Although assessment is tenuous to neatly define and deploy, it plays an essential role in the learning process for both the teacher and the student. For the teacher, formative or summative assessment is a means of determining whether or not students are learning and understanding. There is a seamlessness in the relationship between the teacher and assessment, and Wiggins and McTighe (2006) go so far as to propose a "teacher assessor" role. These authors place assessment in the context of teaching by posing two questions in Stage 2 of the UbD matrix: "what is evidence of the desired results" and "what is the appropriate evidence of desired understanding" (Wiggins and McTighe, 2006, p.147). Assessment varies by the teacher, but is almost always not a one-off and occurs along a continuum. Wiggins and McTighe (2006) argue that "rather than using a single test, of one type, at the end of teaching, effective teacher-assessors gather lots of evidence along the way, using a variety of methods and formats" (p.152). Types of teacher assessment may be evidenced as "performance tasks, academic prompts, quiz and test items, and informal checks for understanding" (Wiggins and McTighe, 2006, p.153). Although it may be easier to assess for learning based on rote memorization, the emphasis should be on assessment for knowledge that represents transferability. Wiggins and McTighe (2006) explicate that "understanding is revealed in performance" and "assessment for understanding must be grounded in authentic performance-based tasks" (p.153). This would include the transference of knowledge to the real world, and how understanding in one area may lead to content mastery in others. Holistic and analytical rubrics have utility in terms of assessment of student performance.
Assessment is also a tool for the student and heavily impacts the learning experience. Lombardi (2008) notes that research has shown that "students engage with subject matter based in part on their expectations about how their achievement will be evaluated" (p.1). Effective assessment as a tool guides the student, and will allow for recalibration in the learning process. The type of assessment used by the teacher influences the student's engagement with the subject matter. Students are able to modify their use of assessment as a tool, as they progress in the learning experience. Lombardi (2008) argues that there has been a change in undergraduate attitudes towards assessment, and that these students now view themselves as "learning consumers" (p.4). As such, these students are using assessment as a tool for "increased transparency from instructors" and they also want "processes in place to help them improve and develop, guided by clear, practical, and specific feedback" (Lombardi, 2008, p.4).
Sources:
Lombardi, M. (2008, January). Making the grade: the role of assessment in authentic learning. Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/ELI/MakingtheGradeTheRoleofAssessm/162389
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2006). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
I can really relate as a learner to the points you brought into the discussion from Lombardi’s article. I find myself falling into the category of students who “engage in the subject matter based in part on their expectations about how their achievement will be evaluated”. I know that I vary the depth of study based upon how I need to use the information later. If I am reading for pleasure I might skip some of the lengthy descriptions in a book because I am so eager to move on to the action or the meat of the story. If I know there will be a comprehensive exam on the material that I am learning then I not only read as carefully as possible, but I also spend time reviewing key concepts, vocabulary, or whatever else I think I might need based upon previous experiences. If I am applying what I am learning directly to my job then I might find something that sparks an interest, stop reading or researching, and try to apply it and then go back to learning/research mode for problem solving or further application. I learn best if I can apply information right away in a real world situation, similar to assessment ideas that Wiggins and McTighe presented in their text.
ReplyDeleteLombardi’s further supposition that students want clear assessment processes in place with “specific feedback” that allows them to improve supports the idea of the importance of a clear assignment rubric design such as the examples provided in Wiggins and McTighe. When students have clear expectations for the assignment it is easier to make decisions about the quality of work that is being produced. These rubrics could also assist students in learning to evaluate their own work during the editing process, thus assisting them in making steady improvements in the final product and hopefully in the whole learning process while understanding more about themselves as learners.
This conversation is an important one for educators to be having. I agree that ongoing, performance-based, authentic assessments are the best way to ensure students are learning. However, this is a manner of doing things that conflicts with the data driven mandates. Some teachers are required to constantly test students, crunch numbers, and analyze these results. How do we move from that system to one structured in authentic assessments? It is hard for me to conceptualize the creation of this new form of assessments-- and when I do, I feel as if I am struggling-- not only with the implementation of new material, but also against a system that is deeply ingrained in the educational psyche of this country.
ReplyDeleteSuch good comments (and initial thought-provoking post)! I agree wholeheartedly with Amie's note about the varying levels of depth, effort, and value placed on material according to its "end use." I definitely modulate my degree of attention and focus according to the assessment (the summative evaluation of the, hopefully learned, material). What I find intriguing is that, as Courtney pointed out, the emphasis on measurement and quantification often drowns out the serendipitous nature of knowledge as discovery, of both self and world.
ReplyDeleteOften we learn best and incorporate what we have learned into our framework for viewing and acting in the world when our learning is a) self-directed and b) applicable to real life situations. To me, we need to address both of these angles if we want to create more meaningful assessment strategies and platforms. Inviting students into the learning process involves providing them with the opportunity and the means to identify independent topics of interest and inquiry and even to design their own forms of assessment. In this way we create empowered learners who are motivated, curious, and in a perpetual process of self discovery. Incorporating "real world" assessment practices into school curriculum allows for the "transferability" Wiggins & McTighe and Mike identify as central to the UbD matrix of teaching and learning.
....How these practices and innovations actually "fit in" to our current educational system....maybe I'm a pessimist, but in my opinion much of public education, from its inception, has been structured around producing workers and consumers rather than nurturing human creativity and questioning. The system is hierarchical and mandates submission to authority from beginning to end. There are alternative models out there, but they remain on the sidelines rather than framing the mainstream of our debates and visions of the educational process.