The Assessment Strategy And Feedback System

In my point of view feedback is an essential tool for learners’ progress. If the student is not assessing their work then they are not learning and given feedback are vital to ensure best practice is maintained and the learners are achieving to their full potential.

The assessment strategy should state how the subject should be assessed, and subsequent results recorded. It should also state the experience, professional development and qualifications that assessors should hold. Quality assurance requirements, for example internal and external verification or moderation, will also be stated. Organisation may also have an assessment policy which an assessor should familiarise him/herself with.

Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.

The summative assessment is a formal assessment that takes place at the end of the learning course, module or programme. It used to measure the achievement of set criteria quality of the work produced. This type of assessment is often stressful to

A summative assessment is given at pre-determined intervals. It could range from a state assessment to a benchmark test, or an end-of-unit test. It specifically is testing the knowledge that a student should have mastered by a particular point in time. A summative assessment is used for accountability.

The reliability of an assessment in a perfect situation should produce the same results if marked by another tutor or if that examiner unknowingly receives the same paper again. If different marks are given the assessment is consequently unreliable and proves that this assessment is subjective.

Assessment is carried out to ensure that learning has taken place. This is used to measures the learner’s knowledge and skills in their chosen area of learning. Assessment can be used to encourage learners to ask questions on anything they have not understood, learners at some point will have to know that they will have to prove their knowledge and understanding to the standards of the awarding body.

This can show vocabulary words that they have learned, concepts they have mastered, or subjects that they have studied. The teacher can refer back to these lists regularly to reinforce new concepts and build on old ideas. Specific feedback can be integrated into classroom discussions or on student papers, explaining problems or elaborating further on an idea that the student has learned. Immediate feedback can be critical because it can alter the course of the student’s thinking before they become more confused. The teacher who is observant can correct misinformation or misconceptions quickly to avoid further problems in the student’s learning process. This can be a result of classroom discussions, question and answer sessions, and call and response methods. All forms of feedback have benefits and when used together can create a cohesive picture of the student’s abilities and success. Instructional feedback for students can have several benefits ranging from motivating the student to achieve more to helping them develop more refined metacognition and also possibly giving the student a sense of control over their own educational success (Malley, 1994).

You should make sure that all your records are legible, and keep them confidential unless you have permission otherwise.

Learners should be given the opportunity to provide feedback throughout the course, this is necessary in order to evaluate teaching. Feedback from learners can be obtained informally as a group discussion or individually. Daines advises (2006:29) “People do expect feedback about what they are doing. Constructive feedback tells them that they are on the right lines, working to an appropriate standard and provides them with ideas on how to improve and develop. It is, motivating and confirms that what’s being

Giving constructive feedback is crucial; without it learners cannot learn (Rogers, 2004). When used to emphasise progress rather than failure, it motivates learners, building confidence and enabling them to recognise mistakes as part of a process that brings them closer to their learning goals. It can help both teacher and student to identify further learning opportunities or action to be taken.

The goal of educational assessment is to record, evaluate and enable improved student learning. The monitoring of student work, through developing understanding of key subject concepts and their achievement of syllabus objectives requires comparison against outcomes and standards. These outcomes and standards help define the criteria which is considered essential and relevant for assessment. Through correct implementation, integration, and reliability and validity, all forms of assessment should enable improved student learning when teaching is targeted towards syllabus outcomes, objectives and through highlighting gaps in student knowledge.

Trainers must choose methods that most effectively assess the objectives of the course of study. If they are choosing their own methods it will depend on whether they are assessing knowledge, skills, or attitudes. The trainer must also ensure the assessment method or activity is valid. “Does the assessed task actually assess what you want it to” (OCSLD 2002).

A Ted Talk by Sheila Heen was shown to the class today which discussed feedback and how to use it to learn and grow. We watched this video in preparation for the group feedback session in which students in the class would form small groups and discuss and give feedback on each other’s folios. The key points that I took from the presentation were:

This case study investigates the assessment practices and methods, as well as the procedures and policies in place within a Victorian non-government catholic primary school in Australia. It is located among the metropolitan area of Melbourne in the western suburbs. The school has been opened since 2004 and has an enrolment of approximately around three hundred and fifty students. The school emphasizes highly on working together with the whole community to implement positive relationships through effective programs. The school’s main focus is to implement a curriculum that will provide engaging and rich learning experiences to develop the learner’s skills and competencies that are necessary for positive contributions within the society. A junior primary school teacher named Monica of grade one students has been interviewed to gather information on the assessment and reporting practices in her classroom at the school. The teacher has been at the junior primary school with year one students for four years. Eight questions were asked amongst the interview. The questions that were asked related to the school’s assessment and reporting policies that are in place, the methods of assessment tools that are used to evaluate children’s learning, and the purpose of the assessment. The following paragraphs will report and investigate the information that was provided by Monica in relation to assessment and reporting practices among the primary school.