Developing Course Assessments for measuring student learning

Section A: Formative Assessment Blueprint
Criteria	Task
TASK A
A1. Assessment overview (type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment)	Type: The first module of the course will focus on the fundamentals of community health nursing and will utilize the formative assessment method. The formative assessment uses a variety of methods used to conduct in-process evaluations of student’s learning needs, comprehension, and understanding of a given topic. The formative assessment quiz will focus on the student’s understanding of the roles of community health nurses and the aspect of the community as a patient. Purpose: The overall goal of the formative assessments is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve student learning. The assessment purpose is to make sure students understand the concept of community health nursing which will form a foundation for subsequent modules. Additionally, the assessment will help raise the educational achievements of students while reducing gaps that might hinder the understanding of content in the future. Expected Outcomes: Upon completion of the assessment, students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the community as a patient including the historical perspectives of community health nursing. Secondly, the students should be able to thoroughly explain the role of community health nurses and their practice environment.
A2. Module title (C920 material)	The Fundamentals of Community Health Nursing
Course objectives (C920 material)	Upon completion of the course, the learner should be able to: 1) Identify the unique roles of nurses in the community. 2) Develop appreciation for the impact of historical and theoretical concepts that form the foundation of community health nursing. 3) Utilize nursing knowledge to provide effective interventions while caring for populations, families and groups.
Student learning outcomes (C920 material)	Upon completion of the module, students should be able to: 1) Explain the preventive, promotive and curative roles of nurses in the community. 2) Describe the relationship between community health and public health.
A2a. Assessment Activity Alignment (i.e. align your selected assessment activity with course objective and student learning outcomes)	The assessment activity in this module will utilize a one-minute paper to test the understanding of the content. Students will describe two important roles of community health nurses, which are among the course objectives. These roles will eventually fall under the promotive, curative, or rehabilitative roles that are stressed on the student learning outcomes.
A3. Cognitive level to be measured by the formative assessment	The cognitive domain of ‘Applying’ correlates with the action verbs used in the course objectives. The Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs used include: identify, develop and utilize.With this domain, the students will be making use of the knowledge gained in class and their practical experience. They will be able to solve problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques, and rules in a different way.
A4. Item Types (i.e. multiple-choice items, fill in the blanks, etc.)	A one-minute paper will be used to assess understanding of the content and areas for improvement.
A5. Number of Items (on formative assessment)	The one-minute paper will consist of two items including one open-ended question and one closed-ended question.

Section B: Formative Assessment Instructions (Student Facing)

B1. Assessment Instructions

In today’s class, we have discussed the general concept of community health nursing, the functions of community health nurses, and the working environment for these nurses. Based on the discussion, answer the following quick questions in one minute. Please use one sentence for each response.

Write down the two most important roles of community health nurses.
How can you describe today’s lecture? A) Good B) Fair C) Excellent

B2. Formative Assessment Activity

The assessment activity will be done during the last five minutes of the lesson. The students will be asked to write down a minute response based on the objectives of the course. In their own words, the students will describe two crucial roles of community health nurses. Secondly, the assessment will gather information from the students regarding the quality of learning observed during the lesson. From the assessment, the instructor will be able to tell if the learning outcome of describing the roles of community health nurses was achieved. Response to the second question will help the instructor make necessary adjustments to keep subsequent lectures interesting to the students.

B2a. Feedback and Goal Setting Language

Providing feedback after an assessment is necessary to acknowledge the student’s strengths while addressing areas of weakness. The instructor will go through the response to the questions and gauge the understanding of students according to their scores. To respond appropriately, it is always important to start with positive feedback to motivate the students. If the question is poorly performed by the majority, the instructor can address it as a whole but if a few individuals did not perform well, a focused review should be used. The instructor must also make it clear that students need to understand the basics of community health and further understanding of the content can be strengthened using group discussions.

Section C: Formative Assessment Implementation and Evaluation Plan

C1. Assessment of Administration Procedures

The one-minute quiz will be administered by the instructor at the end of module one class and it will take exactly one minute. The required resources include paper and a pen that will be available during the test. No learning resource will be consulted during the exercise.

C2. Communication of Assessment Results

The instructor will mark the papers and ensure the results are available before the beginning of the next module. Students will have an opportunity to see their performance and a discussion will follow to clarify areas that were missed.

C2a. Pass/fail criteria

Since this is a formative assessment, there will be no grading of the response. The results will only be used to gauge understanding of the content and to improve on aspects that performed poorly.

C3. Analytical Methods

Analytical methods will not be used in this assessment because it is a single-quiz assessment. However, the instructor can identify specific answers to the question that had a problem and address them during feedback provision.

C3a. Assessment Improvement

The short term plan to improve the assessment will include discussing the response in class and perhaps meeting with individual students who performed poorly. The discussion method can also be used to improve the understanding of the content. Long-term activity for improvement will include the addition of resources for further reading.

C4. Test Security Procedures

Strict test security procedures will not be required because it is a formative assessment aimed at gauging student learning. However, students will not be allowed to consult learning material or other students during the one-minute response time.

Section A: Summative Performance Assessment Blueprint
Criteria	Task
TASK A
A1. Assessment overview (type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment)	Type: This is a summative assessment type that will utilize the case study method at the end of the module. Purpose: The purpose of the assessment is to determine if students understood the concept of population health assessment and to provide feedback. Expected Outcome: Students should be able to use learned knowledge to perform a comprehensive health assessment and identify social determinants affecting the community.
A2. Module title (C920 material)	Population Health and Disease Prevention
Course objectives (C920 material)	By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1) Take part in community assessment based on its understanding through utilization of available resources. 2) Examine the needs of a community and design projects to meet the identified needs. 3) Analyze evidence-based strategies used to care for individuals, families and populations in a variety of community health settings.
Student learning outcomes (C920 material)	By the end of the module, students should be able to: 1. Identify common communicable diseases in the community and their management. 2. Describe community needs assessment and the role of interprofessional collaboration in meeting population health concerns.
A2a. Assessment Activity Alignment (i.e. align your selected assessment activity with course objective and student learning outcomes)	The assessment activity in this module focuses on health assessment and the social determinants of health. This activity aligns with course objective 2 where students are expected to integrate evidence-based strategies to care for individuals, families and populations in a variety of community health settings. The students will implement a plan of care to address the social determinants of health that hinder the health of the individuals and communities.
A3. Cognitive level to be measured by the performance assessment	The cognitive level to be demonstrated in this assessment is ‘Analyzing’. The Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs used verbs include: analyze, take part in and examine. The students will be required to use knowledge learned to conduct a health assessment, identify social determinants of health affecting the community/individual and formulate an action plan.
A4. Item Types (i.e. multiple-choice items, fill in the blanks, etc.)	The performance-based activity in this discussion will involve a case study for the students presented online, and the students will be required to answer provided questions.
A5. Number of Items (on performance assessment)	The summative assessment will contain five questions that will be answered systematically and graded off a rubric.

Section B: Summative Performance Assessment Title (Student Facing)

B1. Assessment Instructions

Among the objectives of this module is to perform community and individual assessment based on their understanding of health. The focus of this assessment is on the social determinants of health and plan of action using community resources to address the health concerns of populations. To begin, review the course material on social determinants of health and comprehensive health assessment. The students are required to access the case study through the link provided in the course outline. The case study consists of a comprehensive health assessment conducted on a patient and the findings including data for the five social determinants of health affecting the individual. Students will analyze the assessment and answer the questions as guided by the grading rubric. The rubric for this assessment is available as an attachment to the case study. The response should be 4 to 5 pages long and each student is required to demonstrate professional communication.

B3. Summative Performance Assessment Activity

Reflect on the case study provided using the available link from the course outline. Consult the learning resources and other scholarly material concerning population health and social determinants of health. From the case study, answer the following questions and provide support using scholarly evidence.

Analyze how the level of education affects the health of the individual. Use specific examples from the assessment.
Discuss how the economic stability of the patient affects access to healthcare. Include aspects of employment and socioeconomic status.
How does health literacy affect an individual’s health? Support using a scholarly source.
Based on the case study, identify two priority social determinants of health that affect the patient.

a)Select one social determinant from above and develop a nursing plan of care for the patient.

Acknowledge sources using APA format in in-text-citations and references. Consult the grading rubric to direct creation of your submission.

B3a. Summative Performance Assessment Rubric

Criteria	Not Evident 0	Approaching Competence 1	Competent 2
1. Level of Education	An analysis is not provided.	The provided analysis demonstrates a limited understanding of how the level of education affects the health of the individual.	The provided analysis demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of how the level of education affects the health of the individual. A scholarly source is used to support the analysis.
2. Economic Stability	A discussion is not provided.	The discussion illogically interprets how the patient’s economic stability affects access to healthcare.	The discussion logically interprets how the patient’s economic stability affects access to healthcare. The discussion addresses all the two given points.
3. Health Literacy	A discussion is not provided.	The discussion demonstrates a limited understanding of how health literacy affects an individual’s health.	The discussion demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of how health literacy affects an individual’s health. The discussion is well-supported by a scholarly source.
4. Social Determinants	The submission does not identify any social determinants.	The submission identifies 1 social determinant or the identified determinants are unrelated to the patient.	The submission identifies 2 social determinants and they are related to the patient.
4a. Implementation Plan	A nursing plan of care is not developed.	The explanation illogically addresses the nursing plan of care based on the identified social determinant from part 4.	The explanation logically addresses the nursing plan of care based on the identified social determinant from part 4.

Section C: Summative Performance Assessment Implementation and Evaluation Plan

C1. Assessment Administration Procedures

The assessment will be given to the students by the instructor at the end of module 2 and the students will have one week to complete the task. To complete the task, the students will use the case study presented using the link in the course outline and will consult with scholarly sources from peer reviewed journals. A minimum of three sources will be required to complete the task.

C2. Communication of Assessment Results

Students will receive their grades online through the student portal within three weeks.

C2a. Pass/fail criteria

Students must demonstrate a competent discussion of all the five areas addressed in the grading rubric. Each student must score six points off the rubric in order to pass the assessment. Those who will score less will be given an opportunity to correct and resubmit their work.

C3. Analytical Methods

The summative assessment will not utilize an analytical tools because the students will either score a pass or fail in the submitted paper. Students will be expected to demonstrate application of the course content to provision of care to diverse populations in the community.

C3a. Assessment Improvement

Upon completion of the module, the raw scores will be used to assess the difficulty, reliability and discrimination for each item assessed. The short term plan for improvement will include giving students another opportunity to complete the task and ask for clarifications. The long term plan will include considering using another assessment method in future for the module.

C4. Test Security Procedures

Each student will be required to submit their original work. An originality report will be required to ensure no more than 30% of the student content matches any other source.

Section A: Summative Objective Assessment Blueprint
Criteria	Task
TASK A
A1. Assessment overview (type, purpose, and expected outcomes of the assessment)	Type: The type of assessment for this module is a summative objective assessment. Purpose: This assessment will help determine the understanding of students on various aspects of the module including disaster management and special populations in the community. Expected outcomes: At the end of the assessment, students should demonstrate understanding of disaster management and various needs of special populations in the community. The students should be able to score 80 and above in the assessment test provided.
A2. Module title (C920 material)	Special Populations and Disaster Nursing
Course objectives (C920 material)	After completing the course, the student will be able to: 1. Identify and discuss the unique needs of vulnerable populations in the community. 2. Apply knowledge gained to mobilize and strengthen community action against identified health priorities. 3. Identify how nurses collaborate with individuals, groups and authorities to manage diseases and disaster in the community.
Student learning outcomes (C920 material)	After completing the module, the student should: 1) Discuss the health needs of vulnerable groups in the community including children and the elderly. 2) Explain the role of a community health nurse in each phase of the disaster management process.
A2a. Assessment Activity Alignment (i.e. align your selected assessment activity with course objective and student learning outcomes)	The assessment activity uses multiple choice questions to assess the student’s understanding of vulnerable populations and disaster nursing. The questions assess the knowledge of students on areas such as special groups needs, role of community health nurses and phases of disaster management. These areas are also emphasized on the course objectives and are among the student learning objectives.
A3. Cognitive level to be measured by the objective assessment	The cognitive level to measured in this assignment is ‘Applying’. The Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs used include: identify and apply. The students will demonstrate high level of understanding and mastery of content by picking out correct responses to the provided multiple choice questions. They will also apply gained knowledge, facts and techniques to solve problems during the assessment.
A4. Item Types (i.e. multiple-choice items, fill in the blanks, etc.)	The assessment will combine multiple choice questions together with true or false answers to demonstrate understanding of content.
A5. Number of Items (on formative assessment)	The summative assessment will include eight multiple choice questions and two true or false questions.

Summative Objective Assessment Title (Student Facing Assessment Material)

B1. Assessment Instructions

The assessment questions for this task will be based on the topic of special populations and disaster nursing. Students are supposed to clear their desks and use a black or blue pen to answer the questions. Only the correct answer should be circled in the multiple-choice section. Fill in only one response, either true or false for the other two questions. The length of the assessment will be 20 minutes.

B4. Summative Objective Assessment

Which of the following is a characteristic of a vulnerable population?
Have worse health outcomes and an increased sensitivity to risk factors than the general population
Have a single risk factor but experience worse health outcomes than the general population
Have multiple risk factors but equal health outcomes to the general population
D) Have worse outcomes with better access to health care than the general population
Resilience refers to the:
A) resistance of certain groups to risk factors.
B) increased susceptibility to cumulative risk factors among vulnerable groups.
C) variability in the effects of stressors according to socioeconomic status.
D) increased sensitivity of the very young and the very old to risk factors.
What is an example of a natural threat?

A)Hazardous material leak

B)Workplace violence

C)Animal disease outbreak

D)Aircraft crash

All of the following are TRUE about disasters EXCEPT
A) A disaster may be domestic or international

B). A disaster may be caused by nature or have human origins

C). A disaster always receives widespread media coverage.
D) A disaster may have a known and gradual onset

Responsibility for securing the scene, preserving life and treating the wounded is the responsibility of:

A)First responders

B)Healthcare professionals

C) Crisis management social workers
D) All citizens
The theory that informs organizational readiness and response in a disaster is?
A) The problem solving task model
B) Structure-functional theory
C) Hobfoll’s theory
D) Traumatogenic forces theory
The decision to offer humanitarian aid is determined by:
A) Theories of social justice
B) Deontological reasoning
C) Teleological reasoning
D) Socio-political factors
E) All of the above.
What disaster planning group would include the homeless and those with limited English proficiency?
A) Vulnerable populations
B) Immediate treatment area patients
C) Low-socioeconomic populations
D) Under-represented populations
In the social real, special populations include immigrants, refugees, the homeless and those living in abusive families, True or False?
Mitigation is the second phase of the disaster management cycle, True or False?

B4a. Summative Objective Assessment Answer Key

A
A
C
C
A
B
E
A
True
False

Section C: Summative Objective Assessment Implementation and Evaluation Plan

C1. Assessment of Administration Procedures

The test will be administered in class by the instructor during the last lesson of the module. Students will be required to provide the correct responses within 25 minutes. The resources for the assignment will include a pen and an answer booklet provided by the instructor.

C2. Communication of Assessment Results

The results for the test will be available after two weeks and each student will access their score through the student’s portal. The students will also have an opportunity to review their answers in class upon which a discussion will follow to address the test.

C2a. Pass/fail criteria

Each student must score 7 out of the 10 questions in the quiz which will translate to a 70% score. Individuals that will score below 70% will automatically fail the test. The grading system for the test is as below.

90-100 – A

80-89 – B

70-79 – C

0-69 – F

C3. Analytical Methods

Upon grading the test, I will use the item difficulty index and the mean score to determine the performance of the students. The mean score will help understand how averagely the students performed. Secondly, I will use the item difficulty index to determine the percentage of students who answered the questions correctly. Ranging from 0 to 1.00 with higher scores indicating the ease of answering the questions, the difficulty index will demonstrate how well students had learned the concept.

C3a. Assessment Improvement

The use of the difficulty index will help the instructor understand areas that were challenging in the test. As a short term measure, the instructor will consider addressing the area before beginning the next module. A small group discussion will be used to engage all students and allow active learning. The long term plan will include re-evaluating the teaching strategies and incorporation of more learning resources into the course.

C4. Test Security Procedures

The sitting arrangement will be redesigned during the test allowing a one-meter distance between students to minimize cheating. The students will be advised to do their own work and any act of cheating will be subject to disqualification from the test and disciplinary action will be taken. Cell phones, reading materials, and other resources will not be allowed on the table during the 30 minutes examination time. The instructor will be available to invigilate the test and provide any assistance to the students.

D1: Assessment Theory

Learning is a process that brings together personal and environmental experiences and influences for acquiring, enriching, or modifying one’s knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, behavior (Gunduz & Hursen, 2015). Theories of learning describe these concepts and how different approaches can be used to facilitate learning. To develop the assessment materials for the three modules, I was guided by the constructivist learning theory. Developed in the 1980s by Lev Vygotsky, this theory is based on the idea that learners are not passive recipients of information but rather constructors of their knowledge as they interact with the environment (Gunduz & Hursen, 2015). The role of the instructor in this theory is to guide the learner rather than a mechanism of knowledge transmission.

The constructivist theory was crucial in the development of the course and student learning outcomes and also the different assessment methods. For instance, module 1 utilized the one-minute assessment to allow students to express what they had learned in the module. The second assessment exposed the student to a different learning environment where the case study method was used to perform an assessment. These approaches were also supported by discussions in class to assess areas that performed poorly. The assessment approaches to support collaborative learning and social interaction are crucial aspects emphasized in the constructivist theory.

D2. Potential Implementation Barriers

As online modes of study continue to expand, there is increasing awareness on the effects of this study mode especially to students concerning dissemination and understanding of content. One area that is challenging is the administration of exams that are not formative (Kintu et al., 2017). In the first module, a one-minute response quiz was administered to students to assess their understanding and mastery of content. Administration of such an assessment can be difficult using the online environment because the answer might not truly reflect an understanding of the course content. The second module that utilized the case study assessment might face the challenge of timely consultation and student understanding because the instructor is not available physically to provide guidance. Module three utilized the multiple-choice question method to assess student understanding and in an online environment, this method can be deceiving because students can easily cheat. To minimize these barriers, the assessments use different approaches and styles of doing the exams. Additionally, incorporation of the case study method will ensure students have time to consult with the instructor and other peers on areas of difficulty.

D3. Importance of Authenticity

Today, learning is focused on introducing students to real life situations so that they can construct meaning. Authentic learning is a style that encourages students to create a tangible, useful product that can be shared with others. This learning technique goes hand in hand with student-centered learning where the class is up and moving, exploring worlds around them rather than sitting and listening to the lecture (Wilt et al., 2019). Authenticity ensures that students get an opportunity to apply skills learned in class to real world situations. For example, in module 2 the students engaged in developing a plan of care for a patient based on identified social determinants of health. The case study represents an authentic assessment of learning. Inauthentic assessments, on the other hand, indirectly demonstrate the application of knowledge into real life settings. They only show students understand what should be done, but in the real sense limit the ‘hands-on’ part of interacting with the environment. An example is the multiple-choice questions provided at the end of module three.

D4. Objective Assessment Outcomes

Low test -level reliability

Reliability is a vital criterion to judge a test because it demonstrates how consistent an assessment is measuring a certain outcome. Reliability of a test is important because it demonstrates trust to measure competency among students. Low test reliability can be caused by factors such as the presence of tricky items, poor directions from the instructor, and non-uniform scoring of specific factors (Hu et al., 2016). Studies have demonstrated that using enough questions to assess competence, having a consistent environment for students, and conducting regular item analysis to remove ambiguity can increase test reliability.

Low-item Discrimination

Item discrimination refers to the ability of an item to differentiate among students based on how well they know the material being tested. Low item discrimination is often observed in tests measuring a wide range of content as opposed to more homogeneous tests. The discrimination of the item will be low if everyone gets it wrong or if the test item is so easy that everyone scores it right (Oermann et al., 2017). To improve on this aspect, the instructor can provide tests more frequently to minimize giving the exams when the content coverage is already wide. Another possible approach to this problem will involve twisting the question in subsequent tests or considering removing the item from the list.

Low Pass Rates

Assessments, just like any other measuring instrument, provide a limited accuracy. For the students to score high, accuracy must be high so that the scores given to students reflect the understanding of content. Low pass rates can be caused by ineffective teaching of content, the setting of hard questions, or factors such as lack of preparation for the test (Oermann et al., 2017). The instructor should assess each test for discrimination and analyze the causes of low scores. Improving on this aspect can be done by decreasing the complexity of the questions, changing the teaching strategies, and rewriting the test questions. However, the instructor should note that even the best assessment processes cannot account for all the variance in student skills, life situations, community economic conditions, and statewide issues (Oermann et al., 2017). Sometimes low pass rates are a true reflection of student’s understanding of content.

D5. Improving Teaching Strategies and Student Learning

Both performance and objective-based assessment methods represent a set of strategies to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in real-life situations. Upon assessment by either method, the instructor can identify areas of weakness and plan for further improvement. For performance-based assessments, the instructor can use different approaches to the teaching of content as a short term remedy to identified problems. The students are also able to set and re-adjust their goals depending on the assessment outcome. For the objective assessments, the instructor plans for improvement in subsequent courses by including other learning resources and the utilization of different learning environments. Additionally, students can learn from previous mistakes and reflect on ways to improve performance.

References

Gunduz, N., & Hursen, C. (2015). Constructivism in teaching and learning; Content analysis evaluation. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191(392), 526-533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.640

Hu, Y., Nesselroade, J. R., Erbacher, M. K., Boker, S. M., Burt, S. A., Keel, P. K., Neale, M. C., Sisk, C. L., & Klump, K. (2016). Test reliability at the individual level: Structural equation modeling. A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23(4), 532–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2016.1148605

Kintu, M. J., Zhu, C., & Kagambe, E. (2017). Blended learning effectiveness: The relationship between student characteristics, design features and outcomes. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0043-4

Oermann, M. H., De Gagne, J. C., & Phillips, B. C. (2017). Teaching in nursing and role of the educator: The complete guide to best practice in teaching, evaluation, and curriculum development. Springer Publishing Company.

Wilt, J. A., Thomas, S., & McAdams, D. P. (2019). Authenticity and inauthenticity in narrative identity. Heliyon, 5(7), e02178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02178

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