Classroom assessment is the process of collecting information from your students about their experience as learners in your class. There are many different ways of collecting information, depending on what you are teaching and what kind of information you need. However, all are based on the principle that the more clearly and specifically you understand how students are learning, the more effectively you can teach them.

The purpose is to improve the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in your classroom.

• It is collected in a systematic way so that all students contribute.
• It is ungraded, so that students can provide useful information that won't be used to evaluate them.
• It calls for a response from the instructor. (If you're not prepared to change, it may be better not to ask.)
• Feedback collected once is helpful, but regular feedback on an ongoing basis tells you far more.

There are countless ways to assess learning and teaching. Here are two examples frequently used at UW:

Ask students to answer two questions:

1. What was the most important thing you learned __? (You fill in the blank: during today's class, while doing the homework, from this week’s reading, etc.)
2. What important question remains unanswered?

Students hand in brief written answers before they leave class. Use this input to help you plan future classes.

A Midterm Class Interview (also known as the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis or SGID) is a process in which a CIDR consultant visits your class to interview your students with two questions:

1. What is helping you learn in this class?
2. What changes would assist you in your learning?

Soon after the class, the consultant analyzes students' responses and meets with the instructor to summarize the responses and help set goals for change. For a more complete description of the process, see: http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/sgid.html

• Identify resources and ideas on teaching, learning, and assessment in the CIDR library.
• Provide consultation on design and implementation of classroom assessment procedures.
• Conduct a midterm class interview (SGID), or assist with other types of data collection and analysis.

References and Tools

Angelo, T., & Cross, P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Do you know where your students are? Classroom assessment and student learning. (1993, Winter). Speaking of Teaching, 4(2), available on-line at:

CIDR's collection of on-line Classroom Assessment Tools