After taking TEAC classes in college, I have come to realize that the notion of "the assessment experience" is one of the most important issues in education today. Throughout my educational career, especially in high school, success in school was solely based upon my letter-grade performance. There was never an emphasis on what I was actually learning, but rather on how I could get an 'A' on a test. When I didn't get the grade that I desired, there was no assessment to show me why I didn't perform the way that I had hoped. It was just an understood principle that I just needed to study harder next time, even if the truth may have been that I was just having trouble learning this certain subject. Therefore, in my education experience, there has always been an assessment for success (test grades, projects, etc.) yet not an assessment of learning. We have grown up in an assessment value system for success that sets some up for failure. I absolutely loved the scenario for helping students turn failure into success.
"Gail discovers that four of her eight incorrect answers were caused by careless mistakes that she knows how to fix. But four were math problems she really doesn't understand how to solve....Because Gail's teacher has mapped out precisely what each item on the test measures, the teacher and students can work in partnership to group the students according to the math concepts they haven't yet mastered. The teacher then provides differentiated instruction to the groups focused on their conceptual misunderstandings. Together the class also plans strategies that everyone can use to avoid simple mistakes. When that work is complete, the teacher gives students a second form of the same math test. When Gail gets the test back with a grade of 100 percent, she jumps from her seat with arms held high. Her winning streak begins."
I think that is way of approaching the assessment process if completely brilliant. It shows students their knowledge of the subject and the mistakes that can be conquered in a practical application process. Technology could be used with this method of assessment by having the evaluation of their graded test be done electronically. An excel spreadsheet could be used to record the columns of "Right and Wrong" and the different concepts that the test is over. The student could keep a record of all the evaluations of their test on Excel to track their improvement on test taking.
Another way that technology could be used to assess learning would be through the use of clickers. I think that it might be beneficial to have a post-quiz (non-graded) at the end of each class about the key concepts and ideas that were hopefully learned for the day. The student would be assigned a number of clicker so the teacher would be able to see their answers but the quiz would be anonymous to the rest of the class. This way the teacher can track what concepts each individual student seem to understand right away and which ones they are still in the process of learning.
Hi Becky. Prof. Hahn shared your blog with me - hope it's OK that I provide some feedback? I will use this example tonight during our feedback discussion.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. You are clearly reflecting broadly about your own education and the relationships between grades/learning. I love your ideas about how technology could get students feedback quickly (you should keep developing those ideas!) One question: what kind of feedback would students need in order to be able to USE it for learning, rather than for "getting points" and just seeking a grade?
Becky,
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points in this blog post. As an elementary student, I remember that certain forms of assessment were not easy for me to understand or complete. I was on that constant losing streak (liked how you wrote about) and starting to imagine myself in a negative way because I couldn't successfully complete that form of assessment (which was a multiple choice test). When my teacher realized that specific forms of assessment were not helpful for my understanding, she changed it and I started to succeed. Just a simple modification in assessing a student that caters to their individual needs is crucial for successful teaching.
As a future teacher, I hope to be create an atmosphere that stimulates learning in ways that are helpful for all of my students. Because students learn in such different ways, I would make sure to have assessments that display this as well. Kinesthetic learners would have the opportunity to be assessed in a hands on approach, visual learners would be able to be assessed in a creative and "visual" approach, and auditory learners would be assessed in a listening form of way. Regardless of how they are assessed, I want them to be able to continually learn and grow as students. Learning shouldn't stop after the assessment; it should continue to develop and grow time-after-time.