Unit 2
P/F Writing Assignment
- Select the unit(s) or chapter(s) for your test construction
project. (Remember that it has to be for Grade 5 or above.) You are free
to change it later if you find a better one. You
will need to turn in a xeroxed copy of the chapter/unit at the end of the
semester.
- Write one specific learning outcome for your chapter for each
of the six levels
of the Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives. This requires that you
distinguish the meaning of the six levels and understand that
specific learning outcomes require an action verb. They represent
some
observable behavior that you can evaluate (see especially pp. 66-68 of
your textbook). Note: This can be
difficult,
so just do your best. We will go over them in class. You will need to
identify a set of these objectives for your project later in the semester.
These 6 will probably constitute just a sample of your eventual project's
total set of
learning outcomes.
Assistance: It might help to point out that the difference
between the 6 Bloom
levels is the complexity level of the mental processes they
require. For
example,
- "knowledge/remember" just requires regurgitating facts
-
"comprehend/understand" requires that the student be able to process that
understanding to reproduce it in different words
- "apply" requires
being
able to use that knowledge/principle/etc. in a new or unfamiliar
situation
- "analyze" requires taking a complicated
whole (say,
living vs. nonliving things) and breaking
it
down into meaningful pieces or dimensions so that its nature can be better
understood
-
"evaluate" requires comparing something against an external standard of
quality (rules of scientific logic,
criteria of quality/goodness/rightness
specified by the
student) to reach a value judgment about that thing (e.g., the student
might have to justify their stand for or against abortion)
-
synthesize/create" requires producing something new--assembling pieces
into
something new that is more than the sum of its parts (an invention,
creative story, etc.)
Additional Assistance: All you need to do is list the 6
specific learning outcomes (SLOs), but make sure you label what
Bloom level they are. How specific should they be? Learning
outcomes should be NOT be as narrow as questions on the test.
Rather, they should bring to mind the sorts of questions you might
ask. They are your guides, from one marking period or year to
another, on the sorts of questions you might write to sample
learning for that objective. For example (these are for different
subjects):
- Knowledge/remember: "Select definition of key concepts (e.g.,
myosis, Punnett square)"
- Comprehend/understand: "Identify examples of different forms of
government."
- Apply: "Correct grammatical errors."
- Analyze: "Compare the major arguments for and against a
major social policy or political action
(e.g., abortion, affirmative action)"
- Evaluate: "Evaluate how well an experiment followed
the scientific method."
- Synthesize/create: "Give a short speech explaining a point of
view."