Portfolios, Rubrics, Learning

Outcomes…..oh my!
Session Five
The Cordon Bleu
Barbara Packer-Muti, EdD
A Performance Assessment

 Requires a student to perform a task or

generate his/ her own response.  For
example, a performance assessment in
writing would require a student to actually
write something, rather than simply
answering some multiple-choice questions
on grammar or punctuation.
Performance Assessment =
Task + Rubric
 The task may be a product, performance
or extended written response to a question
that requires the student to apply critical
thinking skills.  Some examples of
performance assessment tasks include:
 written compositions, speeches, works of art,
science fair projects, research projects, musical
performances, open-ended math problems, and
analysis and interpretation of a story the
student has read.
Why are rubrics important?

 Because a performance assessment does

not have an answer key in the sense that
a multiple choice test does, scoring a
performance assessment necessarily
involves making some subjective
judgments about the quality of a student's
work. 
2 Teachers = same score!

 The rubric should organize and clarify the

scoring criteria well enough so that two
teachers who apply the rubric to a
student's work will generally arrive at the
same score.  The degree of agreement
between the scores assigned by two
independent scorers is a measure of the
reliability of an assessment.
An excellent scoring rubric will:
 Help instructors define excellence and plan
how to help students achieve it.
 Communicate to students what constitutes
excellence and how to self-evaluate.
 Communicate goals and results to others.
 Help instructors to be accurate, unbiased
and consistent in scoring.
 Document the procedures used in making
important judgments about students.  
Herman, Aschbacher, and Winters (1992)
Elements of a good rubric:
 One or more traits or dimensions that serve
as the basis for judging the student
response
 Definitions and examples to clarify the
meaning of each trait or dimension
 A scale of values on which to rate each
dimension
 Standards of excellence for specified
performance levels accompanied by
models or examples of each level  
Herman, Aschbacher, and Winters (1992)
Qualitative rubrics ratings scales

SCALE POINT EXAMPLES:

 Not yet, developing, achieving
 Emerging, developing, achieving
 Novice, apprentice, proficient,
distinguished
 No evidence, minimal evidence, partial
evidence, complete evidence
Qualitative/Quantitative scale points

 1. Unable to begin effectively

 2. Begins, but fails to complete problem
 3. Serious flaws but nearly satisfactory
 4. Minor flaws but satisfactory
 5. Competent response
 6. Exemplary response
How many points should you have?
 Each point on the scale needs to be well defined. 
 Longer scales make it harder to get agreement among
scorers (inter-rater reliability).
 Extremely short scales make it difficult to identify small
differences between students.
 Do you simply want to divide students into two or three
groups, based on whether they have attained or
exceeded the standard for an outcome?  (Short scale)
 If you are rating a product/performance on several
different dimensions, will you want to add up the
scores so that each is equally weighted?  (same
length)
Analytic vs. holistic

 A rubric with two or more separate scales

is called an analytical rubric.  This
contrasts with a scoring rubric that uses
only a single scale that yields a global or
holistic rating.  Scoring rubrics may
actually be a hybrid of the two types, with
instructors assigning an overall, or
integration score to each composition. 
General vs. specific:
 
Scoring rubrics may be specific to a particular
assignment or they may be general enough to
apply to many different assignments.  The more
general rubrics prove to be most useful, since
they eliminate the need for constant adaptation
to particular assignments and because they
provide an enduring vision of quality work that
can guide both students & instructors.
Examples of writing rubrics

http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ide
as_and_Rubrics/Rubric_Bank/WritingRubr
ics.pdf
Oral presentation rubrics

http://tcet.unt.edu/START/instruct/general/or
al.htm

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?
screen=ShowRubric&module=Rubistar&ru
bric_id=1128816&
Group presentation rubrics

http://www.tracy.k12.ca.us/thsadvbio/files/R
ubric%20for%20Group%20Pres%20w
%20point%20explain.doc

http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-
ramazani/BU113/present_rubric2_team.ht
m
Portfolios!
 Collections of student work representing a
selection of performance.
 Derived from the visual and performing arts
tradition in which they serve to showcase artists'
accomplishments and personally favored works.
 May be a folder containing a student's best
pieces and the student's evaluation of the
strengths and weaknesses of the pieces.
 May also contain one or more works-in-progress
that illustrate the creation of a product.
Why Try Portfolios?
 Students have been stuffing assignments in
notebooks and folders for years, so what's so
new and exciting about portfolios? Portfolios
capitalize on students' natural tendency to save
work and become an effective way to get them
to take a second look and think about how they
could improve future work.
 This method is a clear departure from the old
write, hand in, and forget mentality, where first
drafts were considered final products.
The Portfolio Content

 Built from class assignments and as such

corresponds to the local curriculum.
 Students may develop portfolios focused
on a single curricular area
 or they may develop portfolio programs
that span two or more subjects
 Still others span several course areas for
particular groups of students.
Three basic portfolio models
 Showcase model, consisting of work
samples chosen by the student.
 Descriptive model, consisting of
representative work of the student, with no
attempt at evaluation.
 Evaluative model, consisting of
representative products that have been
evaluated by criteria.
Grosvenor (1993, pp. 14-15)
What does the research say?
 Research shows that students at all levels see
assessment as something that is done to them
on their classwork by someone else. Beyond
"percent correct," assigned letter grades, and
grammatical or arithmetic errors, many students
have little knowledge of what is involved in
evaluating their classwork.
 Portfolios can provide structure for involving
students in developing and understanding
criteria for good efforts, in coming to see the
criteria as their own, and in applying the criteria
to their own and other students' work.
What are the drawbacks?
 Considerable effort by and time demands on
teachers/instructors.
 A thorough understanding of their subject area
and instructional skills, but also additional time
for planning, conferring with other teachers,
developing strategies and materials, meeting
with individual students and small groups, and
reviewing and commenting on student work.
 Extra space in classrooms to store students'
portfolios or expensive equipment such as video
cameras.
Learning Outcomes, revisited
Characteristics of good learning outcomes?

 The specified action by the learners must be

observable.

 The specified action by the learners must be

measurable.

 The specified action must be done by the

learners.
Can we assess it?

The ultimate test when writing a learning

outcome is whether or not the action taken
by the participants can be assessed. If
not, the outcome probably does net meet
all three of the characteristics.
Examples of poor learning outcomes:

 Participants will understand the nine

reasons for conducting a needs
assessment.
 Participants will develop an appreciation of
cultural diversity in the workplace.
Action verbs resulting in observable,
measurable behavior:

 compile, create, plan, revise, analyze,

design, select, utilize, apply, demonstrate,
prepare, use, compute, discuss, explain,
predict, assess, compare, rate, critique
Unclear action verbs without measurable
behaviors

 know
 become aware of
 appreciate
 learn
 understand
 become familiar with
Syllabi Learning Outcomes
 Use formulas based on bakers’ percentages.
 Understand the characteristics and functions of the major baking
ingredients.
 Describe twelve basic steps in the production of yeast goods.
 Understand and control the factors affecting dough fermentation
 Prepare natural starters and yeast starters, and mix sourdoughs
using them to produce whole wheat and rye breads.
 Prepare a variety of breads and rolls using lean doughs.
 Prepare a variety of specialty bread items such as English muffins,
pretzels, and bagels.
 Make a variety of products using sweet doughs and rolled-in doughs
for sweet breakfast and dinner crescent rolls.
 Understand the leavening process for baking powder biscuits,
muffins, loaf breads, corn breads and popovers.
Another syllabus….
 Use percentages to compare expenses to profits, and actual results to
budgeted goals.
 Discuss the need for good inventory control, and methods for determining
inventory levels
 Use standardized recipes to control food and beverage costs and quality.
 List and describe aspects of the receiving and purchasing function for both
food and beverages. 
 Explain how to compute actual food and beverage expenses and estimate
daily cost of food or beverage consumed.
 List the component of labor-related expenses.
 Manage payroll costs using productivity standards, sales volume, employee
schedules, and analysis of results.
 Explain the difference between fixed and variable expenses, and
controllable and non-controllable expenses.
 Describe the use of menu analysis.
 Use operating results to establish future budgetary goals.
Another one….
·        Explain the development of modern foodservice including the use of modern equipment and technology.
·        Identify the major historic Chefs and the contributions they made to the culinary profession.
·        Identify the major stations in a classical kitchen.
·        Name the most important components of foods and describe what happens to them when they are cooked.
·        Describe each of the basic cooking methods.
·        Understand and explain protein dishes using a variety of cooking methods.
·        Explain the preparation and cooking of eggs.
·        Explain the preparation and cooking of starches, potatoes, pasta, legumes and vegetables.
·        Demonstrate how to properly handle and sharpen knives.
·        Demonstrate proper knife skills and Classical Cuts
·        Understand, explain and demonstrate Stocks and Fonds.
·        Understand and explain the Mother Sauces of Classical French Cuisine.
·        Understand the practical use of the major French Cooking Terms and their meaning.
Another set of learning outcomes…
 Apply the techniques of deep fry, stir fry, steam, steam fry, sauté,
stew, braise, pan sear, gratin, grill & poach to a variety of proteins,
starches, vegetables and legume
 Prepare and illustrate principles of sushi and sashimi
 Describe geographical and historical influences on international foods
and cuisines
 Label, identify and differentiate name brand and staple products,
equipment, and utensils indigenous to specific international region
 Recognize terminology specific to a variety of international regions
 Apply the technique of stuffing to specific doughs and proteins
 Prepare soups specific to different international cuisine
 Explain and demonstrate fundamentals of plating prepared food
 Develop and plan theoretical menus
 Analyze and extend the cost of select recipes
 Illustrate a variety of knife cuts.