Thinking like an assessor...
Teachers spend a lot of time testing, evaluating and assessing students because of several reasons: sometimes to measure our students’s abilities to pass a course, to see how well they are doing in the semester, or simply to know how they are doing in a task during the class.
It is impressive how much we can take from assessment and how much we can make out of it. If we stop thinking about assessment as marking and start thinking about it as the most reliable proof of where we and our student are in the learning process, we would be a couple of steps forward in our way to lead our students to understanding. Lets’ not think about difficult- to- make things, for example an assessed homework or unit test (no matter the results) represent ideal learning opportunities, since they contain the information we need to start building from them meaningful tasks, activities, lessons,etc. These oportunities coul be wasted if we put the information gathered away and just continue with the next activity.
Designing around problems not just exercises...
Does the assessment require students to really “perform” wisely with knowledge and skill, in a problematic context of real issues, needs, constraints, and opportunities?
Definitely, there is no point in assessing our students through a task which does not emply a challenge at all. It would be a waste of time for us to assess, but mainly for the students who would get a good result in numbers (marks) but zero learning.
Students must be exposed to problems or situations in which they are challenged to decide and be responsable of what to do after cosidering a number of options.
Are we giving our students the tools to face problems and find the best way to deal with them? Are we helping them create an “English language storage box” in where they can go back to every time they face a communicative situation?
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Hi dear Lorena!
ReplyDeleteWhat you mentioned is really important to take into consideration when teaching since we also have to consider our students as final users of the tools we are providing them. All those questions you establish are relevant in order to carry out our profession properly. We do not only have to give knowledge but also be sure about the way we are doing it and also we should use certain techniques in order to get information about the whole process of teaching and learning at the same time. And this part has to do directly with designing and planning real teaching and not only activities or exercises.
Lorena:
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned in your post, it would be a waste of time for us to assess our students if the results of a test are excellent but they do not learn. To really reflect the level of students’ learning, the content and methods of progress and achievement tests should reflect the content and methods of our teaching. Besides, feedback plays a very important role in the pursuit of learning. Feedback to students on what they got right or wrong, their strengths and weaknesses, and what they can do to improve, is very important.
Dear
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned at the beginning that teachers spend a lot of time testing. I remember that last term, in our classes with MJ that she said that she hated marking students. That sounded quite logical after thinking about it. What do we test for? to know where we stand, to know whether I'm better(or worst) than the rest, to rank yourself within a group, to classify, to get prices, to get recognitions, and so on. Is there anybody out there thinking about assessment as a chance to see where and how I can improve myself? I don't think so. We just want to pass this course, don't we?
Evaluation has a very negative impact on learning. I feel this negative perspective about evaluation only encourages an elegant, and "legitimate" after all, contest , yet contest. And competing means neglecting others, irrespective of the multiple meanings, at the end somebody will be upon others. No student whatsoever has seen and will see evaluation as an instance to grow up. On the contrary, it effectively encourages frustration, but not effective critical thinking. Tests are punishments. Tests are a means of control "if you don't go quiet, you'll get a test".
I really see as a difficult issue to be seen as a way to improve my own learning; this is also part of being a sinner. And as such, I just want to get to the end as fast as possible, get good marks and pass the course.
Hi Lorena,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you i relation to the fact that some teachers in some schools?????? evaluate a lot of their students.If this non-stop testing and evaluation display always the same face, maybe it is not so effective after all.But if it is carried out in a number of different methods,Why should we resist or avoid assessment?
Claudio is right when he says that some students will be upon others, but that is most of them are looking for, to be 'challenged' through a test and be upon their classmates.
Hi Lorena!
ReplyDelete"... testing, evaluating and assessing students because of several reasons...". Some teachers seem to think that assessing is just giving an endless string of tests, works, tasks, etc, without involving their students in the process, where the goals become something blurring. We all know many close cases where the class becomes just a set of instruction for evaluations to be carried out. However, we can make the difference, and show that things can be done in a different way.
Assessing has always been linked to marks, why do we make test for? it is said that the reason for testing is to see the knowledge of our students, but are we really testing knowledge?, when we make a test , do we really give feedback to our students?. We have the tools now to make it different, be aware that students someday are going to use English in their lifes, teach them in sucha a way that they will never forget.
ReplyDelete