Measurement of Learning

Goals

  1. Describe measurement of learning.
  2. Skillfully measure your own learning or the learning of someone else.

Measurement (Definition)

In general terms, measurement refers to the process of quantitatively determining the size, amount, extent, or degree of something.

Examples. Measure the height of a tree. Weigh a bag of nails. Count the number of pine cones under a tree. Determine the ranking of a person is a running race. Measure the power of a car. Measure the current flow in a circuit.

Measurement of Learning (Definition)

Measurement of learning refers to the process of quantitatively determining how well learning has taken place.

Rationale

If one is skilled at measuring learning, there are several benefits.

  1. Effective measurement can strong enhance learner passion and perseverance.

  2. Effective measurement guides the learner as to what matters the most and how to best improve.

  3. A learner or a teacher can determine when formal learning can stop.

  4. An employer can determine how skilled or knowledgeable a potential employee is and thus make great hiring decisions.

  5. Measurement provides accountability for organizations, teachers, and learners.

Measurement (How To)

Direct Method

Knowledge: To measure knowledge, see how well the learner can explain, teach, apply, remember, and answer questions about the main ideas of the subject being learned.

Performance: To measure performance, see how the learner can do useful things associated with the subject being learned.

Both knowledge and performance are compared to what a person competent with the subject can do. These are called “the standards.”

The standards depend on the context. For example, the standards for competency in critical thinking for a high school graduate would be different than the standards for a college graduate.

Tasks with Feedback Method

The learner is provided with a set of tasks with feedback.

To measure learning, a random sample of these is given to the learner and a qualified teacher gauges how well they do and if they meet the standards.

It involves comparing an unknown quantity to a known standard unit. Measurement is a fundamental aspect of human understanding and interaction with the world around us. It allows us to make sense of our surroundings, communicate effectively, and make informed decisions.

Overview

Measuring learning is the process of determining how well you or someone else has learned something. It assigns a description or a number to indicates the level of quality.

For example, we can build a scale that spans from 0 to 5, where 5 means that a person has learned something very well and zero means that that have not yet learned much. The numbers 1 to 4 then represent levels of learning.

Alternatively, we can describe learning by categories: for example, nascent, novice, intermediate, advanced.

Measurement of learning is often called assessment.

Based on my life experiences as a professor of engineering for about 30 years, grades as they are commonly used in higher education are not a very good measurement of learning.

Rationale

The are several reasons for skilled measurement of learning.

  1. Motivation: Skilled measurement can and should be highly motivating for the learner.

  2. Focus: Skilled measurement tells the learner what is worth learning.

  3. Results Focus: Skilled measurement puts the focus on the results of learning, not on the methods used to get the results.

  4. End State: The learner can gauge where they are (how well they have learned) and they know when they can stop (goals have been reached).

  5. The teacher, skilled in measurement, can similarly gauge how well learning has taken place. This is especially useful because it provides a method by which a teacher can gauge their own performance.

  6. A company, skilled in measurement, can determine how well new hires have learned those things that they need for success in their roles.

  7. Measurement removes baloney and emotion and makes learning more objective and less subjective.

How to Measure Learning

There are many methods. This method is the one I’ve developed that I use for myself and that I use for creation of educational materials, aka BookCourses.

Set Beliefs, Values and Practices (Mindset)

  1. Expectations: Learning is hard to do and takes a lot of time. Do you expect yourself or anyone else to learn without massive effort spaced out over time. Thus, expect one’s self and others to score low on measurements most of the time. The problem is not the measurement, it is the learning.

  2. Simplicity:

  3. Embedded:

  4. Compassion:

  5. Possiblity:

How to Measure

Measure two things: performance and knowledge.

  1. Performance: How well can a learner apply what they are learning to do useful things in the real world.

  2. Knowledge: How well can the learner teach, explain, apply, remember, and so forth the main ideas.

Measure the main (ideal) goal. But also measure the subgoals. In short everything, gets measured.

How to Measure Knowledge

Knowledge Knowledge refers to information that a person can teach, explain, apply, remember, answer questions about, and so forth.

Thus, the measure knowledge determine how well a person can teach, explain, apply, remember, answer question about and so forth.

How to Measure Peformance

  1. Teach:

One can establish a scale say 0 to 5, where 0 correlates with the learner has no performance and no knowledge.

Most students are not yet skilled enough to measure their own learning. Thus, the teacher or content developer needs to build a system so that a student can measure their own learning.

Quality in Measurement

  1. The system is super simple to use and takes almost no time.

  2. Everything is measured

  3. The learner know exactly how well they have learned at each point in time.

  4. The measurement is accurate in the sense that it measures performance and measures knowledge.

  5. The measurement is reliable in that it different measurements cluster around the same point.

Facts about Measurement

  1. Measurement can and should be done mostly by the learner because they benefit the most. However, most students will need a system built by a teacher or a content developer.

  2. Measurement of learning should be done in all contexts: school, university, on-the-job, sports, and so forth.