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Assessment of, as, for learning (Rachel)

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Assessment of, as, for learning (Rachel)

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What will assessment be used to measure?

Assessments can be used to measure learning at a range of stages, as their ultimate purpose is for teachers to gather qualitative or quantitative data about their learners as they work toward specified goals. The more frequently a teacher assesses learners the more information they have about their learning. for this to be effective, it must occur at a range of stages. To determine the types of assessment needed, a teacher must determine the purpose and need at the stage of the learning cycle.

Assessments of Learning

To measure mastery of learning goals, measured against predetermined standards for the purpose of scoring or grading that learning.

Summative assessments are most commonly categorized as assessments of learning as they are formalized and only occur periodically. End of unit tests or end of course exams are common examples.

State or national standardized testing is utilized as a summative assessment of student progress toward the published standards and are also used as measure of teacher effectiveness.

Assessments for Learning

More often, teachers must gauge progress along the path of learning before the summative assessment. These assessments for learning occur with much more frequency and take many forms. To gather quantitive data, a teacher may use an exit slip or quiz of a daily or weekly objective to measure progress toward a larger goal or standard. Shorter checks of learner understanding provide the teacher and learner with knowledge of this progress.

These are more informal and not necessarily for the purpose of grading, but to plan for future learning toward the mastery goal. The more quickly a teacher can ascertain student learning, the more quickly they can make adjustments and account for a range of student learning needs.

Assessments as Learning

For these types of assessments, students are reflecting and monitoring their own learning. This metacognitive assessment type take the form of self-reflection tools, surveys, questioning, and self-monitoring for students to be more active agents in the goals of the classroom.

The purpose of an assessment as learning is to provide feedback and is learner centered. In serving as their own assessors, students can direct their learning while also providing information to their teachers about their own self-awareness, confidence, and competency in the content.

Resources:

Assessment OF/FOR/AS Learning. (2017, March). [National Forum]. The National Forum for the enhancement of teaching and learning in higher education. https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/our-priorities/student-success/assessment-of-for-as-learning/

NSW Education Standards Authority. (n.d.). Assessment For, As and of Learning. Retrieved December 7, 2020, from https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/assessment/approaches

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What is a summative assessment?

Summative assessment is defined as an evaluation that occurs at the end of the semester or program. It is a tool which the instructor utilizes to assess student learning, proficiency, and performance by comparing what they know from what they should have learned.

What is the purpose of Summative Assessment?

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Examples of Summative Assessment:

Oral tests are used to extract real-time responses from students at the end of the course. The teacher can utilize structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviewing methods to evaluate students understanding.

Group projects is a tool assess students knowledge while working as a single unit. The instructor can evaluate students communication skills, leadership abilities, and time management while completing the group assignment.

Creative Portfolio is an alternative option to a final exam as students can display creativity, knowledge of course material and how the informative can be applied.

In-Chapter tests is an assessment given at the end of a unit or topic. It is used to help students prepare for final exams and assess student understanding of learning material. An example of In-Chapter tests are quizzes, midterm exams and practice exams.

Standardized Admission Tests are given to determine whether a student qualifies for a program. Exams such as TOEFL and IELTS gauge a student's proficiency in the use of English.

What are the benefits of Summative Assessment?

Students will have motivation to pay attention and study after receiving low or failing scores.

Students can apply knowledge obtained in and out of the classroom.

The instructor can use the data to identify gaps in student learning.

Serves as an opportunity for the instructor to reflect upon his or her methods and identify potential gaps.

What are some Summative Assessment tools that can be used in the classroom?

Socrative

Google Forms

Mentimeter

Poll Everywhere

Quizalize

Sparkpost

Pear Deck

References:

9 summative assessment examples to try this school year. (n.d.). Free Math Learning Game for Kids | Prodigy Math Game | Prodigy Education | Prodigy Education. https://www.prodigygame.com/in-en/blog/summative-assessment/

Blog, F. (2021, March 5). Summative assessment: Definition + [Examples & types]. Create Free Online Forms & Surveys in 2 Mins | Formplus. https://www.formpl.us/blog/summative-assessment

Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). CMU - Carnegie Mellon University. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html

Gerencer, T. (2020, April 11). 5 best online assessment tools for teachers | HP® tech takes. https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/best-online-assessment-tools-for-teachers

Sabbott. (2013, August 29). Summative assessment definition. The Glossary of Education Reform. https://www.edglossary.org/summative-assessment/

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What is a performance assessment?
Performance assessments are academic assessments that gage how well students understand and apply knowledge learned, and skills and abilities acquired to real-life problems, events, or occurrences over a period of time. This means that a teacher is giving the student a task and tracking the student’s knowledge through their evaluation of the performance, process, or end-product created.

What the assessment is and why it is used
Performance assessments according to Teaching in Education (2017) requires higher order thinking as it is focusing on real life challenges. It requires teachers to put in a lot of effort into the assessment criteria and has two main types of assessments. The two types of assessments can be product evaluation or performance presented by the students. This form of assessment do not focus on correct or incorrect answers but rather on applying the knowledge learnt and improving skills to prepare students for the future teaching students 21st century skills.

An example of the type of assessment
An example of this type of assessment could include several different assessments like a dance or drama reenactment or  STEAM projects. For example, a teacher can create a STEAM project where students can work on a social science project that aids the community to improve recycling of particular products, incorporating language learning, social sciences, history, mathematics, smaller art projects and students can be formatively assessed for some and other tasks can be used to teach students critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation (Kelly, 2019). Students can create art projects to describe the problem clearly by expressing their views of the issues through art while creating a plan for how to solve the problem, what to do with the waste and possibly use technology to involve and teach or inform the community.

References:

Kelly, M., 2019. Great Ideas for Performance-Based Activities. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at: <https://www.thoughtco.com/ideas-for-performance-based-activities-7686> [Accessed 30 August 2022].

Teachings in Education, 2017. Performance Based Assessment & Learning. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYcGO1Izs-U> [Accessed 29 August 2022].

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What is a formative assessment?

Formative assessment is defined as a planned, ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence of student learning to improve student.

What is the purpose of Formative Assessment?

The general goal of formative assessment is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning while it’s happening.

Furthermore, the results from the assessment provides insight and helps both teacher and student to answer three key questions:

What is to be learned?

How is learning progressing?

What will be learned next?

What are examples of a formative assessment?

The instructor posing questions to individual and groups of students to gauge which concepts they might have difficulty grasping.

Providing specific, detailed feedback given by the instructor on student assignments such as journal entries, worksheets, research papers and projects.

Self-assessments is where the student reflects upon and answers the following questions: What have I learned? What is my learning style? In which areas do I excel or struggle in? Am I meeting learning standards?

Peer assessments is another tool for formative assessment. Students can  utilize the rubric provided by the teacher to examine and give feedback on another student's essay.

What are the benefits of formative assessment?

Better focus on goals

Improved learning environment

Promotes self-learning

Increased student engagement and motivation

Better academic and teaching performance

What are some formative assessment tools that can be used in the classroom?

Jamboard

Gimkit

Padlet

Edpuzzle

Parlay

Quizlet

Seesaw

References:
27 formative assessment tools for your classroom. (2021, July 6). Shake Up Learning. https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/20-formative-assessment-tools-for-your-classroom/

Brown, R. (2022, February 3). Formative assessment: What is it and why use it. Illuminate Education. https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2021/12/formative-assessment-what-is-it-and-why-use-it/

(n.d.). Department of Education and Training Victoria. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/practice/Professional_practice_note_6_formative_assessment.pdf

Sabbott. (2014, April 29). Formative assessment definition. The Glossary of Education Reform. https://www.edglossary.org/formative-assessment/

What is formative assessment? (2021, July 19). Teach. Learn. Grow. https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/what-is-formative-assessment/

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What are they?

A diagnostic assessment is a form of undifferentiated assessment designed to help educators better understand their students and their strengths, their weaknesses, knowledge level, and general skill set. Diagnostic assessments may also be useful in helping an educator identify problem areas students may have pertaining to different types of instruction and provide valuable insights into improving the overall quality of instructional delivery.

What is their perceived value?

A diagnostic pretest can provide an educator a valuable insight into how best to support the student as they move into instruction. On an individual level, the information acquired could inform an educator's decision-making as it pertains to factors such as scaffolding, grouping, as well as a perceived assessment of general ability. On a macro level, the results could affect areas such as course design and lesson planning. A comparative overview between diagnostic results and review/post-testing should also provide key information pertaining to student development or progress over the period of tuition.

Six Types of Diagnostic Assessment.

Short quizzes (multiple choice is generally good)

Journal entries

Student interviews

Student reflections

Classroom discussions

Graphic organizers (e.g., mind maps, padlets, flipgrids, flow charts, KWL charts).

Strengths of Diagnostic Assessments.

They can provide invaluable insight to educators during the period of course development or instructional design.

They are generally informal, easy to produce, and don’t need to observe standardization protocols.

Results can be quick and provide valuable insight into student learning needs.

An easy way to acquire data that can be later shared amongst peers operating in an environment such as a Professional Learning Community (PLC)

Due to their relatively informal nature, teachers can further adapt, refine or even change methodologies at their general discretion depending on need or circumstance.

Things to consider (or be careful of) when carrying out Diagnostic Assessments.

Educators need to be careful to avoid developing inaccurate or inflexible assumptions about a student’s general ability level, or knowledge pertaining to a subject based solely on the findings of a diagnostic assessment.

Students new to either the teacher or the process of diagnostic assessments might become anxious if not properly guided through the process and as such teachers must be conscious of how they deliver assessments during the initial stages.

Technologies that can be used to carry out 'Diagnostic Assessments'

Nearpod

Kahoot

Class Dojo

Prismia

A + Spelling Tests

GoClass (App)

MyClassTalk

References

Diagnostic Assessment: Meaning, Examples, and Types, Harappa (Oct. 13, 2021). Retrieved August 29, 2022, fromhttps://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/diagnostic-assessment/

6 Types of Assessment (and How to Use Them). (2022). Retrieved 29 August 2022, from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/

Jennie Tookoian, What is a Diagnostic Assessment? Here's everything you need to know. (July 16, 2022). Retrieved 29 August 2022, from https://edulastic.com/blog/diagnostic-assessment/