MATNAT Teachers’ Retreat…in person!

In mid-March, the College of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bergen hosted a teachers’ retreat near Bergen’s Flesland Airport. Many bioCEED people, programs, and ideas were prominently on display at this retreat, which was focused on Feedback and Assessment. bioCEED friends Øyvind Fiksen, Christian Jørgensen, and Sigrunn Eliassen (with Henriette Linge and Henk Keers) began the seminar by challenging us to think about what, why, and how we are assessing our courses at UiB. In an afternoon sharing session, Jonathan Soule, Kristin Holtermann, and Anne Bjune (among many others) led discussions about using student poster sessions to demonstrate learning, and having students create videos for summative assessment. Day two included workshops on easy in-class assessment techniques (led by Sehoya Cotner) and peer assessment (led by Roy Andersson). Discussions about thoughtful assessment are always a good idea, but especially now, as a new policy regarding assessment in Norwegian higher education (and the need for two sensors for all graded assignments) is being considered. Our hope is that, no matter the decision on that policy, we will be ready to assess our students using evidence-based, student-centered techniques—including many of those discussed at the retreat.