Assessment seems to be largely linked to purpose. Why are we using assessment? What is the assessment trying to achieve for the student? For the teacher? How do we know we are assessing what we aim to assess?
My first MET course was a surprise to me in this regard. In the entire course I received 11 sentences of feedback from my instructor. After pouring hours into the final paper, the feedback I received was that I should have included headers. It felt like quite a let down. I had invested all this time and valuable learning into a paper, which was assigned a grade but the comments almost dismissed my work as of little importance. Thankfully, since then, I have discovered most courses have provided ample assessment opportunities, primarily through peer feedback of discussions and group assignments, but also regular and meaningful feedback from the instructors. Assignments with part A and part B submissions in particular I have found helpful. When receiving written feedback that is summative on part A but formative towards learning for part B, then a clear direction can be tackled.
The Gibbs & Simpson article this week raised a concept I hadn’t thought much about, mainly I believe, because my experience is in elementary school. They referred to, “different kinds of students: the ‘cue seekers’, who went out of their way to get out of the lecturer what was going to come up in the exam and what their personal preferences were; the ‘cue conscious’, who heard and paid attention to tips given out by their lecturers about what was important, and the ‘cue deaf’, for whom any such guidance passed straight over their heads.” (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005, p.4). In elementary school, grades are typically only provided twice a year at report card time and summarize an entire unit of study i.e. ‘Writes to communicate and express ideas and information”. Throughout the term, assessment is provided as verbal or written teacher feedback, rubric scores, peer or self assessments, none of which assign a ‘grade’. You never hear the question, Will this be on the test?, even if tests are one form of assessment used by teachers. For these students, how do they maneuver or prioritize their learning or ‘hidden curriculum’ (Gibbs & Simpson, 2005). Is this a developmental concept that develops with age? Does the assignment of number or letter grades in later years change the way students approach the tasks? How does digital assessment change the way students identify the essential elements to achieve a higher grade rather than more solid understanding of the concepts? How can we ensure our assessments are leading our students to deeper understanding rather than grade chasing?
If the purpose of our assessment is formative and to advance student learning, then digital assessment can be very powerful. For example, a multiple choice test that is designed to assess what is learned at the end of the unit is not likely to achieve our outlined purpose. Several multiple choice exams spread throughout the unit provides a greater opportunity for learning, however changing the style of the multiple choice exam is likely to have the greatest impact of all. Adding media, i.e. pictures or video, questions with a ‘hints’ option, feedback for questions that were answered incorrectly or that include a student’s level of confidence in their answer are a few ways improve this traditional form of testing. Also, how teachers use the information obtained from these tests is relevant. Rather than simply recording a grade, if teachers compile answers and determine where most students answered incorrectly, an opportunity for class discussion arises. Was the question worded in a way that was difficult to understand? Does the concept require review? Would having students work in peer groups to debate their answers lead to increased understanding? Having students be able to re-try exams can also be beneficial to learning. This has traditionally been viewed as cheating. However if the purpose is for students to identify areas needing improvement, then students can learn those concepts and confirm their new understandings, which is the primary purpose of the assessment. Traditional assessment practices can be used in new ways to increase student achievement.
Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 1(1), 3-31. Retrieved fromhttp://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202004-05.pdf
Jenkins, M. (2004). Unfulfilled promise: Formative assessment using computer-aided assessment. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, i, 67-80. Retrieved fromhttp://www2.glos.ac.uk/offload/tli/lets/lathe/issue1/articles/jenkins.pdf