http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eunEnhgEUfk
or
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8946754056617461770
This week reading and presentation was about student assessment which discusses whether if these test were efficient in measuring or determining how much children learn. In the quote "Standardized assessments give only a snapshot of what a student knows (or does not know) on a given day. This snapshot is not panoramic. It does not give an expansive view of all that a student has achieved" (England, 35) which means that assessments are not a reliable or precise measurement of students learning. Instead of measuring student learning it seems more that it testing student rate of memorization or attention spam. I wonder that if it's because most teacher teach to test or approach of curriculum tend to emphasize that student memorize terms and techniques, instead make sure that these student understand and know how and when to use these terms, techniques or skills. I found two videos that provide us with some ideas on addressing and resolving these problems, which can help us change the ways students are assess. The first video clip is an advertisement commercial about online program that help prepare student for math and science assessments. Even though students can benefit from additional help from these preparation courses or classes, however we not looking to improve or make all the student expert in taking assessment. Some students do need these classes because they suffer from anxiety and panic attacks in every time they take an exam.
The second video clip is about changing assessment into becoming student centered. Both video clips mention about it its necessary that students are provided not only with explanation but also feedback on students performance such as their strength and weakness. However, I liked second one because it talked about student having choices and input on how they are assesed. It describe a different ways of learning which is not based on memorizing facts, and terms. Through the assesment for learning implements in hands on learning, which is express through the idea that students show their understanding of different subjects by teaching and sharing the things they learn with other classmates. The term "hands on learning" seems difficult to understand at first, but i realize that it works when we used it in my HDEV-300 social research class, by connecting or determining how research steps are used in human services. In begining of each class we would define terms and were ask what we understood and learned from each reading. At the end class we pick a chapter from reading and had to develop a creative lesson plan to teach the topic and test what students remember and learned. I think that this a great way of engaging student in their learning which would allow students not only to remember but be able to teach and explain what they learn to others is best way of assesing their learning.
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3 comments:
Thank you for those videos. I thought it was interesting how the second video tied in to England's idea of assessment, "In its purest form, assessment is for learning not of learning" (p. 34) and provided voices of both teachers and students.
I wonder how we might be able to apply similar concepts in larger schools with greater behavioral issues -- or whether the size/discipline concerns are really an issue. I guess I just think about all the different ways students could choose to assess their knowledge and wonder whether an approach like that would be compatible with class sizes of 30+ like in the classes Kozol mentioned. I guess it goes back to the time constraints mostly, but I think the group work may help to offset those a bit.
I used to not like group work; I didn't like the idea of being graded according to a group and didn't like how all groups always seemed to have at least one member that didn't really "care" and so usually some of the other group members had to do extra work to make up for the lack of involvement of that person/those people. I still have issues with this occasionally, but I think it's because we've not had enough practice in working together to develop successful group interactions.
I've also had other classes where we had to present/teach concepts to the class. (I also mentioned in another blog the idea that teaching a concept is a good way to demonstrate understanding of it.) Sometimes I liked this activity/idea. Other times, I really disliked it because I wasn't "taught;" the group did not understand the materials and could therefore not present/teach the concepts and instead of asking for the teacher's clarification, they just presented various quotes out of the assigned readings which sometimes were not taken in proper context either.
Also, does this method leave out those who do not feel comfortable speaking in front of others? Even members in our class now say they don't like to even take part in discussions. For some, public speaking is worse than any standardized assessment. I guess this also demonstrates why student choice is important. I wish the videos would have shown a bit more about how to incorporate this into the curricula so we could see a working plan.
An idea I liked from one of the videos on your blog was that the teachers videotapped themselves and shared their tapes with each other. This gives teachers a chance to get new ideas on how to teach their students. And since we're a society that enjoys competition so much I feel that this would make teachers want to work twice as hard to "show off". One important comment that the teacher made about her job is that she had fun. When a teacher is having fun the students sense this and start to relax a bit more. This helps to encourage an atmosphere where students feel comfortable asking questions and actually look forward to different lessons. I really liked the links.
Balance your views with the information provided in the readings.
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