Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Higher order cognitive process - Assessment schemes



Setting the assessments based on higher order levels of cognitive process


Level 6 and 5 are high order levels among six cognitive levels based on revised Bloom's taxonomy verbs. These two levels are tricky to include in the assessment especially when the number of students is large and the frequency of examination is more. The ways to include these in the learning process are discussed here.


Level 6 - Creating

Level 6 can be best engaged during classroom teaching as knowing what the students already know is vital at this level. It is a key to long lasting learning experience and developing lifelong learners. It involves 50% participation of student and 50% participation of teacher. It is slightly difficult to include level 6 as a theory paper, short timed assessment. It can rather be wonderfully executed as a course project or a classroom task in which the teacher is not actually teaching but helping the student learn.


Level 5 - Evaluating

Level 5 action verbs found to be used in abundance in the university question papers. The questions based on verbs like judge, choose, select, recommend etc. truly challenge student’s understanding only if the answer to the question is not known or not discussed earlier. In case the question has been asked in earlier exams and the solution is discussed then such question merely becomes level-1 evaluation. With the number of question papers a teacher must set every year and syllabus coverage issues, it is obvious that the number of true-level-5 questions would be much less even though relevant action verbs appear in the questions.  Effective assessment of Level-5 cognitive process can be carried out (again) as classroom activity wherein the topic recently taught can be critically evaluated by asking questions that provoke decision making abilities of student. 

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy

REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY AND THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF QUESTIONS


Aims and Objectives of Education


Acquiring the capacities of understanding, appreciation and expression through word and act, are the fundamental aims of education.  It should not just follow a narrow aim of preparing individuals for livelihood.  The goal of classroom questioning is not to determine whether students have learned something but rather to guide students to help them learn necessary information and material. Questions should be used to teach students rather than to just test students.

Teachers spend enough share of classroom time testing students through questions. Most of the questions are based on memory. These questions though important to assess the student, are not enough to evaluate the learning levels. These also lack the thrust to make a student appreciate importance of lifelong learning activity.

  The assessment questions based on revised Bloom’s taxonomy makes a teacher assess the student on multiple learning outcomes. These outcomes are aligned to local, and global standards and objectives.  Development of lesson plan and assessment questions that integrate with blooms taxonomy goes hand in hand. The teacher develops lessons such that each level on learning is given its due. 

 Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (RBT) names six major categories to verb form instead of noun form in earlier blooms taxonomy. It reflects different form of thinking process in verbs. These verbs are means to qualitatively evaluate different kind of thinking. It has helped organize the thinking skills into six levels. The most basic is based on ability to recall and the most advanced is based on ability to create.   

Fig. Six levels of RBT

Level 6 - Creating: Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things, designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.

Level 5 - Evaluating: Justifying a decision or course of action, checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging.

Level 4 - Analyzing: Breaking the information in parts to explore understanding and relationships, comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, finding.

Level 3 - Applying: Using the information in another familiar situation, implementing, carrying out, using, executing.

Level 2 - Understanding: Explaining ideas, interpreting, summarizing, classifying, explaining.

Level 1- Remembering: Recalling information. describing, naming, finding, listing, recognizing
RBT provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the more complex levels of thinking. Level 5 and 6 are at high order of thinking.

Table below shows the action verbs categorized as per the knowledge dimension and cognitive process dimension.

Table1. Action verbs in revised Bloom's taxonomy

Cognitive process dimension
Knowledge dimension
Factual
Conceptual
Procedural
Meta-cognitive
Level-6
Create
Generate
Assemble
Design
Create
Put or reorganize elements to form meaningful/new /alternate structure
(• Adapt • Build • Change • Choose • Combine • Compile • Compose • Construct • Create • Delete • Design • Develop • Discuss • Elaborate • Estimate • Formulate • Happen • Imagine • Improve • Invent • Make up • Maximize • Minimize • Modify • Original • Originate • Plan • Predict • Propose • Solution • Solve • Suppose • Test • Theory)
Level-5
Evaluate
Check
Determine
Judge
Reflect
Make judgement based on standards
(• Agree • Appraise • Assess • Award • Choose • Compare • Conclude • Criteria • Criticize • Decide • Deduct • Defend • Determine • Disprove • Estimate • Evaluate • Explain • Importance • Influence • Interpret • Judge • Justify • Mark • Measure • Opinion • Perceive • Prioritize • Prove • Rate • Recommend • Rule on • Select • Support • Value)
Level-4
Analyze
Select
Differentiate
Integrate
Deconstruct
Break the system in to constituent parts and determine their relation
(• Analyze • Assume • Categorize • Classify • Compare • Conclusion • Contrast • Discover • Dissect • Distinguish • Divide • Examine • Function • Inference • Inspect • List • Motive • Relationships • Simplify • Survey • Take part in • Test for • Theme)
Level -3
Apply
Respond
Provide
Carry out
Use
Use the procedure in given situation
(• Apply • Build • Choose • Construct • Develop • Experiment with • Identify • Interview • Make use of • Model • Organize • Plan • Select • Solve • Utilize)
Level-2
Understand
Summarize
Classify
Clarify
Predict
Construct meaning from given information
(Classify • Compare • Contrast • Demonstrate • Explain • Extend • Illustrate • Infer • Interpret • Outline • Relate • Rephrase • Show • Summarize • Translate)
Level-1
Remember
List
Recognize
Recall
Identify
Retrieve knowledge from long term memory
(Choose • Define • Find • How • Label • List • Match • Name • Omit • Recall • Relate • Select • Show • Spell • Tell • What • When • Where • Which • Who • Why)

Friday, 21 October 2016

Interactive classroom - Technical game


Interactive classroom technical game - Guess the VHDL functionality 


 
Two student groups participate in this game.
One group has VHDL design in mind and second group has to identify the design by asking questions which can be answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'.

Group 1 [ design  in mind 4 bit barrel shifter]
Group 2 Questions:
1. Is it a structural model?
2. Is the number of ports less than 2?
3. Are the inputs 2 four bit vectors?
4. Does it have more than one portmap for one component?
5. Does it have select lines?
6. Are the number of select lines >3?

Group 2 [ Design in mind 3 input AND gate]
Group 1 questions:
1. Is the architecture amongst behavioral or dataflow model.
2. Are the number of components more than one?
3. Is flip flop used?
4. Does it perform arithmetic operation?
5. Does it perform logical operation? 

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Home assignment 3

Home assignment 3
1. Compare signal and variable. State the difference in declaration, simulation and synthesis of signal and variable.

2. Why mismatch is observed between simulation and synthesis. What are the statements that cause the difference. How to avoid it. Explain with example.

3. What is hardware optimization? Explain with example.

4. Write a code for 2 digit BCD counter. The output should be on 2 seven segment displays counting from 00 to 99.

VLSI Design flow - MCQs


MCQs on VLSI Design flow

Link to Submit answers of Quiz 1

Basics in VHDL- MCQs

Basics in VHDL- MCQs

Link to Submit answers of Quiz 1

Advanced concepts of VHDL- Quiz

VLSI Design


Quiz on advanced concepts of VHDL


To Fill the answers please click on this link
Link to Submit answers of Quiz