The article by Boarer- Pitchford (2014) discussed the importance of critical thinking in college education and encouraged educators to use authentic assessments that require students to demonstrate the understanding of course concepts and promote the development of critical thinking based on the results of their study that examined make up of test grades derived from traditional and authentic assessment and factors that influenced the educators use of assessment techniques. On the other hand, the article by Wiggins (2013) discussed ways to help students reach high standards by rethinking the notion of mastery. While all three articles have valuable information that can be used in developing assessments and rubrics, I decided to analyze …show more content…
The current trends in assessments put an emphasis on process of learning and not just the end product. In spite of this shift, similar to me, for many educators, the appropriate use of traditional and authentic assessments is still unclear. The article by Montgomery (2002) discusses the recent shift in assessment practices and describes the importance of using authentic assessments. The authentic assessments are based on the constructivist approach that require students to actively construct knowledge and therefore, assessed using demonstration of their knowledge through application to real life or simulated projects. While traditional assessments are easy to administer and grade, these do not assess the child’s problem solving skills or critical thinking abilities. On the contrary, developing authentic tasks is not only time consuming but difficult, these assessments help to assess what students know and what they can do with the acquired knowledge. The author suggests that authentic assessments should include real-life tasks, performance and challenges that are faced by professionals in real life. In addition, the author suggests that similar product should be compared to each other using the same criteria. In addition, both process and product should be assessed and the criteria for evaluation (rubric) should be made available to students in advance. A rubric should be designed carefully to define precise
Improved Assessment Literacy: Unlike the current education system that treats assessment more separated from teaching, the core teaching standards recognize that teachers need to have greater knowledge and skill on how to develop a number of assessments, how to balance use of formative and summative assessment as
These assessments offer a better view of true student learning than standardized tests. Students must be able to to think and work together to find a solution as opposed to the multiple guess tests used to measure student achievement. To truly understand what knowledge students possess and own the assessment must be able to evaluate true student
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.
There is a large variety of assessment methods available for assessing learners’ achievements. These include observation; questioning the learner; examining product evidence; discussion; witness testimony; looking at learner statements; recognising prior learning; simulated environment; skills tests; oral and written examinations; assignments; case studies and projects. Choosing the most appropriate assessment methods is vitally important, to help and support the learner and to ensure the job of the assessor is as straightforward, reliable and problem-free as possible.
Through the identification of these assessment methods, I will analyse their purpose and the role that they play in my learner’s development; and how these are used to identify learner progress and confirm their knowledge and understanding. I will explore theories and principals of assessment, covering formative and
Assessments are the process of evaluating an individual’s learning. They involve generating and collecting evidence of a learner’s attainment of knowledge and skills and judging that evidence against defined standards. Formative Assessments (quizzes and practical tests) are used to
First, I did some research about appropriate math activities for 3-year-old children. At the beginning of the semester the preschool class I oversee had a week where pizzeria was the focus in our dramatic play. Many of the children spent most of their self-selected time making pizzas and severing them to one another, so I decided to make my activity pizza related. I gathered a baking pan, colored containers, pizza crusts, and pizza toppings for the activity. Then I placed the supplies neatly on a child-sized table for the children to play and create their own
Efficient educators know and understand the importance of selecting, planning, and implementing effective assessment tools and strategies that measure student’s levels of understanding. Different types of assessments are used for a broad range of purposes that include formative, placement, diagnostic, and summative assessments. However, the main purpose is to “foster learning in all its forms” (Lefrancois, 2013, Ch. 6.1). Teachers use pre, formative, and summative assessments to determine what students know before, during, and after instruction. Each measurement is used to plan, modify, and adjust instruction to meet the needs of all learners. Although each form of assessment plays a critical role in ensuring all students succeed, educators
Classroom assessment involves the professional decision of the teacher to determine how to implement assessment, what should be assessed, and when should assessment occur. Teachers must be able to interpret each students’ unique learning abilities in ways that are credible, fair, and free from bias. Possible factors to consider when creating these multiple formats for assessments include gender, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic backgrounds, and special needs. Each and every student in the classroom should be give the same opportunity to display their strengths. And it is important for teachers to properly manage an assessment plan that will benefit students, as well as the teachers, in the classroom. Eventually, a well-constructed assessment plan will be able to contribute to the development of lifelong learners within the teacher and the students.
From the time we enter a preschool program or Kindergarten, our abilities, knowledge and development are consistently being assessed. Assessment has occured throughout all aspects of my education, from the spelling tests I took in elementray school, to the Connecticut Mastery tests, to the SAT’s in high school, and even to the placement tests I took for the community college I attended. These assessments may not have been the most pleasurable experiences that occurred during my education, but they were very important.
In today’s current school systems, the question of whether or not schools are correctly teaching students the right curriculum is coming up for debate. In the Article,"Teaching Critical Thinking by Marcia Clemmitt, she goes into extensive research of the U.S. Department of Education’s crisis of standardized testing. Most learning activities include standardized testing which lacks many students to express creative and critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as the examination and evaluation of ideas, events and arguments in their contexts which introduces students to interrogate assumptions and identifying biases (Clemmitt)Pure critical thinking involves investigating a text more than just memorizing, but to apply theirself in other ways of techniques, meaning schools should stimulate more analytical methods of teaching. This would not only free students from a sheltered test culture,but will allow students to think in a deeper,more passionate way than before.
Bergen (1993) and Dennis, Rueter, & Simpson (2013) both shared similarities that authentic assessment is performance based, and addresses how it relates to their belief that it provides numerous opportunities for students to show mastery of content. This manifested when Bergen (1993) shared a story of her earliest association with authentic assessment:
Assessments are integral parts of instruction, they determine whether classroom goals have been achieved, and help teachers know what areas they should focus on and maybe reteach. They are great tools for developing lesson plans and answer questions such as; “do my students possess full understanding of the material?” There are many ways of assessing students’ learning, one of which I have personal experience with are on-the-spot assessments.
Assessments provide learners opportunities to develop mastery of their ideas, skills and competencies, whilst educators use assessment tasks as both teaching and learning tools (Spiller, 2009:6 & 7).
Informal assessment allows students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways which can benefit all students. It can include group or individual projects, presentations, essays, experiments, or demonstrations. Each of these can allow for “knowledge that transfers from one situation to another [which] is based on students’ abilities to understand central principles, see connections and make distinctions, and be strategic in attacking problems and analyzing information” (Darling-Hammond, p. 285). A variety of assessment methods allow for this to happen and for students to use their personal strengths to demonstrate understanding of the information. “Research into students’ preferences for alternative assessments shows that the assessments that have been positively evaluated by students were more authentic and thus made learning more realistic and powerful” (as cited in Brown, Irving, Peterson, and Hirschfeld, 2009, p. 99). Students should be able to think creatively and take hold of their own education and learning because they must ideally be prepared for a rapidly changing society where they must be able to adapt and formulate their own solutions. Teachers are able to provide feedback to the children so they know what was done effectively and what needs to be modified. Rather than teachers pressuring students to show understanding through a single examination, they will have opportunities to confidently demonstrate knowledge with less