After much introspective deliberation, I have decided:
How do we objectively assess all aspects of student work?
I have decided to base the inquiry on the following 3 elements:
- Objective assessment of a students understanding and application of the design process
- Objective assessment of a students physically manufactured product (equity vs equality)
- Assessment of a students social/emotional development.
Cultural differences in students, their individual habitus (and age), and how ingrained the culture is will be important factors in SEL in the classroom. How do you foster a preservation of the culture while simultaneously fostering a sense of belonging in the new culture? Integrating non-english speaking parents into the students assessment process is also of primary importance.
I have spoken with several instructors regarding their assessment protocols, and the common thread seems to be the student portfolio as a gauge of progress in the design process.
I also believe the idea of empathy; how it’s defined, and how we must use it to understand each other (specifically marginalized groups like Indigenous students and Sogi) will be an ongoing challenge within the classroom.
It’s a bit of a broad topic, but something I will always need and would like to be very proficient at. Maybe get on the curriculum writing team? (ha ha, a bit early in the game for that). I will continue to update the post with my findings as I go along, should anyone be interested, and look forward to practicum this week to get some real world insight into how the instructors have began to integrate these new methods.