econ-assessments.org

Overview

Standard assessments give economics instructors an objective, repeatable measure of what their students know about a particular subject. This information can be used to

• Look at performance on specific learning goals to identify strengths (to build on) and weaknesses (to address).
• Evaluate teaching changes by comparing student performance in the current term to previous terms that were taught differently.
• Test students on prerequisite skills at the beginning of the term so instructors can meet them where they are instead of where they should be.
• Do publishable research on teaching and learning. Standard assessments have enabled tremendous strides in other STEM disciplines (e.g., Freeman et al., 2014)

econ-assessments.org is a website where economics instructors can set up standard online assessments for their students. Currently, it includes the entire Cornell Suite of Economics Assessments. A detailed description of the site can be found in Econ-assessments.org: Automated Assessment of Economics Skills.

Instructors set up an assessment by filling out a form on the site where they choose their specific assessment and the window when their students will take the test. The site creates a customized Qualtrics survey containing the assessment and sends the link to the instructor so they can share it with their students. When the test closes, the site sends the instructor a report describing their students’ performance and a lits of those students who participated. We encourage instructors to offer credit to students for particpation, but they should never base course grades on assessment scores–The test should be low stakes, so students have no incentive to collaborate or post questions on resource-sharing sites.

We are constantly working to improve the site and are very open to feature suggestions!

Check out the website at econ-assessments.org.