Does assessment kill creativity? This is the question I am asking myself as I think about how technology can enhance formative assessment. My exploration of this inquiry question has opened up a huge can of worms. We know that assessment is a necessary part of education, but how can we ensure that this assessment is meaningful for our students? How can we encourage creativity in our classrooms? What kind of messages are our assessment goals sending? How can technology help enhance my assessment goals? Does technology kill or promote creativity?
Some of these difficult questions are explored by Ronald Beghetto in “Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity?” Beghetto challenges teachers to consider what the goals of assessment are: outperformance or self-improvement. Beghetto explains that a performance goal structure stresses “avoiding making mistakes, besting others, getting the highest grades, and demonstrating one’s ability in relation to others (p. 257-258).” On the other hand, Beghetto emphasizes that mastery goal assessment focuses on “self-improvement, skill development, creativity, and understanding (p. 258).” When we focus our assessment on helping our students improve and grow as learners we allow them to be creative!
Assessment doesn’t necessarily diminish creativity, rather, students need to perceive that feedback and assessment are useful, meaningful, and provide good feedback. Beghetto tells us: “When assessing students, teachers can protect creativity by recognizing and appreciating creative expression. This doesn’t mean that teachers should throw out standards or provide empty praise for inappropriate ideas. If responses are not appropriate, teachers should provide suggestions on how students might adapt the idea so that it is useful while still preserving the novelty (p. 261).” As teachers we want to allow creativity to flow in a useful, productive manner. If assessment focuses on feedback for students and self-improvement, assessment can be much more conducive to creativity.
As technology grows rapidly, it is important to consider how it can be used as more than just a tool in the classroom. How can we use technology to encourage and strengthen creativity? How can it be used to enhance assessment? If we are trying to promote personalized learning, self-improvement, creativity, and understanding through our assessment we can consider how technology allows our students to document and reflect on their learning. Encouraging students to pursue their creative ideas will often involving using technology to take that idea to the next level. Through technology our students can document their creative process, reflect on that process, and share that process with their teacher. I believe that assessment, technology, and creativity do not have to be mutually exclusive. Instead, through thoughtful inquiry, I think it is possible to encourage creativity through well-thought out assessment and support that creativity and assessment with technology. I look forward to exploring these thoughts throughout my teaching and learning journey!
Beghetto, R. A. (2005). Does Assessment Kill Student Creativity? The Educational Forum, 69:3, 254-263.
Thank you Amanda for such thoughtful engagement in our reading. I suspected it would be particularly meaningful to you and a few others who are engaging in critical inquiry specific to this topic. Your comments about technology struck me and also echo those made by Vicki in her post where she refers specifically to FreshGrade and another application – See Saw.
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As you explore further your thoughts on the intersections of creativity, assessment and technology, it will be interested to see specific strategies, approaches and digital technologies that support your goals.