Assessing Students: Some Methods I Have Applied

Assessing Students: Some Methods I Have Applied

 Article by VISK                   March 15, 2021

Assessments definitely have their place within the education system, whether formative, summative evaluative or educative, each has a legitimate function and place. Without them it would be difficult to tell how well students are improving, in what areas they are excelling, where they may need help and how to offer that help. In my classroom, I have applied the required assessments listed above, but I have also had the privilege of employing some innovative assessment procedures.

I teach English to adult learners of English who need to learn the language to help them transact business of all kinds and integrate into their new home. Every time a new module is introduced or a new aspect of the module is discussed, student understanding is checked by doing a Concept Check (Queens University, n.d.). The most simplistic way of doing this is to provide students with a circle in which the concept word is written and get them to write words that are related to the concept being checked.  The concept word will be written in the middle of the circle and students can add as many related words to the outer edge if they can explain how the word is related.  The rest of the class votes on whether they agree with their classmate’s assertion. I then ask those that agree to show me where in the learning they got their idea. I then agree or disagree, based on whether the word is related to the concept being checked. This approach is spelled out more clearly by Eric Mazur (Harvard Magazine, 2012).

Another innovative assessment method I regularly employ is what I call Student Dialogue Rounds and Exchange. This is where I pair students for the speaking portion of the assessment. The pairs start by building a possible dialogue they will use in a given situation. In a unit on Commercial Services and Business, students may be asked to write up a dialogue about returning a faulty item individually. This will form ten percent of the grade. Their partner is then required to critique this dialogue and suggest ways to make the dialogue more engaging (reminiscent of our mind maps group work). This portion is handed in to me for corrections, which forms another ten percent of the grade. The next step is where I ask students to merge their dialogues and come up with one dialogue for the pair. Once they have decided on their final dialogue, the assessment date is set. Students perform a short skit for the class using their dialogue. Each person takes a turn being the customer and the store clerk. Students are marked on how natural they sound, how well the dialogue flows and if they hit particular, key, real-life ideas like informing the store clerk why they were returning the item, the store clerk asking for a receipt and reviewing return policy of the store. This section forms the bulk of the grade at sixty percent. The remaining twenty percent is based on technicalities like correct tenses and body language.

A third innovative assessment I use is what Meredith Dobbs (2017) has termed “Living Museum” in her article “Beyond The Test”. In my classroom, my students and I enjoy working with workstations. We use workstations to enhance differentiation and appeal to every learning style as they provide a means for learners of all learning styles to learn in their predominant area. The module on Community and Neighborhood is one that allows me to apply this innovative assessment technique. Students are usually placed in groups of three or four at the beginning of the module and asked to bring in empty boxes or cans from home. They start off by choosing a neighbourhood they know well, finding a picture they like of it online and naming the buildings like hospitals, police stations, gas stations, libraries, community centres etcetera found in that neighbourhood. The next step involves writing up a description of the neighbourhood using prepositions of place. The description is framed in a way that if a stranger were to come into town, the students would be able to give directions to any building. Students are also encouraged to think about how their neighbourhood sounds at different times of the day to enrich the experience. Once these descriptions have been decided upon and reviewed by me, students are required to build a neighbourhood based on their written descriptions. Materials used are the empty boxes and cans brought in by the group as well as art supplies like tissue paper, paint, glue, popsicle sticks etcetera that I provide to each group. Marks are distributed according to a rubric outlining the achievement aims.

I find these methods to be effective because they put into practice the central concepts embodied by the progressive constructivist pedagogy of student-centred learning that actively creates knowledge (Teaching &Education, 2020). Furthermore, the differentiation afforded by these assessment styles through the use of kinesthetic, audio and visual learning aids increases students are ensured an opportunity to create that knowledge using their dominant learning style. By the same token, these methods enhance the curriculum by situating it within their contexts as we learned in week one. Another advantage of these innovative strategies is that they help the teacher move out of the possible rut of using the textbook as curriculum and actually engaging the curriculum. A classroom like mine that is set up around progressive constructivist theories considers various learning styles and makes room for them through the employment of seating arrangements that encourage learner engagement (Centre for educational Innovation, 2021). This makes for a positive classroom environment where both learners and teachers can function at their best as the curriculum is implemented in innovative and engaging ways.

 

References

Constructivism. (2021). Centre for Educational Innovation University at Buffalo. Retrieved February 15, 2021, from http://www.buffalo.edu/ubcei/enhance/learning/constructivism.html

 

Dobbs, M. (2017, March 29). Beyond the test: 10 innovative ways to assess secondary students — bespoke ela: Essay writing tips + lesson plans. Bespoke ELA. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.bespokeclassroom.com/blog/2017/3/30/beyond-the-test-10-innovative-ways-to-assess-secondary-students

Harvard Magazine. (2012, February 9). Eric Mazur shows interactive teaching [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wont2v_LZ1E

Queens University. (n.d.). Examples of innovative assessments. Queens Teaching Learning Modules. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/assessments/31_s4_01_intro_section.html

Teaching & Education. (2020, May 27). What is constructivism? Western Governors University. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-constructivism2005.html 

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