Students – Eveline's Blog on Education

Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students’ Learning
~ Graham Gibbs & Claire Simpson

This article reminded me of last year, when I invited my former student, now a 2nd year student at a university in the States, to speak as a guest in my English 12 class. I was shocked when he discussed his perception of University life and the assessment procedures in his courses. It resonates very closely to Gibbs & Simpson’s article and their discussion on how students view the assessment procedures at University.

My prized student’s first piece of advice was, “It’s okay to skip lectures in University”. My heart dropped when I heard it, and my student quickly glanced my way and added, “But of course, it’s best not too!” However, I encouraged him to explain and this is what he said:

Lectures in University are not important. The tutorials are not important either, unless there are marks for attendance. If not, just make sure you are in your tutorial or lecture when an assignment is due, when there is a pop quiz, and when there is a midterm or a final.

All important notes can be found online. And some professors are nice enough to record the entire lecture and post them online as well. In addition, what you really need to do is join some student clubs that have past exams and midterms. If you study from these, then you will do fine.

The best experience I’ve had so far is exploring the city. I highly recommend this! Of course, (another glance), you should always make sure you don’t stay out too late….

Another student studying in BC, said:

In my school, the most important lesson that I’ve learned is that everything is marked on a “curve”. So, as long as you’re not at the bottom, you will be fine. It is impossible to be at the top, so don’t worry about it.

My last student guest speaker, studying in Alberta, said:

What I learned is… you don’t really need to read the textbook. Just listen to what the professor is focusing on, and then you will know exactly what’s on the test.

Although I was happy the students came back for a visit, I was disappointed with how my top students perceived university life, whether or not it was true. When Gibbs & Simpson discussed similar reactions from university students, I realized that this reaction may be more common than I thought.

Perhaps assessment in education needs to be updated, just like everything else. The standards and ways of assessment need to reflect what is being taught in class, and what is expected of students, in regards to knowledge and skills, and what they should walk away with after the course is over.

SECTIONS

This week, we explored ways of evaluating technology through Bates & Poole’s framework: SECTIONS.

The breakdown for SECTIONS is as follows:
S – Students
E – Ease of Use
C – Cost
T – Teaching and Learning
I – Interactivity
O – Organization
N – Novelty
S – Speed

In general, this is a good initial evaluation to assess the need for the new technology. It will work well for all grades, but I feel that it is more useful for the secondary level students to post-secondary students. Teachers and administrators can both use this framework as it covers multiple perspectives in choosing the right technology.

Thinking about my school, I agree that students should be a priority when choosing the technology. It is important that the technology is specifically chosen according to the needs of our students to support their learning and not using technology for the sake of using technology. For our school, we have an ongoing battle with the students in trying to eliminate technology in the classroom. However, I feel it is time to embrace some technology and put them to good academic use. It is inevitable that each student will have their mobile phone or their ipod with them. It is also inevitable that they will have some sort of electronic translator, in addition to their paper dictionary. As well, most students have some basic knowledge of how computers and laptops work. Therefore, I think it is time to figure out how to BEST incorporate these media tools in classroom projects, making them more effective rather than disruptive in the classroom.

In saying this, I am not encouraging cellphone usage or text messaging in the classroom. I want my students to be aware that it is inappropriate to use these functions during lessons and lectures. However, rather than confiscating these devices (which will cause students to be upset the entire class), my goal is to prepare a lesson where they would be more engaged with the material at hand and not with their devices. This may also include using these devices in some way. More thoughts on this later.

Overall, I think SECTIONS is a good way to assess the necessity of certain technology in the classroom. Now I need to find an assessment tool to measure the effectiveness of using the technology in the classroom. Is the effort to incorporate technology into the lesson to replace the traditional method worth it?

Bates, A. W. and Poole, G. (2003) Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success. New York: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.