Assessment / Evaluation of Student Learning in Service-Learning

Having already established the learning goals and objectives for the SL component of the course it is now time to develop appropriate ways in which to evaluate or assess student performance grade. Although traditional means may be used to evaluate the student’s performance on the learning objectives tied to the SL project, a more appropriate technique to use is Performance Based Assessment (PBA). In PBA, the student completes or demonstrates the same behavior that the assessor desires to measure. For example, if the behavior to be measured is writing, the student writes. Integrating students learning assessments and Service-Learning helps the students to:
§ See the connection between service activities and essential academic learning.
§ Understand the learning expectations before, during and after the service projects.
§ Achieve higher and/or non-cognitive levels of performance (e.g., affective).
§ More effectively assess themselves, peers and teachers.
§ Promotes and enhances student self-assessment abilities.
It helps educators to:
§ Provide greater academic value for service activities.
§ Focus curriculum and instructional design decisions toward quality student performance criteria.
§ Establish a pre-determined framework for assessing student learning before, during and after instruction.
It enables parents and community to:
§ More meaningfully assess individual student's abilities.

When assessing via PBA, the student completes or demonstrates the desired behavior in a real-life context in order to satisfy the learning objectives. For example, if students are taking a course on warehouse management, an authentic assessment could first consist of having them design and implement an accounting system for the local food bank to keep track of the foods brought in and dispensed to the poor, and so forth. The instructor and students could develop a set of criteria to ensure that the accounting system was one that was needed by the food bank. The food bank staff could also report back as to the quality of the new system once they have used it for a time to strengthen the authenticity of the project completed by the students.

So when assessing students via PBA (authentic assessment), be sure that the assessment:
§ Is task oriented
§ Is observable
§ Requires higher order thinking
§ Based on real-world tasks
§ Adequately covers the content taught
§ Needs interdisciplinary skills
§ Is meaningful to students
§ Is appropriate for all students

Tomorrow I will present the means by which to evaluate a SL course. If, at any time I am unclear or need more information, do not hesitate to e-mail me at mlalopa@fooded.org.