Let us recap. You have:
- administered the first test of the semester;
- used PASS to identify the students who failed or were at risk of failing;
- met with these students and, in collaboration with them built their Action Plans.
How do the students know if the strategies they put in place to improve their performance on written tests have been effective? Traditionally, the only indicator of improvement is a higher mark on a subsequent test. PASS changes that by giving us more detailed information about that mark.
In addition to generating the Student Performance Assessment Graphs (SPAG) for one test, PASS is designed to compare performance on more than one test. Some of the benefits of using comparison graphs include the following:
- Provide the student with information on areas where they showed improvement
- Identify areas that still need improvement or new areas of concern
- Allow students to measure the effectiveness of their Action Plan
Let us assume that a nursing course has two term tests and a final test. Once the second test has been administered and graded, PASS can generate two sets of SPAG - one for the current test and one for the comparison graphs. These Comparison Graphs compare the student's performance between the two tests.
Step-by-Step Procedure
Step 1 – Analyze and Interpret the SPAG: Test 2
Apply what you learned from interpreting Test 1 in Using Excel to Help your Students Excel to help you interpret the SPAG from Test 2. Don't forget to compare performance on the first half versus the second half of the test.
Step 2 – Analyze and Interpret the Comparison Graphs
Apply what you learned about interpreting the data from the SPAG to analyze and interpret the comparison graphs. The graphs will show you where the student improved, did not improve or did more poorly.
We should point out that you can make comparisons only when the variables within the categories you used in Assessing Student Performance remain the same. For example, you can make comparisons in the Content category only if the topics (variables) being tested are the same in both tests.
Step 3 – Update the Action Plan
Update the Action Plan based on the new data drawn from Steps 1 and 2. You will notice that, in the Action Plan Test 2, we have re-labelled the first column, changing it from Your Strengths to Areas Improved. This is because, once we have identified the student’s strengths, these are unlikely to change over a short period. We believe it is important to emphasize the improvements that the student has made since Test 1.
Step 4 – Meet the Student
This is an opportunity to present the new data to the student and validate your analysis. With the student’s input, agree on any modifications to the Action Plan.
Step 5 – Send the Finalized Action Plan to the Student
We recommend sending the Action Plan by email. This ensures that the student receives a written copy of the Action Plan in a timely manner.
Remarks
As teachers, we may assume that when the student implements the strategies in the Action Plan the result will be an improvement over their performance on the previous test. However, this is not always the case.
We must remember that the PASS Excel grid is a diagnostic tool. The data it produces on the student’s performance are dependent on the quality of the test and whether the labelling of the questions is accurate. If the data are faulty, the resultant Action Plan may be correspondingly flawed.
For example, let’s say a student did poorly on a set of questions mislabelled as Intervention-type questions. The Action Plan for this student will focus on improving Intervention-type questions. However, because the questions were mislabelled, the Action Plan will be flawed and will misguide the student.
There are other factors to consider when a student has implemented the Action Plan yet shows no improvement on the second test:
- The test was harder
- The questions were not compatible with the student’s expectations – for example, with regard to content or complexity
- The student’s performance was affected by physical or emotional factors before or during the test
Also, keep in mind that an overall passing mark is not the only means by which to measure a student’s success. There may be improvements in some categories and not others. In addition, some students need more than one semester to take ownership of their learning process. It is important to help students see their strengths, which gives them the confidence to also work on areas where they show weakness.
To take you step-by-step through the process, we will check in with Mina.