Reflection: What is Critical?

If you have been using an assessment (paper, test, etc.) in your course for quite some time, it may be hard to consider other ways that students could express what they know.  UDL cautions instructors to avoid conflating the form of the assessment with the learning that the assessment is supposed to measure, unless mastery of a specific type of assessment is a core learning objective in and of itself.

In this case (and in other cases, too), it can be helpful to spend time thinking about the learning objectives you have for students- that is, the specific skills and competencies that your assessment is designed to measure. What specific skills do these assessments measure? Are there skills these assignments/assessments require students to have or perform, but that are not vital or necessary to measure? Consider removing non-critical elements or providing flexibility and choice in those areas. These kind of adjustments may open up new ways for students to express what they know!

 

Choose an assignment or assessment from your own course. Spend some time identifying the specific skills you are trying to measure. Jot down which elements of your assignments/assessments may not be vital, and may, therefore, be done away with or flexed. 

 

 

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