable case for why specific design choices will aid in implementing the assessment in the online environment.

Competent
The description accurately presents ways the online environment could hinder implementation of each assessment and makes a reasonable case for why specific design choices will aid in implementing each assessment in the online environment.
D3:IMPORTANCE OF AUTHENTICITY

Not Evident
A discussion of the importance of authenticity is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The discussion does not distinguish between performance tasks that are authentic and those that are inauthentic, or the discussion does not describe known benefits of authenticity. Or the discussion is illogical or not persuasive.

Competent
The discussion conveys a clear understanding of the benefits of authenticity in performance tasks by drawing comparisons to performance tasks that are inauthentic and listing known benefits of authenticity. The discussion is logical and persuasive.
D4:OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OUTCOMES

Not Evident
A discussion of potential contributing factors and ways to address objective assessment outcomes is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The discussion does not address each of the listed objective assessment outcomes, or the discussion contains inaccurate or incomplete information about 1 or more of the outcomes. Or the discussion does not include specific actions to improve each of the listed outcomes, or the actions are either unreasonable or unsupported by theory or evidence.

Competent
The discussion conveys an accurate understanding of the causes of each objective assessment outcome listed. The discussion includes specific actions to improve each listed outcome that are reasonable and well-supported by theory or evidence.
D5:USING ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Not Evident
An explanation of how assessment results can be used to improve student learning is not provided.

Approaching Competence
The discussion does not adequately describe the feedback process between assessment results and teaching strategies to improve student learning. The discussion is illogical or inaccurate.

Competent
The discussion conveys a clear understanding of how results of the assessment process can improve teaching strategies and student learning. The discussion is logical and accurate.
E:APA

Not Evident
The submission is not in APA style.

Approaching Competence
The submission does not demonstrate a consistent application of APA style.

Competent
The submission demonstrates a consistent application of APA style.
F:PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Not Evident
Content is unstructured, is disjointed, or contains pervasive errors in mechanics, usage, or grammar. Vocabulary or tone is unprofessional or distracts from the topic.

Approaching Competence
Content is poorly organized, is difficult to follow, or contains errors in mechanics, usage, or grammar that cause confusion. Terminology is misused or ineffective.

Competent
Content reflects attention to detail, is organized, and focuses on the main ideas as prescribed in the task or chosen by the candidate. Terminology is pertinent, is used correctly, and effectively conveys the intended meaning. Mechanics, usage, and grammar promote accurate interpretation and understanding.