Chapter 1 Introduction The teaching and learning process... 4 From summative assessment to assessment for teaching... 7 How to use this book...

Transcription

1 Contents Chapter 1 Introduction The teaching and learning process... 4 From summative to for teaching... 7 How to use this book... 8 Chapter 2 The Scope of Formative Relevance Time frames around student-centred decision making Within the lesson The next lesson Within the unit Transitions Cultural change Chapter 3 Assessment Strategies Characteristics of tools Forms of Assessment activities planning map Chapter 4 Learning Intentions Maximising effect Distribution of student learning gain Narrowing the distribution of student learning Individualising learning intentions Chapter 5 Technology for Assessment Modes of technology Blogs Wikis Twitter Facebook...37 Other social media YouTube Google Apps (including Google Docs) Learner response systems Assessment platforms Chapter 6 Assessment for Leadership Chapter 7 Assessment Activities

2 The Scope of Formative Relevance Time frame of formative relevance Key teaching decisions Generic strategies The Landscape of Formative Assessment Within lesson Next lesson Next week (within unit) Who needs help, and what help do they need? What learning intentions are relevant and challenging? What strategies and activities are effective with my class? Structured teacher observation Structured teacher observation Impromptu questions with instant feedback Impromptu questions with instant feedback (collated) Whole class with instant results Whole class with instant results/analysis post Comparison of whole class s/analysis post Student self /peer Student self /peer Student self /peer Aggregation of data across multiple s/ classes/cohorts to produce trend analysis Student feedback evaluations Transition (next unit, next term, next year) Where are the students placed with their learning? What are their passions? How should we group students? Aggregation of data across multiple s/ classes/cohorts to produce trend analysis Student/parent/carer feedback evaluations Standardised benchmark 13

3 Chapter 3 Assessment Strategies Within each time frame different types of decisions become relevant, so different strategies are needed to inform these decisions. Characteristics of tools While there are thousands of possible activities that are relevant and appropriate to use with students, most of these can be generalised into a handful of strategies. None of these strategies by themselves will be sufficient to provide teachers with all the data they need to inform all of their key teaching decisions a mix of strategies will be required. In addition, there is a set of characteristics to look for within a combined mix of strategies to ensure the smooth implementation of an for teaching approach. These characteristics are: The tools used need to be mapped to the learning intentions of each lesson. This will give teachers accurate information on the daily progress. The tools used need to be unobtrusive. Assessment needs to be done in an efficient way that does not unduly interrupt normal classroom routines. The tools need to enable the analysis of the data in, or close to, real-time, as well as the conversion of results into information powerful enough to inform decisions not sometime in the future, but during the lesson or for the next lesson. The tools need to provide information that will allow teachers to make decisions at the individual student level. Assessment 22

4 Technology for Assessment Text, images, video and other multimedia can be included in a blog. Generally people complete posts periodically, or over a period of time. Blog posts are usually laid out in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post is first, or at the top of the blog. Older entries are at the bottom or can be archived. This means they are placed in a link called archives and readers can choose to read them if they wish. They are normally arranged by months or years and can have tags so that a reader can find the blog posts on certain topics. There are numerous websites where you can create a blog. These include blogger.com, WordPress (wordpress.com) and edublogs ( a website where you or your students can create educational blogs). Blogs can be used for in different ways. They can facilitate formative learning that is linked to assessable learning outcomes. If students publish posts at regular intervals, then feedback can be given to them accordingly or other students can provide feedback in the comments section of each post. The should be linked to outcomes that are given to the students, possibly in the form of a rubric. (For more information on using blogs in your teaching see Wikis A wiki is a particular kind of website that allows the user to edit and make changes. Thus, users can add, modify and delete the content using their own web browser (for example, Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox). Wikis are generally created and designed for groups of people who work collaboratively to change the content. These websites or documents are continuously under revision and can be changed by anyone who has permission to change it. They can be open, so anyone can change the content, for example, Wikipedia, or they can be closed so that only people who are part of the group can change the content. Wikis have many different functions and are increasingly used for educational purposes. They can be used simply for note taking or knowledge management, or they can be used to develop knowledge and understanding. Wikis can be located freely on the internet or they can be private wikis. There are numerous websites around that host wikis. Websites that are great for creating educational wikis include Wikispaces ( MindTouch 35

5 Assessment for Teaching Today ( and Wetpaint ( Wikispaces is a website for creating educational wikis. It is easy to sign up and there are options that allow for good privacy. Wikis can be used to assess student learning as well as collaborative learning. When marking the wiki, you the can look at the history to see what components each student has completed. This allows you to assess individual contributions. Wikis and blogs have different purposes. A blog allows people to post online and share their thoughts. People can read the posts and make comments. A wiki has a much more open structure and allows others who have access to change what others have written. There are many different ways to use wikis in your teaching including: as products of research projects or other collaborative projects for collaborative book reviews and author studies for students to record shared knowledge and understanding as teacher-created wikis where students can collaborate and change content for building communities for designs for experiments. Twitter Twitter is a website where you have 140 characters (this includes spaces) to say whatever you want. You can follow people and thus read about what they are saying and you can connect with anyone who is also using Twitter. Here is some of the terminology you might find useful: Tweet: This is an individual post that you can do when you are logged into your account. RT (retweet): You use this to share someone else s Tweet. Message: You can send a direct message in Twitter that is This allows you to send an open message to a specific person (but make sure the content is okay for everyone to see). 36

6 Assessment for Teaching Today Assessment Activity 5 Social collaborative Scope of formative relevance Within lesson Next lesson Level of data Personal Collaborative group Description This activity can apply to any curriculum area. Start by setting up a class blog or online forum. Have students place the product of their work as a file on the online forum (this could take the form of text, an image, video, slide show or multimedia presentation). Once the work is online, have other students in the group collaboratively assess the work through structured comments against pre-set criteria: for example, 2 positive points and 1 point to change. Tell students to then respond to the comments, stating their level of agreement and disagreement, and edit their work accordingly. Have students post the new version online to seek more comments and feedback in this way the activity/ is continuous and self-sustaining. How does this inform teaching? This activity is focused on explicitly drawing out the deep analytical skills of students. As such this can inform teachers as to a student s ability to both produce their own assignments, as well as to analyse the work and feedback of other students. The collaborative and self-sustaining aspect of the has the potential to give you additional class time to identify particular students or particular issues for which you might need to deliver intensive instruction. 58 Macmillan Masterclass: Assessment for Teaching Today Peter Kent and Chris Campbell/Macmillan Education Australia. ISBN

7 Assessment Activities Using technology Guide students to use appropriate tags when they are commenting on other students work, then you can search the online forum for these tags and organise them accordingly. For instance, if the class is producing and commenting on written work and students have tagged comments that related to grammar errors with the tag grammar, by searching for the tag grammar, you can quickly see the extent of grammar issues within the class, and which students have these issues. Ideas for adapting this activity to my own context Macmillan Masterclass: Assessment for Teaching Today Peter Kent and Chris Campbell/Macmillan Education Australia. ISBN