NR537 Week 4 Collaboration Café
You are part of an educational unit of four educators. The item analysis of the recent examination is being reviewed. During this process, one test question in particular upsets you. From the item analysis, you can see that the question has a discrimination index of .15 and several of the upper-level learners selected the same incorrect distractor. You believe that the distractor is worded poorly and is confusing to these students. You want to remove the item and give the students who missed it credit for the correct answer. You become upset when the majority of the educators vote to leave the test question within the examination. In fact, you become so upset that you raise your voice and the chair of the group calls for a 15-minute break for everyone “to calm down.”
Later that night, while self-reflecting, you suddenly recall that as a student, you were upset over a test question that you thought was confusing and “tricky.” However, the faculty member would not change your score, resulting in you failing the exam. You realize that this experience has impacted your work as an educator in reviewing test questions. Tomorrow, you must work with the same group of individuals on a task force.
How would you approach tomorrow’s meeting? Would you bring up your memory to the members of the task force? Would you decide to discuss it in a few days over lunch? What actions would you use so that this previous event does not impact your current work? How would you be fair to the learners who answered correctly as well as to those who answered incorrectly?
NR537 Week 4 Collaboration Café Answer
Approaching the next day’s meeting requires a thoughtful and constructive strategy to ensure effective collaboration and to address concerns about the test question without letting personal emotions take over. Here’s a suggested approach:
- Calm Reflection:
- Before the meeting, take some time for calm reflection. Analyze your own emotional reactions and acknowledge that past experiences might be influencing your perceptions.
- Prepare Your Points:
- Clearly articulate your concerns about the test question. Focus on the item’s structure and the potential impact on student understanding rather than personal emotions. Prepare objective arguments for why the question may be problematic.
- Open Communication:
- During the meeting, foster an open and collaborative atmosphere. Encourage all team members to share their perspectives on the test question. Make it clear that the goal is to enhance the quality of assessments and, consequently, student learning.
- Avoid Immediate Disclosure of Personal Experience:
- Initially, refrain from bringing up your personal experience as a student. Emphasize the current concerns about the item’s wording and the potential impact on student performance. This allows the discussion to focus on the merit of the question itself.
- Propose Solutions:
- Instead of merely pointing out the problem, propose constructive solutions. Suggest alternative wording for the distractor that addresses the confusion you observed. This demonstrates a commitment to improving the assessment rather than simply expressing dissatisfaction.
- Consider a Separate Discussion:
- If necessary, and depending on the dynamics of the team, consider discussing your personal experience at a later time, perhaps over lunch or in a more informal setting. This can provide context to your concerns without overshadowing the primary goal of improving the assessment.
- Maintain Fairness:
- Throughout the discussion, emphasize the importance of fairness to all students. Highlight the need to ensure that assessments accurately measure students’ understanding without introducing unnecessary confusion.
- Seek Consensus:
- Work towards consensus within the group. If the majority still supports retaining the question, explore potential compromises that address concerns without completely discarding the item.
Remember, the key is to promote open communication, focus on the current issue objectively, and seek solutions that benefit student learning.
