After reading Gibbs & Simpson, I feel that assessment of coursework is fairer than one final exam. I believe that the work and effort that students put into their work should be taken into account when giving them their final mark. For example, I don’t believe that the provincial exam should be worth 40% of the entire grade for English 12. And even it was, I don’t believe that there should be a required 15% maximum deviation between the course mark and the provincial mark. The course is so much more than just multiple choices and 3 essays. What happens to marking the participation and the discussion in class? What about students learning to develop their thoughts on certain topics? What about presenting information in a creative way through multimedia (as per requirement on the PLO – prescribed learning outcomes)? Where does this come in on the exam? Just because it is difficult to mark various media products on the provincial exam doesn’t mean that keeping it simple is an accurate assessment of the student’s ability and knowledge of the entire English 12 curriculum.
Assessments that Worked:
Writing Portfolio
I think this is a great way to assess student’s growth in their writing. The students should be able to look back and see their improvement. And if each piece of writing has some feedback to help the student to progress, then it is the student’s responsibility to review and reflect on their own writing to improve their work. It will become apparent to the student if the same comments are given on each assignment that they have not put in the effort to improve.
Timely Feedback
According to Gibbs & Simpson, feedback should be immediate or at least soon after the assignment has been collected. However, immediate feedback is difficult, especially if students have written several pieces that week. I will always prioritize and give constructive feedback on the most important piece of writing. It is sometimes heartbreaking when students do not read the comments and just put the assignment aside. Usually, I do see the marked work inside their binders, but I have also seen work from other classes that only provide marks with no feedback shoved inside the desk or thrown into the trashcan. I think feedback should acknowledge the students’ achievements on their work, their efforts, and gentle advices on how they can improve.
Relating this to Moodle
I think the feedback on the Moodle quiz is great for self-study. I remember doing something similar with a Business course that I took in my undergraduate years. I followed the textbook and had the website quiz as supplement to assess my knowledge of the material. It was a very good way to review before the exam. Another advantage for immediate feedback from Moodle quizzes is to alleviate the stress from teachers marking the same quizzes manually. When these questions are answered automatically, teachers can then focus on the harder ones that do require their knowledge, expertise, and judgement. However, although I feel that the ability to provide immediate feedback is advantageous, this method should only be for students to review and self-assess their knowledge on the material and not be used as a final exam.
Challenges with Assessment
Blogs
Blogs are hard to assess when marks are seen as subjective, especially in a subject like English. How does one go about assessing Blogs write-ups? The purpose of having students write blogs was for them to receive immediate feedback from their peers (rather than just from one person, the teacher). Blogging was used to encourage students to practice writing, be reflective, share their opinions with peers, and also follow criteria. Students received guidelines of what is appropriate and what constructive feedback should look like. Overall, the blog activity was successful in the sense that the goals for students to write more and share opinions were met. Giving students a mark though, was much harder, and an assessment rubric was used.
Presentations
Assessment on group presentations was always difficult – for both the students and the teacher. In my class, even though I tell my students that I focus on what they “think” about the material more than how technological savvy they are in their presentation, students still spend more time on the “wow” factor than the “content”. Even when we go over the assessment rubric for the assignment, with content as the bulk of the marks, the students will always be disappointed. They complain about how the marks do not reflect the time they spent on making the video. When students see that their effort does not generate a higher mark, they are less motivated or innovative in their next presentation. Is that what I really want?