Assessment as sabateurs of learning When I share with other teachers some of the elaborate performance type projects that my students end up doing, one of the first questions people ask me is: That's a neat idea, but how do you assess it? This is a dangerous, knee-jerk reaction that teachers need to resist, and here's why. If we are to design authentic learning enviornments for students, we must resists the urge to alter our focus from the learner to the teacher too quickly. Asking how something might be properly assessed is not a bad question, but if it dominates our thinking, we may justify not providing students with projects that they would love to do and love to learn from, but hard on us to assess. If a tree falls in the woods, it still makes a sound regardless of whether anyone is there to hear it.
Eight important facts about Working Memory and their implications for foreign language teaching and learning Introduction There is no blogpost of mine which does not mention Working Memory (WM) at some point. Why? Because effective language processing and learning largely depends on how well Working Memory performs. Let us consider reading a target language text. These are but a few examples of how cognition occurs in WM. The structure of WM As the picture below shows, WM, which is located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, is made up of three main components: A visuospatial (i.e. So, for example, when we read a target language word or phrase, the visuospatial sketchpad will hold its graphic image, the phonological loop its sound (if we are pronouncing it) and the central executive will match it to any existing information in Long-term Memory in an attempt to make sense of it. 2.1. WM is one of two systems which memory is made of. 2.2. Whether it is processing input from the outside world or retrieving material from Long-term Memory, WM will hold any information only for a few seconds.
About PISA PISA is unique because it develops tests which are not directly linked to the school curriculum. The tests are designed to assess to what extent students at the end of compulsory education, can apply their knowledge to real-life situations and be equipped for full participation in society. The information collected through background questionnaires also provides context which can help analysts interpret the results. In addition, given PISA is an ongoing triennial survey, countries and economies participating in successive surveys can compare their students' performance over time and assess the impact of education policy decisions. Since the year 2000, every three years, fifteen-year-old students from randomly selected schools worldwide take tests in the key subjects: reading, mathematics and science, with a focus on one subject in each year of assessment. Students take a test that lasts 2 hours.
How Can Education Assessment be Improved? Browse more Debates Debate Traditional assessment has been equated with written exams, concentrating on a small area of the curriculum, which must be taken individually, at a particular time and place. Executive Summary I. The OECD conducts four types of assessment. Thirdly, Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) is still at the feasibility stage. II. In Denmark, the intention is to ensure that exam conditions are the same as those in daily learning, because the same competences are being tested in both cases. A new pilot project for assessment involving access to the Internet commenced in January 2008. III. This project was initiated by Cisco, Intel and Microsoft after Davos 2009 and involved developing a strategic research framework to help transform the teaching, learning and assessment of skills needed in the 21st century. We want to ensure that our conclusions will also act as guidelines for curriculum change. IV. Questions and answers Dr Martina A. Dr Martina A.
Reflecting English | In search of classroom answers The_Case_for_Critical_Thinking_Skills.pdf Most secondary school students can't write well According to a recent report, a whopping 24 percent of students in eighth and 12th grade in 2011 could write coherent essays with proper grammar and usage. Stutterstock.com Enlarge photo» Only about one-fourth of middle-school and high school students in the United States write at a proficient level, according to a new report on the National Assessment of Educational Progress 2011 writing test. Beside showing that a large majority of U.S. students are not proficient in writing, test results highlighted a gender gap in writing proficiency. Female students scored much higher than males at both grade levels, revealing a gender gap for writing much larger than the better-known mathematics gender gap that favors male students. Gender gap: A representative sample of 24,100 eighth-graders from 950 schools, and 28,100 12th-graders from 1,220 schools took the test. "If girls are writing more, that could very well account for them doing better on the assessment. Email: cbaker@desnews.com
Den stora utmaningen att inte prata betyg – Hård och Kideborn. Vi, som så många andra, arbetar väldigt mycket med formativ bedömning på vår skola. Samtidigt har vi också väldigt många bra diskussioner om hur man kan tänka kring betyg och bedömning på individuella uppgifter. Ska vi prata betygsbokstäver, peka på matriser eller göra någonting helt annat? Som ett led i ett formativt förhållningssätt som kontrast till betyghetsande summativ bedömning så försöker jag att plocka bort bokstavspratet i så stor utsträckning som möjligt. På min skola har vi prognoser två gånger per läsår där eleverna får en summativ betygsiffra utifrån nuläge. Vilket. Jag tror alla som någon gång provat att säga till eleverna att ”Ni kommer inte få något betyg på den här uppgiften utan istället fokuserar vi på feedbacken och vad den säger” möts av ungefär samma typer av tonårsvrål. Som så många andra lärare som har kursen Svenska 3 har vi just nu fokus på det nationella proven där den första delen, uppsatsdelen, genomförs den 20/4. /Sofia
23_Responding_Responsibly_to_the_Frenzy_to_Assess_Learning_in_Higher_Education.pdf Authentic assessment: what does it mean for students, staff and sector? | Higher Education Network | Guardian Professional Assessment is a perennial issue for higher education institutions and one the sector is working hard to address. Scores for assessment are consistently low in both the UK's National Student Survey and the postgraduate experience surveys conducted by the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Recent years have seen debate forming around 'authentic assessment' in schools and universities, broadly defined as assessment practice that relates to what students experience in the real world. Given the current employability agenda, it's no wonder this debate is growing in the higher education sector. Today sees the launch of the HEA publication, A Marked Improvement, a case for change which outlines the educational and reputational benefits of transforming assessment and includes a review tool for taking stock of current practice and developing a new targeted approach. Definitions vary widely with some critics questioning the very notion of 'authenticity' in learning and teaching.
Lättare lärande- Digitala pedagog-hacks Alla vill vi ha upp energin i klassrummet vid den här tiden på året. Kahoot! har blivit ett omåttligt populärt verktyg för att göra snabba, lustfyllda kunskapsquiz och exittickets, även i svenska skolan. Kahoot! Discussion består av en enda fråga där man anger ett antal svarsalternativ. Det finns en uppsjö av användarproducerade quizzer på en mängd olika språk. Det är mycket lätt att göra sitt eget quiz från scratch: Det som är svårast är att formulera sina frågor och alternativ på ett klokt sätt. Kahoot! Topplistan visar de 5 som svarat rätt snabbast, men varje spelare får besked om sin placering på sin egen enhet. Eleverna kan också skapa egna quiz genom att registrera konton. Det finns ingen övre gräns för antalet samtidiga spelare. Sammanfattningsvis kan man säga att Kahoot!
24_Looking_Where_the_Light_is_Better_A_Review_of_the_Literature_on_Assessing_Higher_Quality_Education.pdf New sixth-form maths course will focus on 'real' problems 31 October 2012Last updated at 09:37 ET By Judith Burns Education reporter, BBC News The government wants "the vast majority" of sixth-formers to study maths The government has pledged funding to develop a new maths course for sixth-formers who are not studying the subject at A-level. The course will focus on using mathematics to solve real problems. The government wants most 17- and 18-year-old students to study maths, and has asked Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) to develop the course. Charlie Stripp of MEI said: "We need to educate young people to be problem solvers in the real world". The aim of the new course would be to allow students to continue studying mathematics after GCSE, alongside their other subjects. The new syllabus would be based on ideas set out by Professor Timothy Gowers, of Cambridge University, in a recent blog. He wants pupils to be able to answer questions about potential everyday situations (see panel). Continue reading the main story 'Sterile' questions