Learning Assessment

Partners in Recovery workshops created for the Adult Drug Court in Larimer County will be assessed using the cognitive and affective domains. The cognitive objectives will encompass learning activities, reflection, large and small group discussions, doing projects and creating budget worksheets, shopping, savings and other financial plans during class. By having large and small group discussions, solving problems and learning activities with classmates who will be diverse, the students will have the opportunity to change their attitudes about others and themselves. Many of the topics discussed in the workshops will contain reflection, listening to other classmates struggles and successes and working together to design personal and practical financial goals. I choose these forms of assessment because it will give the students the ability to apply what is learned in class and change attitudes. Goal 1: Learners will increase their awareness of childhood financial values and create a personal connection between past and current financial tendencies. Objective 1: Students will be able to share positive and negative attitudes about childhood memories regarding money. Complete Learning Assessment: The first learning activity will be a survey/worksheet called Money and Goals and the second page is the results which will help define what kind of spender the students are. The survey and results page are attached at the end. Using a handout, the students will be asked to look at the list and choose one word that describes their feeling about money as a child. They can choose one word or any other word that comes to mind. The words will be as followed: Deprived, Poor, Lucky, Independent, Dependent, Rich, Smart, Satisfied, Ignorant, Oblivious, Reward, Uninterested, Worried, Controlled, Taken care of Discussion questions: What was your life like as a child, and how do your experiences affect your life now? Why did you choose that one word to describe your childhood? Did your family save money or spend it right away? How is the way you handle money similar to your parents? Did you have the same experience with money as your siblings?

Could you talk about money with your parents when you were a child? What was the most important message your parents sent to you about money? Whats your most significant memory about money? Did you get an allowance? Did you spend it right away or save it? Do you remember something you really wanted as a kid and never received it or did you eventually get it? Learning instrument: Observation, large group discussion, worksheets, reflection Why? The learning activity, handout and discussion questions that are listed for this objective will provide, at minimum, the lowest levels of commitment according to Krathwohl and Blooms taxonomy. Receiving is becoming aware, acknowledging, showing awareness, tolerating and paying attention to behaviors about childhood ideas about money. This is linked to their experiences as adults. By getting a baseline of attitudes towards money with the survey, the learning activity and the discussion questions; students will be able to make connections and change their attitude through personal reflection and class discussion. How the assessment will be conducted: The assessment comes from the cognitive and affective domain and will be conducted in an informal observation pertaining to the students responses to the activities. As the questions progress, the students will respond to others and themselves taking responsibility for their own behaviors and making mental lifestyle adjustments. Illustrate: The assessments match the objective because the activity and question directly pertain to the positive and negative issues about money. There is a reflection component built in as well. As the student looks into their childhood memories, positive and negative triggers draw from their previous experiences. This will help learning transfer as financial topics emerge. Objective 2: Students will draw conclusions in small groups from past experiences to deduce new patterns of spending. Students will break into small groups and will be give the following questions to discuss: List on a piece of paper three reasons why you think most people in the United States live paycheck to paycheck? How do you think this cycle can be broken? In your own situation, what can you change in your spending habits to spend more wisely? Learning Instrument: Small group discussion Why? After talking about childhood memories, students may need to examine their own opinions and behaviors about their experiences. Discussing these in small groups will build upon the cognitive objective through identifying and examine their past experiences as it relates to new ways to spend/save their money.

How the assessment will be conducted: The facilitator of the class will mingle in between the small groups to overhear the opinions and behaviors verbally shared with the students. After the small group discussion, the facilitator will pick out a couple of interesting comments and share with the group. Small group discussions may give different personality types in the classroom a chance to speak if they are intimidated by the larger groups. Illustrate: The assessments match the objective by reason of the potential of sensitive memories of money could impact the willingness of students to share in a large group. Thus, having a small group discussion will enable students to share their feelings. Objective 3: Students will describe how finance and success is linked. A volunteer from the class will write on the chalk board material items that say Success. Examples may be a good job making over 150k a year, money in a savings account, real estate, capital gains, owning stocks and bonds, etc. We will discuss how to get each of the items of success on the board and how it is linked to finance and how to get success. Learning Instrument: Large group discussion and chalkboard Why? Including a member of the class increases participation by the students and empowers them to cooperate with the task at hand. How the assessment will be conducted: This is a cognitive objective because it relates to knowledge, awareness and insights. Depending on the exposure the student receives about finance and success will add interesting insights on their link between each other. The information will be based on prior knowledge offered through experiences, media, and observations. We will need a chalkboard or some type of flip chart for the class to see. Illustrate: The assessment and objective are linked because the students will collectively describe their opinions and how the two items are linked. Given the word success and finance, the student will be able to link conceptually the steps to achieve success. Goal 2: Participants will be able to identify what their wants and needs are in order recognize ways to improve their financial picture. Objective 1: Students will be able to track their spending habits and define areas to alter spending. Learning Instrument: Reflection on paper Why? By having the students create a monthly spending report of their personal bills will help them recall where their money is going each month. Even if they do not have a job or pay their bills, they will write down their monthly expenses.

How it will be conducted: In the students notebook, they will write down a list of their monthly expenses. This process will give the student ownership into their own personal finances and hold the student accountable. Illustrate: Writing down monthly spending gives the student a visual that they can refer to later to help build connection to spending and saving. The assessment of writing therefore connects to the objective. This will give the student the ability to recall previous information and evaluate it. This is a cognitive objective. Objective 2: Students will list their wants and needs. Students will discuss what they think are their needs and wants. We will discuss this is class, but each student will write their answers individually on their handout. For example:

Shelter: Does that mean I need a house as nice as the one I live in? Or could I make do with something much smaller and older. What percentage is a need and what percentage is a want? Food and water: A majority of my food bill is a need most of my purchases are simply covering staples and buying the basics of food for my family. What percentage of the food I buy is a want or a need? Clothing: Do I need designer clothes? Do I need name brand shoes? How many? How many do you need? Basic hygiene and health, as does my family: Those areas of spending are largely need-based. Protection for my family: Life insurance and disability insurance are needs.
Most everything else is a want. Part of my mortgage or rent is a want because I want a big place to live. Some of my food bill is a want because I like delicious food. What about cable, telephone, cell phone, entertainment expenses etc.?

Learning instrument: Worksheet, Large group discussion Why? The facilitator will give them a handout with two columns for both wants and needs with their definitions. Students will be asked to write down a want and need and place a percentage value on each. By having the students acknowledge their wants vs. needs will be a good exercise for them to examine where they put their priorities dealing with money. Placing a percentage on each item will help them see where they could maybe save money with future purchases or rent, lease, etc. How it will be conducted: In class we will discuss basic needs and wants, the students will then be asked to put their personal information down on paper. The wants and needs exercise will provide students will an up close view of their financial picture. The intention is to give the students a vested interest in their own finances.

Illustrate: The handout assessment tool will be given in class. Because the definitions of wants and needs will be provided, it can be used as a tool in future financial planning. Taking ownership of their personal wants and needs is the objective and is in the cognitive domain. This information will increase the learners knowledge. It is also an affective objective because it is designed to change the students attitude about money, choices for the future and relationships.
Objective 3: Students will originate a plan for wise shopping and avoid unhealthy spending. Students will write down their definition of wise shopping and unhealthy spending. They will create a plan of ways to work within their budget and make sacrifices. What are some wise shopping suggestions? Go cash only, credit cards make it easy to overspend. Set goals, next time you want to buy a soda for $2 at the gas station or a Starbucks for $5; think about your goals of taking the family on vacation or getting out of debt. Is it a need or a want? Can I afford it or just really want it? Shop with a list, never go to the grocery store hungry and try shopping without a cart. Give yourself a reasonable allowance and spend it guilt-free. Are you impulsive? Implement the 24 hours rule before you buy it. If you still want it and can afford it, then go buy it. Look into your shopping cart and ask yourself, do I really need all of this? Learning instrument: Large group discussion and writing in notebooks Why? By discussing examples of wise shopping and unhealthy spending can be informative to the student and give them tools for future spending and shopping. Writing these items down can help transfer the learning and can be recalled next time they are in a shopping situation. How it will be conducted: The assessment will be conducted in class through discussion and written. We will discuss examples of each category and the students will be able to personalize these examples to fit their lifestyle. These skills learned in class can be applied in the future. Illustrate: The objective is cognitive based on the students knowledge being expanded which will provide different outcomes in their financial picture. Given wise shopping suggestions, the students knowledge will be increased and suggestions applied in future shopping experiences. Objective 4: Students will be able to identify three areas of common unhealthy spending habits that can be eliminated. Each person will write down three unhealthy spending habits. Examples may be smoking, drinking, soda, coffee, buying lottery tickets, junk food, buying items not on sale, driving instead of walking or biking etc. Learning instrument: Writing in notebooks and large group discussion

Why? Understanding unhealthy spending habits can make a big impact on how the students spend their money. This exercise will help the students realize that a $5 Starbucks every day, is $100 a month, which is $1200 a year and $6000 in 5 years. It doesnt have to be a daily habit but something that they believe is a waste of money or can be improved with some forethought. This information can be translated into a down payment for a house if they cut out one unhealthy spending habit. How this will be conducted: In the classroom we will discuss unhealthy spending habits. Unhealthy may mean different things to different people and we will need to be sensitive to others. We will discuss how a habit can start healthy and turn into unhealthy and this varies for different people. The students will write in their notebooks what they believe is their unhealthy spending habit. Choosing one of their unhealthy spending habits, we will do the math and figure out how much it is costing them. Illustrate: This comes from both the cognitive and affective domains. This learning activity helps the student internalize their own unhealthy spending and change their future choices. Goal 3: Individuals will outline steps for a successful financial future and apply those steps in order to improve their lives. Objective 1: Students will complete a basic budget worksheet of their monthly expenses. Learning instrument: Worksheet and large group discussion Why? Building a basic budget in class, gives a plausible tool to the student to use in the future. Depending on the financial goals of the student, this is a stepping stone that can create financial freedom and structure. How this will be conducted: The students will be given a basic budget worksheet in class. To the best of their ability, they will be asked to fill it out. Pulling from previous objectives discussed, this exercise will validate the students progress in their financial knowledge. Transferring from memory bills, debts, expenses onto the worksheet, can impact the student and will continue the application process in the future. Illustrate: This is a cognitive objective because the student reports their own financial responsibilities on paper. They recall their own financial information and use it to create something new. The assessment of the student writing their own budget falls right in line with the objective. Objective 2: Students will design a step by step plan to get out of debt. Students will list their debts and make a step by step plan of how to pay off their debt. We will create a debt snowball by listing the debts from smallest to largest with the smallest payoff or

balance first. Starting at the smallest, pay off this bill and the money you paid towards it snowballs into the next payment; thus creating the debt snowball until all debt has been paid. Learning instrument: Design a plan on paper, chalk board and large group discussion Why? The majority of Americans has debt but dont have a plan to get out of debt. Even if the student doesnt have debt it is important to know a plan of how to get out of debt. How the assessment will be conducted: Students will be asked to list their debts according to the amounts starting from the lowest to the highest. For purpose of the exercise, if the students dont have debt, they will fabricate debt. The facilitator will use an example on the board and explain the process of the debt snowball and help the student with the plan. Illustrate: This is a cognitive objective because the student will apply the principles learned in class and become debt free using the debt snowball. They will be given the ability to analyze, synthesize and create a plan. Objective 3: Students will develop a savings plan. Develop a saving plan by using the following steps: Stick to your plan. Know how much income is coming in per month. Include everything, part time jobs, child support, alimony, tips etc. Decide how much you want/need to save in the following categories: everyday expenses, large purchases, future savings, investments, college fund. Track how you spend each month to determine where you can cut back Set spending limits Adjust and revisit your plan to make changes.

Learning instrument: Handout and large group discussion Why? With the previous objectives learned, the student will be able to recognize unhealthy spending habits, wants vs. needs, have a basic budget in place; therefore the student will be able to have an idea of where money for a savings plan can be achieved. Students will be provided a handout of steps to developing a savings plan and students will be given the tools to figure out how to start saving money. How the assessment will be conducted: The facilitator will observe the students through questions asked, progress on their worksheet and the classroom discussion. The questions and discussion should give the facilitator an understanding of the amount of knowledge learned throughout the workshop.

Illustrate: By developing a savings plan, the student is able to draw conclusions from learned classroom knowledge and estimate on projected earnings to create an effective savings plan. This is a cognitive and affective objective.

MONEY AND GOALS

NAME________________________________

Please rank the following based on how much you agree or disagree with the statement.

A=Agree U=Undecided D=Disagree

1. I know how to write a check. 2. I lose money often. 3. I balance my checkbook/ATM receipts regularly. 4. I tend to spend money as soon as I receive it. 5. If I have $20, I save it if I don't have to spend it on a need. 6. I comparison shop before I buy something. 7. I never know how much money I have. 8. I spend money that I don't have at the time of purchase. 9. I set financial goals and try to achieve them. 10. I tend to give people money and forget that they owe me.

AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD AUD

Money and Goals Results Use the standard below to determine the point value for each answer. Add your totals in each group to determine what describes you most. A=5 U=3 D=1 COLUMN 1 1______ 3______ 5______ 7______ 9______ TOTAL______ COLUMN 2 2______ 4______ 6______ 8______ 10_____ TOTAL______

Which is greatest? COLUMN 1: You are smart with your money. You know exactly where it goes and you have financial goals you wish to achieve. You think about a purchase before you make it. You also have knowledge about different forms of money like ATM transactions, checks, credit cards, money orders. Finance is a huge realm filled with many things to learn. It is obvious you know the basics, but there are many more exciting things to learn. You should be proud of your responsibility thus far. COLUMN 2: You have many exciting things to look forward to when learning about finance. It appears you like money and realize it is important, your actions do not show it. You do not think about having financial goals for yourself and you don't make your money last. This course will be very beneficial to you because you will be given the tools you need to be financially smart and stable. Try to soak in everything because these skills can help the rest of your life.