Now That My Marking’s Done, Now What???

Now That My Marking’s Done,Now What??? Brent Galloway Lori Stuber

Use of formative assessment is essential to nurturing critical thoughtful students who become active, engaged, and critical assessors of their own learning. There are many right ways to support student learning through classroom assessment. There are no hard and fast rules, only ideas to be thoughtfully explored and decisions to be made. Assessment can be a source of motivation and engagement for students.

Our students live in a culture characterized by expectations of entitlement. In this culture, students learn to value what they have more than who they are, and success is measured by how much they have, not by how much personal effort and growth it takes to achieve something. Becoming is more important than beingThe journey is more important than the destinationThe learning is more valuable than the grade

Plan the learning activities to teach the outcomes. Communicate criteria to students Identify Learning Targets/Outcomes Determine evidence to show learning of outcomes Assessment: Formula for Success A Five Step Planning Process Examine evidence to determine level of achievement Interpret results to determine next steps

Three Step Interview • Interviewer • Respondent • Recorder Topic #1: What are the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes of your course/program and how do you/could you communicate these to the students?

Assessments Measure What Matters Most Assessments are a Source of Motivation and Engagement Assessments nurture continued growth Three Keys to Assessment Rich Instruction

Why Change Classroom Assessment Practices? • For post secondary schooling to remain relevant to the 21stcentury • To adequately prepare all students for an active role in an uncertain future; they need to be creative, critical thinkers • To respond to changing societal demands of education and the demand for more accountability and transparency

Education – Past and Present Past • Schooling beyond basic skills and knowledge seen as required only by a few • Learning believed to be the accumulation of bits of information best learned through repetition • Learning ended after school was done • Present • High school graduation seen to be the minimum education required for all; learn for life • Students need to be proficient in critical thinking, problem solving and effective communication • Learning viewed as a process of constructing understanding by fusing prior knowledge with new learning

Assessment – Past and Present Past • -Used as a mechanism for creating an index of learning • -Teachers taught, tested and made judgments about student achievement • -grades more important than feedback • -Norm referenced • Present • -Assessment is a powerful process for enhancing learning • -Assessment can either motivate or de-motivate • -Informs teaching allowing for adjustments to meet individual learning needs and curricular needs • -Criteria referenced

Changing Assessment Paradigms Traditional Paradigm Emerging Paradigm Assessment Assessment As Learningof Learning (Summative) Assessment for Assessment for Learning Learning (Formative) Assessment of Learning Assessment As Learning (Self Reflection)

Putting the Paradigm Shift in Perspective The heart of the paradigm shift in assessment is: • To gather rich, complex pieces of evidence • To provide the necessary scaffolding, practice, feedback and guidance to students to help them to reach their fullest potential • To acknowledge that students have various learning styles and other factors may impact on their performance • To consider most consistent to garner an accurate picture of the student

Five Key Questions to Course Design with Assessment in Mind 4. How will I use the evidence I gather to determine the student’s final grade? What criteria will I use to determine this? 5. How will I clearly communicate my assessment and grading practices to the students? (words, numbers, percentages, letters) • What are the key learning outcomes that my students need to acquire in my course? (skills, knowledge, attitudes) • What evidence will I collect to demonstrate student achievement of these outcomes? • How will I provide students with feedback, guidance and an opportunity to improve their work?

What Evidence Will I Collect to Demonstrate Achievement? • Tests • Projects • Seminars • Debates • Essays/Reports • Reflection Logs • Portfolios • Presentations • Research Papers • Labs • Quizzes • Exit Cards • Journals • Models/Demonstrations • Posters • Interviews • Self Evaluations • and much more

How will I provide students with feedback, guidance and an opportunity to improve their work? • Quizzes as practice • Rubrics • Conference with students • Written Anecdotal responses • Peer Assessment • Self Assessment • Criteria Checklists • Highlighted comments with no grade • Exit interviews • and much more

Criteria informs our assessment allowing instructors to make reasoned judgments about the quality of student work and their degree of success at achieving curricular outcomes What criteria will I use to determine a student’s grade?

Three Step Interview • Interviewer • Respondent • Recorder Topic #2: How could you assess these essential knowledge, skills and attitudes, and what kinds of critical evidence will you gather to demonstrate this?

If you want the Sistine chapel, you need to prepare the scaffolding! To assist students in reaching their fullest potential we must design curriculum which seamlessly weaves together effective instruction, rich feedback, opportunities for practice and revision, and allows for risk taking. Powerpoint adapted from the work of Garfield Gini-Newman, Lecturer, OISE/UT ggininewman@oise.utoronto.ca

Now That My Marking’s Done, Now What???