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3.7 Expert  (Luis Valente) answers to teachers’ questions on assessing collaborative learning

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3.7 Expert  (Luis Valente) answers to teachers’ questions on assessing collaborative learning

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Self-assessment and peer-assessment could be considered as the most authentic assessment methods as they may help students to move away from seeing teachers as the main source of judgement about the quality of their learning outcomes, to a more autonomous and independent way of learning.
Differentiating individual participation It is important to differentiate the individual participation of each group member. A student’s individual participation can be integrated into the student’s individual summative assessment by establishing its relative weight from the beginning of the assessment process.

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Module 3 - How can you assess collaborative learning?

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Module 3 - How can you assess collaborative learning?

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In collaborative learning we can assess:

individual and collective learning outcomes;

teamwork and group goals including individual commitment;

the methodological process adopted to implement and complete the project or task;

the product

a mix of targets.

To assess students’ collaborative learning we can use Likert scales, checklists, rubrics and quizzes with detailed feedback.
A rubric is a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work and articulates gradations of quality for each criterion, from excellent to poor.
Goodrich (1996) states that "rubrics can improve student performance, as well as monitor it, by making teachers' expectations clear and by showing students how to meet these expectations"
To construct a rubric

decide on the level of knowledge that the rubric should assess;

establish assessment criteria;

establish progress levels for each criterion (usually the levels are 4, assigning 1 as the lowest level  and 4 as the highest ;

write a clear descriptor of each level.

Checklists are another useful tool for assessing collaborative learning.

Good checklists are accurate, efficient, well-targeted and easy to use.
To build a checklist:

define its purpose

write between five and ten items,

the wording should be simple, accurate and belong to the common lexicon of context;

the layout should have a sober typography

A good checklist is easy to read, occupies no more than one page and is of quick application.

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8th grade students studying the Solar System in a trans-disciplinary project named "Una classe spaziale (A class out of this world)".

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Students working on polar sciences issues.

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My tiny school is part, along with other schools, of the School District of the valley. I periodically meet my colleagues, but I experiment isolation. I would like to share ideas and responsibilities concerning the teaching methods, but my colleagues are very traditional ones, rather distrustful and narrow-minded. Our school can count on the support of our headmaster and of a few qualified tutors, but it’s a frustrating situation!
It's easier, from here, to collaborate with distant colleagues, using ITC tools.
We have taken part in six different eTwinning projects, sharing plans with foreign teachers. At the beginning, English teacher was rather hesitant, but , sharing the experience with other teachers, has gradually changed her mind and now she is actively engaged.
A very interesting experience has been to enter in contact with researchers and bases in Antarctica. We took part in many projects on polar sciences promoted by the Italian National Museum of Antarctic and the PNRA (National Antarctic Research Programme).

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Students explain to their parents what they have learned on the solar system

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Teachers can collaborate, using ITC tools, with students, peers, parents and community.

Communication with parents is made easier by online tools, for example using the online school register.

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Module 1 - Collaborating in a flexible classroom

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Module 1 - Collaborating in a flexible classroom

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My Padlet entry

I teach in a multilevel class (the class consists of 15 pupils, 7 6th graders + 8 7th graders). In some subjects (History,  Geography) students - according with their Syllabus - have to learn different topics at the same time (for example: 6th graders --> orientation, how to read maps, meantime 7th graders --> the UE ). We have to organize the room, moving desks and creating two different learning areas. Pupils usually study in groups and use ITC (ebooks, tablet and interactive whiteboard) but that is not an easy job. They have to collaborate, remembering not to disturb their mates, they have to keep their voices at a very low volume, and sometime they loose their concentration.

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Module 4 - How can teacher collaboration facilitate collaborative learning?  

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Module 4 - How can teacher collaboration facilitate collaborative learning?  

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I agree: adults have to act as a role model for collaboration, so students can take it seriously and be convinced of its value.

In my school I have been collaborating  with my Science colleague in trans-disciplinary  projects during the last two years, and it has been a very positive experience. We have been working together on space and astronomy themes and we succeeded in engaging  and motivating students, improving their learning and social skills. While learning to collaborate we compared our teaching methods and assessment criteria; together we have prepared our first  evaluation rubrics.

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Module 3 - How can you assess collaborative learning?  

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Module 3 - How can you assess collaborative learning?  

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CO-LAB Guidelines for Assessing Collaborative Learning, by Professor Luis Valente,
Pr. Luis Valente considers assessment mainly from the point of view of improving students' collaborative learning.
He underlines how assessment can help students to position themselves in the learning process and makes them take responsibility for their own learning,
This is an aspect I haven't considered enough and that deserves an attentive consideration: assessment has to be useful for learners (and not only for those assessing).
Assessment should not discourage students  and not encourage competition : I totally agree (I always remember to the kids  that they should never identify with the mark).
Assessment should also contribute to promote the belief that we learn better in groups because we can overcome our difficulties more easily when we help one another.
When assessing collaborative learning , assessment

have to be implemented in parallel with learning activities

must use the same language used by group participants

have to be  conducted diplomatically so as not to create obstacles in the social relationship of the group.

Types of assessment:

formative assessment: provides feedback and helps to improve teaching strategies and students'' study; it needs easy to build and to use evaluation tools

self assessmet and per assessment: it is focused on individuals and their commitment in teamwork; tools can be checklists and rubrics

summative assessment: it provides a formal academic record of students’ learning progress and establishes proficiency levels. It should evaluate also the outcomes of teamwork.

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Module 3 - Collaborative learning - What to assess and how?

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Module 3 - Collaborative learning - What to assess and how?

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My Padlet entry

Like other Italian teachers, I've started to write and use rubrics last year, after listening to professor Enzo Zecchi's lessons about PBL (project based learning) and the assessment of students' competences.  According to the project my  Science colleague and I were developing with our class (entitled “A class out of this world"”) , we have prepared rubrics to evaluate both the individual  and  the collective outcomes. As for me, the most difficult aspect has been to find simple and well defined criteria and to write clear and brief definitions of each level of progress. My rubrics were too detailed. This probably happened because I was thinking to the rubrics only as an useful tool to collect data for the “competences certification” (a document we have to fill in  at the end of the middle school), and not as a tool that could  help students in becoming aware and positioning themselves in the learning process .

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Module 1 - Two collaborative activities requiring a low and a high level of collaboration from students

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Module 1 - Two collaborative activities requiring a low and a high level of collaboration from students

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LOW LEVEL COLLABORATION:
Students work together in pairs. They are asked to do grammar exercises after the explanation of a grammar topic. They help each other in finding the right answers (in general they underline them, or they fill gaps). They simply talk to each other and share ideas.
HIGH LEVEL COLLABORATION:
One of my classes is composed by pupils of different ages with different teaching plans. During the history lessons, the students are usually divided into two groups. In this period, while the teacher is  working with the group of the younger students about the learning method, the 7th grade students are divide in groups of 4 pupils each. After a short introductory explanation of the topic, they are asked to make and deliver a "product" within an agreed date (conceptual maps, timelines, analisys of some documents). They riceive instructions about their task and information about the evaluation method. Then they  have do decide how to organize themselves, which roles and responsabilities assign to the members, which tools use. During the work they write a group log. Teacher is a facilitator. Their share the evaluation of their final "product".

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Module 2 - Collaborative learning scenarios

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Module 2 - Collaborative learning scenarios

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A Learning Scenario is an useful tool to design learning activities; it consists of 7 phases :

1.  Dream -  students can brainstorm, think freely and share ideas.

2. Explore - students collect information on a certain topic.

3.  Map - students structure their thoughts and ideas and seek to understand how they are related.

4. Make - students develop or create a product or practise an activity.

5. Ask - students ask questions, interview experts and stakeholders

6. Remake - students replan or revisit their product, on the basis of the feedback or further information they received.

7. Show - students publish and present the results of their work.

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Module 2 - Embedding collaborative learning into lesson design  

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Module 2 - Embedding collaborative learning into lesson design  

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Pr. Deirdre Butler says that collaboration is not a personality charateristic, but it is something that students can learn . So we have to teach them how to collaborate effectively, if we want them to learn this ability.

There are 3 components in collaborative learning:

SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

SUBSTANTIVE DECISIONS

INTERDEPENDENT WORK

When designing a  collaborative learning activity we should consider this check list:

Are the students working together?

Do they have shared responsibility?

Do they make substantive decisions together?

-Is their work independent?

Dr. Butler presents a scheme  that can help teachers to design high quality collaborative activities.
Not necessarily all the activities must be level 5,  it  depends on the situation.

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My 6th grade students during a geography learning activity.

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A vdc with Concordia Station, in Anctartica. A special occasion for students and teachers to discover an extraordinary human experience  and learn about polar sciences.

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Module 1 - What is collaborative learning? 

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Module 1 - What is collaborative learning? 

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Collaborative learning requires more than simply putting students in groups!
Attraverso le testimonianze di colleghi vengono presentate esperienze di attività collaborative e si sollevano e discutono alcune questioni.
Delle attività collaborative , tutte con ITC tools (in tre ordini di scuola, con ruoli più strutturati alla primaria, più libere nella secondaria) si sottolineano i punti di forza: motivazione degli studenti, maggior conoscenza fra compagni, possibilità per ciascuno, anche per i più timidi, di partecipare, apprendimento attivo. Si richiama l'importanza del circle time per  discutere di quanto fatto e accrescere la consapevolezza finale dell'apprendimento.
Questioni aperte: gruppi omogenei o eterogenei? l'insegnante deve essere direttivo nei temi da proporre o lasciare gli studenti più liberi di scegliere? come valutare? come passare dalla valutazione del gruppo a quella individuale?
Per la valutazione si  fa riferimento a rubriche, valutazione tra pari e autovalutazione.
Tools presentati: Google Hangout, Blendspace (https://www.tes.com/lessons?redirect-bs=1) per creare lezioni multimediali e test autocorrettivi, Rubistar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/) per costruire rubriche di valutazione.
E' fondamentale che gli alunni sappiano dall'inizio su cosa e come verranno valutati.

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The school I teach at is small. It's in a mountain village, in a rather depopulated area of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines; the nearest town is about 80 km far.
This year the pupils are few (only 26). There are two classes; one is a mixed-level class (‘pluriclasse’) where 6th and 7th grade students are together. The other is a traditional one, composed by 8th grade students.
I can meet my collegues only once or twice a week, as they work also in other schools. They often come and go and only the Maths and English teachers and I are permanent members of the staff.

In our school there are three classrooms, all with an interactive whiteboard; we have at our disposal some laptops, and tablets; there is also a good Internet connectivity. That helps us to go beyond our geographical isolation.

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My name is Cristina. I live in Italy, in a small mountain village in the Northern Appenines. I teach Italian Language, History and Geography at a lower Secondary School. My students are 11 - 14 years old.

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Cristina Sanvito's Learning Diary - Collaborative Teaching and Learning course

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Cristina Sanvito's Learning Diary - Collaborative Teaching and Learning course

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October, 24 - November, 27 2016