Assessment methods should help the instructor answer the questions, “How do I know the required learning has taken place? What might I need to modify about the course to best support student learning?” Show
Information about student learning can be assessed through both direct and indirect measures. Direct measures may include homework, quizzes, exams, reports, essays, research projects, case study analysis, and rubrics for oral and other performances. Examples of indirect measures include course evaluations, student surveys, course enrollment information, retention in the major, alumni surveys, and graduate school placement rates. Approaches to measuring student learningMethods of measuring student learning are often characterized as summative or formative assessments:
Formative assessments can be used to measure student learning on a daily, ongoing basis. These assessments reveal how and what students are learning during the course and often inform next steps in teaching and learning. Rather than asking students if they understand or have any questions, you can be more systematic and intentional by asking students at the end of the class period to write the most important points or the most confusing aspect of the lecture on index cards. Collecting and reviewing the responses provides insight into what themes students have retained and what your next teaching steps might be. Providing feedback on these themes to students gives them insight into their own learning. You can also ask students to reflect and report on their own learning. Asking students to rate their knowledge about a topic after taking your course as compared to what they believe they knew before taking your course is an example. Considerations for Measuring Student LearningAs you develop methods for assessing your students consider:
Getting started with measuring student learningAt the course level, it is helpful to review course assignments and assessments by asking:
Cambridge International Education What is assessment for learning?Assessment for learning (AFL) is an approach to teaching and learning that creates feedback which is then used to improve students’ performance. Students become more involved in the learning process and from this gain confidence in what they are expected to learn and to what standard. One way of thinking about AFL is that it aims to ‘close the gap’ between a learner’s current situation and where they want to be in their learning and achievement. Skilled teachers plan tasks which help learners to do this. AFL involves students becoming more active in their learning and starting to ‘think like a teacher’. They think more actively about where they are now, where they are going and how to get there. Effective teachers integrate AFL in their lessons as a natural part of what they do, choosing how much or how little to use the method. AFL can be adapted to suit the age and ability of the learners involved. AFL strategies are directly linked to improvements in student performance in summative tests and examinations. Research shows that these strategies particularly help low-achieving students to enhance their learning. AFL and the relationship with formative and summative assessment The following table, based on the UK’s National Foundation for Educational Research report (NFER 2007), classifies types of formative and summative assessment as either formal or informal. It can be argued that all of the assessment strategies in this table support AFL if their ultimate use is to help the student progress in terms of their learning. A good example of using a summative assessment strategy in an AFL context is where a test or exam is used to identify a lack of understanding (e.g. in a particular area of the syllabus) and subsequently targets are set to rectify this. "In AFL, it is the purpose of assessment, rather than the nature of it, that is important."There are five main processes that take place in assessment for learning: (ii) The teacher provides feedback to each student about how to improve their learning. (iii) Students understand what successful work looks like for each task they are doing. (iv) Students become more independent in their learning, taking part in peer assessment and self-assessment. In the rest of this unit, we will look at the basics of AFL in more detail. We will examine the theory behind AFL and some of the misconceptions that people often have. Then we will focus on some practical strategies you can use in the classroom. We will also hear from both learners and teachers about their experiences of AFL in the classroom. Throughout the unit, you will be encouraged to reflect upon AFL and to think about how you can integrate it into your own classroom practice. At the end of the unit there is a glossary of key words and phrases. In this video, teacher trainer James Woodworth discusses the relationship between assessment for learning and assessment of learning:
Transcript
What is the theory behind AFL?AFL helps in making understanding and knowledge, as John Hattie describes it, ‘more visible’. AFL helps learners understand what excellence looks like and how they can develop their own work to reach that level. Feedback has a positive effect on learner achievement. In John Hattie’s seminal work on educational effectiveness, Visible Learning for Teachers (2011), Hattie ranked feedback strategies 10th out of 150 factors that bring about significant improvements in learner outcomes. This was particularly true if the strategies involved feedback about the learner’s own work. Black and Wiliam argue that if teachers use formative assessments as part of their teaching, students can learn at approximately double the rate. Hattie's research also shows that using formative assessment in the classroom brings about real-world differences in learner achievement. Attribution theory Examples of factors that a learner might feel able to control include how much effort they make and how interested they are in the subject. Non-controllable factors include luck or the amount of help the learner receives from the teacher. Learners who take part in self-assessment (as part of AFL) learn to attribute failures to controllable factors. For example, a learner doing badly on a homework assignment might realise that they focused on the wrong subject matter. Because the choice of subject matter was in their control, they can review, edit and improve the work. Being in control in this way will boost the learner’s confidence and achievement. Metacognition Learning happens when students are given opportunities to build upon previous knowledge and experiences. Research consistently shows that only telling learners what they need to know is much less effective than helping them construct meaning for themselves.
Want to know more? What are the benefits of AFL?AFL improves learner outcomes AFL increases confidence A student who receives a poor grade for a test may withdraw from learning, preferring to be thought ‘lazy’ rather than ‘stupid’. With an AFL approach, teachers give learners task-specific feedback that focuses on the work rather than ego-specific feedback that focuses on personal qualities of the learner. This encourages every learner to feel that they can improve. You can find out more about different types of feedback in this article from the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/education/k12/using-praise.aspx AFL techniques, such as peer feedback, can help more able learners to reinforce their learning by explaining ideas to less able classmates. Furthermore, peer feedback helps learners to develop diplomacy and communication skills that will be essential in many aspects of later life. AFL increases independence AFL also helps teachers. When students are taking a more active role in their learning, teachers have more time to talk to them individually. In addition, teachers have more time to reflect on what is going well in their lesson and what can be improved. AFL changes the culture of the classroom Summary
Transcript Six misconceptions about AFL‘Assessment and testing are the same thing’
‘Teachers using AFL will lose
control of their class’ ‘Peer feedback means students chatting to each other’ rather than working
on a task' ‘Examinations are the only type of assessment that matter’
‘Assessment is a one-way process: teachers give students feedback about their work’ ‘Work should always be given a grade or mark’ What are the challenges of AFL?Misunderstanding Training and time Fear of change
Getting it right Culture "…using feedback to modify instruction and help learners to better understand assessment objectives will improve exam results."Want to know more?
Assessment for learning in practiceAFL emphasises the creation of a learner-centred classroom with a supportive atmosphere, where students are not afraid to make mistakes and
learn from them. 1. Questioning There are two main types of question: closed and open. A closed question requires a short answer, such as
remembering a fact. The answer is usually right or wrong. On average, teachers only wait 0.9 seconds after asking a question before taking an answer from a learner. Mary Rowe suggests that increasing ‘wait time’ to three seconds improves the quality of answers. One way to help increase ‘wait time’, and to ensure the whole class is actively engaged, is to ask your learners to write down the answer to a closed question on a piece of paper, mini whiteboard or tablet, and hold it up. This immediately gives you feedback about who understands, who does not, and therefore what the next steps in the learning might be. A good strategy to use if a learner gets the answer wrong is to make this into a
positive event. You could say: ‘I’m glad you said that, as I’m sure lots of other students have the same misunderstanding.’ Open questions need longer answers, and often require the learner to provide an opinion.
Reflection
Transcript Want to know more? 2. Feedback The aims and objectives of any assignment must be clearly understood by both the teacher and the learner. You can help by providing ‘success criteria’ before your learners start work. Feedback might involve marking. However, a learner may only remember the mark/grade and not act on any comments to improve their work. In an AFL classroom, a teacher will give ‘comment only’ feedback on their learners’ work. If you do want to add a grade, give this later on, so that the learners read the comments before they receive the grade. Effective feedback depends on task-focused comments, rather than ego-focused comments. Here is an example of ego-focused feedback: ‘Great work Melanie, the best in the class.’ This kind of feedback can make strong learners complacent, thinking that they do not have anything to do to improve. They might also be scared of trying something they find difficult in case they lose their high place. Weak learners can feel as if there is nothing they can do to get better. You
should aim to provide feedback to each learner that praises task-focused aspects of their work, but also contains targets about how to improve their learning. Reflection Want to know more? Giving learners independence is a great way for them to take responsibility for their own learning. Peer feedback also helps learners to develop their social skills and to use higher-level skills such as thinking critically and analytically. A successful peer feedback session requires learners to 'think like a teacher' for each other. Each learner will apply the success criteria to another learner’s work, and make value judgements based on these. The learner then has to give their partner ideas for how to improve the work. In doing this, they will both be increasing their own understanding of what makes a successful piece of work. At primary school level, the theory behind AFL is the same, but the tasks might be different, to reflect the different stages of the pupils’ cognitive development. For example, learners could use pictures to describe positive and negative aspects of the work. Reflection
Transcript Want to know more? Transcript 4. Self-assessment In self-assessment a learner evaluates their own work, and thinks about their own learning. This helps them to make sense of what the teacher says, relate it to previous learning and use this for new learning. Ultimately, self-assessment enables learners to set their own learning goals and be responsible for their own learning. However, be aware that learners cannot become reflective learners overnight. It takes time and practice to develop these skills, and the role of the teacher is crucial in encouraging this. "Students need to learn for themselves how they move up to the next level."Introducing learners to self-assessment Having thought about how their work could be improved, your learners can then set themselves targets to make their work better. These targets can cover any aspect of learning, from time management to asking more questions in class if they do not understand something. 5. The formative use of school tests and exams Return marked test or exam papers to learners, so that they can spend time understanding where they earned most marks and where they had misunderstandings. After the exam or test, find out which questions were answered less well by most learners. This will give you important information about what subjects, ideas and skills your learners need to work on. You can then focus on explaining the areas of the syllabus that gave problems to most learners. Your learners could also re-work exam questions in class in pairs or groups as a peer-learning activity. www.headguruteacher.com explains in more depth how internal school tests and exams can be used to maximise learning. AFL checklistIf you are new to AFL, it will help if you ask yourself the following questions: How effectively am I using questioning? Try waiting for at least three seconds after asking a question to get better responses from your learners. How effective is my use of feedback? If possible, set your learners tasks to do to improve their work during the next lesson. How effective is my use of peer feedback? It is a good idea to start a peer feedback session with an in-depth discussion of success criteria. You could show your learners examples of successful work from previous years. You know your learners, so you can judge whether to put them into small groups or pairs, and whether to put learners in a group with their friends. How much do I use self-assessment in my practice? Self-assessment will be most successful if you encourage your learners to practise regularly, e.g. in a ‘reflective log’ or learning journal. It is also helpful to give your learners open questions to get them started, e.g. ‘How did what I learned fit in with what I already know?’ Am I helping my students learn effectively from summative assessments? It can be successful to adapt your future schemes of work based on what learners found difficult to allow more time to teach challenging concepts. Next steps: Four ideas to put into practiceWhat is the best way to get started with AFL? Here are four straightforward ways to introduce AFL into your teaching. Try out as many of these activities as you can. Afterwards, reflect on your experiences and consider how you can develop the technique to fit into your regular teaching schedule. 1. Questioning and discussion: Think Pair Share This strategy encourages all learners to get involved in classroom participation. It gives them time to formulate their own ideas as well as an opportunity for all learners to share their thinking with at least one other learner. Furthermore, it encourages learners to listen to each other’s ideas, and helps them to understand different viewpoints. What happens? Next, the teacher instructs them to turn to their neighbour, or a small group of neighbours, and discuss the question for several minutes. This time they record their pair or group’s thoughts. Then, the teacher calls on several pairs to tell the class what their ideas were. The first time you try this technique in class, scaffold your learners’ pair or group discussions by reminding them to listen to each other’s ideas and to ask questions of one another. A useful technique to make sure that your learners really listen to each other is to tell them that they will have to explain their partner’s ideas to the class. The records of learners’ ideas can be displayed in the classroom for all learners to share. Harvard's Project Zero has more information about 'Think Pair Share'. 2. Feedback from the teacher: Comment-only marking What happens? At the start of the next lesson, give back the work with the comments. Then allow time for the learners to improve the assignment, responding to your comments. After the learners have improved their work, you could give out grades so that the learners know what level they were working at. 3. Feedback from the learner: Traffic lights What
happens? Another way of doing this with several topics or concepts would be to give your learners a handout with a grid on which they can identify their understanding level with a smiley, sad or neutral face. 4. Peer feedback on an assignment What happens? (The first time you try peer assessment with your class, it is useful to scaffold the activity so that your learners know what to do. Use a previous learner’s assignment, and read this through with the class. Then ask them to rate the work, noting how much each ‘success criterion’ was achieved.) Learners read each other’s assignments and make notes on how much each success criterion was achieved. Then, in pairs, the learners give each other written and/or and verbal feedback, based on the success criteria. While your learners are giving each other feedback, walk around the class to monitor the feedback that each pair is giving. You can join in discussions to add your opinion if learners need some help giving feedback. At the end of the session, ask your learners how they found the experience. Encourage them by praising how they have done the task and emphasise how this process takes time and practice to be effective. Here is some helpful advice for implementing AFL in your classroom:
Transcript Want to know more? New online course Our new course Getting Started with Assessment for Learning will help you to understand how to apply assessment for learning in your teaching practice. During the course you will explore the following questions: - What is assessment for learning? - What does effective assessment for learning look like? - How does assessment for learning apply to my own practice? - What is my action plan? - How do I know that including assessment for learning in my classes made a positive impact? For more information on the course and how to book your place visit our website.Glossary
Active learning Assessment for learning Closed question Cold calling Critical thinking Ego-specific feedback Feedback Formative assessment Marking scheme Metacognition Mixed ability Objectively Open question Reflective journal/log Reflective practice
Reinforce Scaffold learning Self-efficacy
Subject curriculum Success criteria Summative assessment Syllabus Target
Task-specific feedback Tutorial Wait time What are the 4 types of assessment in special education?A Guide to Types of Assessment: Diagnostic, Formative, Interim, and Summative.
Who are involved in assessment?Learners should always be involved in the assessment process from commencement to completion. Initial assessment involves the learner by ascertaining their prior learning, current skills and knowledge. The results can be used as a foundation on which to agree a suitable assessment plan.
What are curriculumIn short, curriculum-based measurement is a powerful assessment tool teachers can use to both test and measure student progress. Curriculum-based measurement probes are typically given to students to assess their reading, spelling, writing, and math skills.
What is used to assess educational outcomes?Summative assessments - tests, quizzes, and other graded course activities that are used to measure student performance. They are cumulative and often reveal what students have learned at the end of a unit or the end of a course.
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