Donato Justin J, Marsh Thomas C
Chemistry Department, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2023 Jun 20;24(2). doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00236-22. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Specifications grading is a relatively recent approach to assessing student learning. In this approach, students make progress toward completion of a course by demonstrating mastery of specific skills or material. The assessment tools are short, frequent exercises that can be attempted multiple times until mastered. This contrasts with the traditional, exam-based assessment of student learning. There are multiple benefits to the specifications grading-based strategy, including reduced test anxiety, better knowledge retention, and increased flexibility. In this study, specifications grading was implemented into an upper-level biochemistry course at a private, liberal arts university. The student cohort consisted almost exclusively of junior and senior biochemistry, biology, and chemistry majors. Students earned points for demonstrating mastery on each of 12 short quizzes in addition to points earned from laboratory exercises and on the cumulative final exam. Student attitudes were assessed using three surveys that were administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the course. The survey results indicated that the students had overall favorable opinions of the specifications grading approach and its use in this course. A comparison of student performance on the quizzes to their performance on the final exam showed that the students learned and retained the course material. Combining the survey and performance data, we demonstrated that the students' perceptions of their learning correlated well with their performances on the specifications grading tools. Together, these results indicated that specifications grading is an effective approach to assessing student learning and to maintaining student enthusiasm in an upper-level biochemistry course.
规格分级是一种相对较新的评估学生学习情况的方法。在这种方法中，学生通过展示对特定技能或材料的掌握程度来在课程学习中取得进步。评估工具是简短、频繁的练习，学生可以多次尝试，直到掌握为止。这与传统的基于考试的学生学习评估方式形成对比。基于规格分级的策略有多个好处，包括减轻考试焦虑、更好地保留知识以及提高灵活性。在本研究中，规格分级被应用于一所私立文理大学的高级生物化学课程中。学生群体几乎全是生物化学、生物学和化学专业的大三和大四学生。除了从实验练习和累积期末考试中获得的分数外，学生在12次简短测验中每次展示出掌握程度都会获得分数。在课程开始、中间和结束时进行了三项调查，以此来评估学生的态度。调查结果表明，学生对规格分级方法及其在本课程中的应用总体上持积极看法。将学生在测验中的表现与其在期末考试中的表现进行比较表明，学生学习并记住了课程材料。综合调查和成绩数据，我们证明了学生对自己学习的认知与他们在规格分级工具上的表现密切相关。总之，这些结果表明规格分级是评估学生学习以及保持学生对高级生物化学课程热情的一种有效方法。
