Portfolio Self Assessment
Reflecting back on the 3 Important Aspects of Assessment from the beginning of the course, many of my initial important aspects of assessment were on the right track but did not encompass everything that is needed for a successful assessment. Formative and summative assessments, growth and potential, and reinforcing and challenging student learning are all important, but after CEP 813 I find myself making changes to what I thought was important. A few elements that I do feel I was lacking in my earlier version are the importance of learning goal/standard alignment, being meaningful to the learner and providing construtive feedback. Beginning of the course beliefs on assessment: Formative and Summative Assessments
Growth and Potential
Reinforcing and Challenging Student Learning
New Beliefs Formative and summative assessments are essential for successful teaching but I would now place a greater emphasis on formative assessments. Drawing on learning from module 1, Shepard explains the need for assessments to be a continuous and active process. Formative assessments have a great potential for both informing teaching and providing an easier transition to a growth mindset. There is still a place for summative assessment but should be used sparingly. With this change in emphasis it also provides a greater chance of giving constructive feedback, providing students with the opportunity to realize and correct any misconceptions. This is drawn from module 3, in The Seven Principles of Good Feedback by Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, they describe many key characteristics that should be found in good feedback from feedback clarifying good performance to helping shape your teaching. The use of constructive feedback was not an important consideration for me initially. I always found it to be an aspect of assessment but to be more reflective in nature. After taking CEP 813, I realize that I should have been looking at constructive feedback as a way of furthering a students knowledge rather than just reflecting on it. When completing the Critical Review of a Content Management Systems, I found the systems ability to leave direct, constructive feedback to be crucial. I also saw my attitude change towards the ability to give feedback in the Formative Assessment Design assignment. The ability to give direct feedback in Google Slides, a key area of the assessment, was a clear advantage that I previously would not have realized as a great importance. I stand by my initial statement on the benefits of a well planned assessment having the ability to provide evidence of a student’s growth and potential. While the importance of this aspect of assessment has not changed for me, this course has helped me identify more details to support this statement and ways to more effectively implement it in my own classroom. In module 1, we took a critical look at Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment by the National Research Council and it helped me establish some fundamental ideas about assessment. It supported the importance of establishing accurate measurements in my assessments by explaining necessary elements that should be included such as cognition, observation and interpretation. In module 5, taking a critical look at the constraints and affordances of content management systems was a great chance for me to look more seriously at using their assessment features to both effectively incorporate digital technology and make it more efficient in my classroom. The fluidity of systems like Google Classroom, which I did a critical review on, have great potential for creating assessments that show a students growth and potential. Through the use of Google Form, within an assessment that I created for Google Classroom, gave me the affordance of quick, seamless data on student learning. In module 6, I have always enjoyed games, especially video games, and had always wondered how I could successfully implement this, while still being taken seriously by my peers. I found the concepts of semiotic domain and procedural rhetoric to be a very helpful way of articulating a game’s educational benefits. This could not be more true than in Bogost’s example of the game Oregon Trail and the difference between it’s semiotic domain and procedural rhetoric. It’s examples like this, which I have seen used in classrooms, that caused personal hesitation for using games in my classroom. I now feel that I can weigh the affordances and constraints of a games educational value and articulate them to my peers with the help of creating both my Game-Based Assessment Plan and my own Twine game on Jane Addams. While I still believe that an assessment should reinforce and challenge student learning, by framing this in the idea of using appropriate standards and learning goals will ensure that student learning is naturally reinforced. In module 4, the Universal Design for Learning guidelines by Meyer and Gordon, they stress the importance of an assessment being construct relevant. Without appropriate learning goals and standards, the assessment will neither reinforce the content nor accomplish the intended objectives of a lesson and/or unit, rendering it a waste of time. This idea became more clear when in module 2, while reviewing Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design framework, I came to the realization that by taking the idea of “beginning with the end in mind” and framing a unit by establishing an assessment first, naturally lends itself to reinforcing student learning. Following these ideas, if done correctly, will also naturally lead to deeper levels of understanding. While ensuring an assessment is rooted in appropriate standards and learning goals is very important, I also must mention the aspect of assessments needing to also be meaningful. This can serve as a great way of making content relevant and keeping students engaged in their learning. In module 1, Shepard explains the importance of learning being “authentic and connected to the real-world”, which is something that was profound to me. Looking at assessments through a lense of being meaningful and aligning to standards/learning goals helped in the creation of my Game-Based Assessment. When thinking about a way of incorporating Twine into my 3rd grade social studies curriculum I had many Chicago history topics that would have fit into appropriate standards and learning goals, reversing the Chicago river, the Great Chicago Fire, etc. But after considering the semiotic domain and procedural rhetoric, it would have been difficult to make these topics meaningful to my students within the context of Twine. Then I came to the narrative of Jane Addams, by having students interact with her story using Twine, it would both align with appropriate standards and learning goals but also be a meaningful way of exploring her personal story. Overall I feel that I have been able to take a lot away from the content and assignments of CEP 813. Having made assignments relatable to my classroom makes me excited for the 2018-19 school year. I look forward to using my new found tools to better assess my students. References Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Meyer, A. Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: Theory and practice. Wakefield, MA: CAST. National Research Council. 2001. Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10019. Nicol, D., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from http://p2047-ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=133964&scope=site GOOGLE DOC
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Questions:
Is my assessment meaningful?
Does my assessment address my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)?
Does my assessment provide the opportunity for constructive feedback?
Is my assessment actively informing my teaching?
Is my assessment measuring what my students know and understand?
Question 1: Is my assessment meaningful? The question is rooted in whether or not my assessment involves critical thinking and real-world application. If the assessment is inauthentic and meaningless then students will be disengaged. While this applies to my students overall learning experience, it also translates into my own teaching. By staying authentic and meaningful in assessment I am able to be more passionate, translating to improved student engagement and achievement. By knowing this about my assessment I can also ensure that identifying “What’s the big idea?” or “Why should we learn this?” is digestible for students (Shepard, 2000, p. 7). For example, in a recent project my 3rd grade students were working on, they were given an issue of insufficient revenue in a simulated community that they had been building as part of our lesson on community issues. A few of the students used their prior knowledge of taxes that we had briefly talked about earlier in the year. While this was far from the outcome that I was expecting them to come to. They viewed the problem from the eyes of an Alderman, someone that we had met (Wiggins and MicTighe, 2005, p. 94). By giving a complex, realistic problem to solve they rose to the challenge and reached a deeper level of understanding. Evidence of Understanding Shepard (2000) explains that “School learning should be authentic and connected to the world outside for school not only to make learning interesting and motivating to students but also to develop the ability to use knowledge in real-world settings” (p. 7). Shepard (2000) raises an interesting point for the importance of keeping learning, therefore assessment, relative to the world outside of school. In my experience, when students are posed problems that could or have happened, they have a vested interest in coming to a solution. My assessment needs to reflect this, if it does not have a real-life connection then I should revisit what it is I am assessing and ask myself if their is a different angle that I could take to make it more relatable. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) support this idea by saying, “The problems that we develop for students should be as close as possible to the situation in which a scholar, artist, engineer or other professional attacks a problem” (p. 94). My assessments should consider this idea, because if my students can see the real connections to what they see in a professional context, then I will have a better chance of keeping them engaged. For example, if I am giving a formative assessment on current events and I only pose vague overarching questions with no connection to their lives, they will likely struggle to consider its value. If I see that students are able to make connections to their lives, then they have provided evidence that my assessment is meaningful. Question 2: Does my assessment align with my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)? It is essential that my assessment is related to the establishment of my learning goals, therefore ensuring alignment with content standards. This will help ensure that I am meeting my long-term goals for student learning and understanding. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) talk extensively about the alignment of established learning goals in Understanding by Design. I found the question, “What should they walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activities or texts we use?”(p. 17) to be profound in my establishment of learning goals and the way that I think about them. Adhering to content standards is especially difficult when you are focused on teaching a lesson that does not correctly align with what students will be assessed on. In my experience, if an assessment is given and students struggle, it is frustrating for both the students and teacher. Being able to avoid this by clearly planning with the end in mind will help to ensure that students are progressing in the way that I have intended and provides a much more pleasant learning experience for both student and teacher. Evidence of Understanding It is imperative to have established learning goals that are aligned in an assessment because without them I may fall into “...[having] no check on the teachers habit of merely teaching to short-term, content-related objectives” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005, p. 58). Being able to consistently refer back to established learning goals will provide a more comprehensive understanding. Using the UbD framework will be the most efficient way of allowing content standards and learning goals to drive my students learning (p. 24-25). To take this a step further Shepard raises the point of, “...content of assessments should match challenging subject matter standards and serve to instantiate what it means to know and learn in each of the disciplines” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7). By clearly stating learning goals in the beginning of my assessment, I am making sure that my students are informed of the goals I have set for them. Question 3: Does my assessment provide the opportunity for constructive feedback? It is important that both students and teacher have a chance to reflect back on an assessment and be given confirmative, critical and constructive feedback. (Van Den Bergh et. al, 2013) Black and Wiliam (1998) also talk about the importance of the quality of the feedback that you are giving to students (p. 41). For the student it is important that they get the opportunity to reflect on an assessment to identify what they have done successfully and what they need to improve on. This needs to be performed on a deeper level than simply right or wrong but as a conversation of learning. It is equally important for the teacher to reflect on his/her own teaching based on student performance from an assessment . Evidence of Understanding To improve the effectiveness of student feedback, you must be cognizant of “student motivation and self-confidence” to avoid discouragement, this is often a “balancing act” (Shepard, 2000, p. 11). Keeping this in mind when planning to give feedback is crucial, because if done incorrectly, it can cause a complete shutdown or even confrontation to feedback. Using feedback from student assessments, a teacher can gain a better understanding of where they may have needed to better support their students and “know what to do next” (Hattie, 2007, p. 102). While feedback is important, the type of feedback could be argued as more important and should come in the form of “confirmative, critical, and constructive feedback” (van den Bergh et. al, 2013, p. 357). Interestingly the study found that in only 1.3% of the interactions observed encompassed all three of these forms of feedback were present (p. 357). I will be looking to ensure that I have set aside enough time after an assessment for my reflections, their self-reflections, and possible peer-reflections (when appropriate). Building this into my assessments will be the best way of giving every possible opportunity for my student to receive appropriate feedback to improve understanding. Question 4: Is my assessment actively informing my teaching? I need to use formative assessments to effectively guide my teaching in the direction that will benefit my students. Without the necessary evidence of how students are progressing through content, giving a summative assessment at the end of a unit could prove the whole unit to have been a waste of time. By creating formative assessments as checkpoints throughout a unit the teacher is able to make adjustments, for both clarifying expectations and to refocus (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.141). With the right frequency of formative assessments, I can ensure that my teaching is being done successfully and efficiently as possible (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2006, p. 214). Evidence of Understanding I will need to ensure that my formative assessment is a quick diagnostic task that leaves room for identifying students level of understanding (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2006, p. 215). I will also need to make sure that my assessment does not solely “rely on recall” or “as an external accountability thermometers”(Hattie, 2007, p. 104). If I want my assessment to effectively inform my teaching and provide a better learning experience for my students, the assessment must be rooted in relevant information that informs the overall understanding of the content. With this information, I will be able to make informed interventions to guide my teaching on a day to day or lesson to lesson basis (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 20). Question 5: How is my assessment measuring what my students know and understand? When I am assessing student learning I should be using methods that accurately reflect what my students know and understand. If I am using the wrong measurements then the resulting conclusions from an assessment are meaningless (National, 2001, p. 54). When thinking about an assignment in project based learning, I need to ensure that I am giving my students measurements, possibly in the form of a rubric, that is accurately measuring their varying degrees of learning (Wiggins, 2005, p. 175-176). If throughout the course of a project they are unsure of how they are being assessed, then this is a confusing experience that did not include the information that they needed to be successful. But if students are given a rubric that explains, in detail, the varying degrees to which they will be assessed, then the expectations are known and can be achieved. Finally, by a rubric having distinct numbers associated with their completion of the criteria, the project can accurately be measured for overall understanding of the content. Evidence of Understanding To be intentional in the way that I am designing my assessments I need to make sure that I am including all of the necessary elements of assessment. In order to do this I should include elements of cognition, observation, and interpretation (National, 2001, p. 54). Students should be able to show that they are comprehending the subject matter on a metric that makes sense for their learning. In the previous example of the rubric, by students meeting the criteria that has been set, I can ensure a measurement of their learning. This can be hard task when considering the fact that all assessments inherently have some bias on the part of the teacher or curriculum director. Reliability in patterns, by checking for understanding at a rate that is frequent and appropriate, I can validate my assessments of learning (Wiggins, 2005, p. 188). References Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Assessment and Classroom Learning, 5(1), 7-74. doi: 10.1080/0969595980050102 Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-144; 146-148. Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. National Research Council. 2001. Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10019. Nicol, D., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. van den Berghe, L., Ros, A., & Beijaard, D. (2013). Teacher feedback during active learning: Current practices in primary schools. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 341-362. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.2012.02073.x Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_tnhk-awuHlO0wlYwXb3mDdtxDgpXN8LbD071kV0lI/edit?usp=sharing Assignment Reflection: Overall I felt that this assignment had benefits in creating a great reference guide, but its requirements made it especially challenging for me. Including the required two citations from two different modules for both the question paragraph and evidence of understanding paragraph at times felt like a stretch. Using my ADC 2.0 to review a colleagues FAD was very beneficial in two ways. It both forced me to revisit my ADC and apply it to someone else's work, which was a refreshing way of looking at my own work. I also struggled to come up with my fifth and final question because I felt as though I had touched on the most important criteria to look for in an assessment. While I’m sure I could have seperated an idea from another question and made it its own question. It would have been taking something away from the initial question that I wanted to ask. While in some of the criteria for this assignment was challenging for me, I felt that it ultimately was a beneficial exercise to work through my understanding around creating an effective assessment. Questions and Evidence of Understanding
Is my assessment meaningful?
Does my assessment address my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)?
Does my assessment provide the opportunity for feedback to improve learning?
Checklist Annotations Question 1: Is my assessment meaningful? The question is rooted in whether or not my assessment involves critical thinking and real-world application. If the assessment is inauthentic and meaningless then students will be disengaged. While this applies to my students overall learning experience, it also translates into my own teaching. By staying authentic and meaningful in assessment I am able to be more passionate, translating to improve student engagement and achievement. By knowing this about my assessment I can also ensure that identifying “What’s the big idea?” or “Why should we learn this?” is more digestible for students. For example, in a recent project my 3rd grade students were working on, they were given an issue of insufficient revenue in a simulated community that they had been building as part of our lesson on community issues. A few of the students used their prior knowledge of taxes that we had briefly talked about earlier in the year. While this was far from the outcome that I was expecting them to come to. By giving a complex, realistic problem to solve they rose to the challenge and reached a deeper level of understanding. Evidence of Understanding Shepard explains that “School learning should be authentic and connected to the world outside for school not only to make learning interesting and motivating to students but also to develop the ability to use knowledge in real-world settings.” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7) Shepard raises an interesting point for the importance of keeping learning, therefore assessment, relative to the world outside of school. In my experience, when students can be posed problems that could or have happened they have a vested interest in coming to a solution. Wiggins & McTighe support this idea by saying, “The problems that we develop for students should be as close as possible to the situation in which a scholar, artist, engineer or other professional attacks a problem.”(Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 94) As long as I keep my assessment relatable, students will be able to make real-world connections to their learning. Question 2: Does my assessment align with my established learning goals (i.e. content standards)? It is essential that my assessment is related to the establishment of my learning goals, therefore ensuring alignment with content standards. This will help keep to my long-term goals for student understanding. Wiggins and McTighe talk extensively about the alignment of established learning goals in Understanding by Design (2005). I found their question, “What should they walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activities or texts we use?” to be profound in my thought process of established learning goals (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 17). Evidence of Understanding It is imperative to have established learning goals that are aligned in assessment because without them I may fall into “...[having] no check on the teacher habit of merely teaching to short-term, content-related objectives” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 58). Being able to consistently refer back to established learning goals will provide a more comprehensive understanding. To take this a step further Shepard raises the point of, “...content of assessments should match challenging subject matter standards and serve to instantiate what it means to know and learn in each of the disciplines” (Shepard, 2000, p. 7). Question 3: Does my assessment provide the opportunity for feedback to improve learning? It is important that both the student and the teacher have a chance to reflect back on an assessment and be given constructive feedback. For the student it is important that they get the opportunity to reflect on an assessment to identify what they have done successfully and what they need to improve on. This needs to be performed on a deeper level than simply right or wrong but as a conversation of learning. It is equally important for the teacher to reflect on his/her own teaching based on student performance from an assessment. Evidence of Understanding To improve the effectiveness of student feedback, you must be cognizant of “student motivation and self-confidence” to avoid discouragement, this is often a “balancing act” (Shepard, 2000, p. 11). Using the feedback of student assessment, a teacher can gain a better understanding of where they may have needed to better support their students and “know what to do next” (Hattie, 2007, p. 102). References Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Google Document Link Formative and Summative Assessments
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AuthorMy name is Ryan MacLeod and I live in Seattle, WA. I am currently a K-8 Lab Coordinator. I have a passion for educational technology integration and curriculum design, especially when it comes to the social sciences. Archives
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