Show What You Know
In the reading assignment for this module, the chapter about assessment really stood out to me. As teachers or administrators so much of our decisions are based on data from assessments whether formal or informal. While reading the chapters discussing aligning your instruction with your outcomes and assessing your instruction accordingly, I was reminded of the cartoon I started with here. We have all seen this at some time or another used in some context. But it is so true of assessment if it is not aligned to our learning. If our assessment does not match our outcomes or objectives, it is useless. We cannot expect our students or participants to do something we have not prepared them for. This brought me back to the earlier principal Larson and Lockee (2014) pointed out regarding “beginning with the end in mind” when designing instruction. This simple concept will make sure that our assessment is appropriate as well. I also found myself nodding my head during the marshmallow illustration from chapter 6 when the instructor demonstrated that “it was necessary to have a target, that the target should remain constant and not move, and that the task required opportunities to practice prior to assessment” (Larson and Lockee, 2014, p.116) As a science teacher, I find students definitely tend to perform better on assessments when they have had the opportunity to interact with the material in some way. The following infographic I found called "the cone of learning" includes data that supports just that.
Interactions can be as simple as discussing with their group or partner, or as complex as a full lab experience, but it does seem to help them to comprehend the material. We also know there are different types of assessment, formative and summative, just to name a few and they all have their appropriate time and place. So, what makes for effective assessment? According to Larson and Lockee (2014) effective instruction must: “Align with the learning outcomes, be a learning experience for both the learner and the designer, and be known in advance by the learners” (p.139). I find that these three principles while simple, give us exactly what we need. We have to know what we want from our students before we start (begin with the end in mind, align with the outcomes), it has to be ongoing and guide our instruction (we have to reteach or support the learner if necessary), and we must let our students know what we are going to expect from them up front. So, the instructor who used the marshmallow demonstration was right “on target” with her “assessment of assessment.”
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| Cone of Learning |
Interactions can be as simple as discussing with their group or partner, or as complex as a full lab experience, but it does seem to help them to comprehend the material. We also know there are different types of assessment, formative and summative, just to name a few and they all have their appropriate time and place. So, what makes for effective assessment? According to Larson and Lockee (2014) effective instruction must: “Align with the learning outcomes, be a learning experience for both the learner and the designer, and be known in advance by the learners” (p.139). I find that these three principles while simple, give us exactly what we need. We have to know what we want from our students before we start (begin with the end in mind, align with the outcomes), it has to be ongoing and guide our instruction (we have to reteach or support the learner if necessary), and we must let our students know what we are going to expect from them up front. So, the instructor who used the marshmallow demonstration was right “on target” with her “assessment of assessment.”
Larson, M., & Lockee, B. (2014). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design. New York, New York: Routledge.
Lim, J. (2012, May 1). Finance and Listening to Nature. Retrieved July 16, 2015, from http://joycelim.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/cone_of_learning.png
Rao, S. (2014, June 26). Top 10 Traits of a Good Tester. Retrieved July 16, 2015, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140616032541-3446415-top-10-traits-of-a-good-tester
Zody, O. (2015, April 1). Summative VS. Formative Assessments. Retrieved July 16, 2015, from https://youtu.be/-DrFt_tqMSU
Farrah, throughout my 14 years of teaching, I have seen assessment come in varying forms. I remember when the ARMT was first introduced, and now we have moved on to the ACT Aspire. I had a discussion with my principal once about how the things I do not like about my job have nothing to do with things that we can actually control, but are basically because of decisions made by people who have never stepped foot in a classroom--or haven't been in one for quite some time. One of the arguments I have heard about testing was that teachers "teach to the test". Now, I understand what they mean, but I think that statement deserves more thought. If we teach with an end goal in mind as Larson and Lockee discuss, our students should be prepared to take that test. No, we shouldn't only teach what is on the test and we should teach the standards, but the assessment should be designed to ensure the students have been taught that standard. It is possible for the assessment to have issues as well. Larson and Lockee discuss the differences in learning and levels of specificity in chapter 6. Our students learn differently, and what one child may understand is the main point of a lesson, another child may take away a different objective. I believe this is one reason that Dr. Bice has stressed us to relax about standardized testing. At one point we were passing up the "teachable moments" because we were worried about the test.
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