EDCI 335 Blog #1 Part 2: Assessment Implications

First off, I apologize for the length of this blog post! Assessment is such a complex part of learning/teaching and I feel that in order to address my thoughts on this, I’ve ended up with a rather long piece. Although I don’t talk about the reliability/validity aspect of assessment, or summative/formative feedback in great depth within this blog, these are central features that link to the very meaning of assessment and feedback and their purpose.

During my teaching career, assessment was a constant conversation. As Pellegrino et al. (2001) note, assessment can be used for a range of reasons, and by a range of stakeholders from the teacher all the way up to government and policy makers. It is interesting, and somewhat baffling, that I continually felt that there was a lack of clarity on the nature of assessment. When I first started teaching, in the U.K., we used levels 1 – 5 as assessment criteria, which then changed to a different system: working below, working towards, at age related expectations, or above age related expectations. This was to try to foster a less grade-focussed approach, but it took a very long time for parents to stop asking me which level their child was working at. Indeed, it felt like the new assessment ended up being new levels or grades, just with a different name.

Assessment should be linked back to fundamental beliefs about what teaching and the curriculum’s main purposes should be, whether the priority should be teaching skills, learning attitudes, citizenship, or for economic gains and individual achievement (Black & Wiliam, 2014; Conrad & Openo, 2018). Grades are a key part of this, and grading emerges as an interesting site for discussion. It is very hard to get away from grades, it feels as though they have become so ingrained into our knowledge of success or achievement, and yet, evidence suggests that they are hurtful and contribute to demotivating learners (Kohn, 2016; Park, 2018). It can also be seen that grading is often influenced by more than just a percentage point or mark gained in a test or throughout a class. “… in grading, the distinction between interpretation and use is more blurred than for most other educational measures.” (Brookhart, 1993, p. 125).

So, despite people feeling that they understand grades, and that they are a good measure of a learner’s competence, grades are often ascribed with some leeway or modification from the teacher, depending on effort, the perceived ability, or the progress made by a particular learner (Brookhart, 1993). I will admit to finding it hard to see a way forwards without them, as they continue to be so ingrained into our academic systems and collective understanding. However, how assessments are created and used after their completion is a different story, and something that teachers and the design of learning materials can influence in order to make assessment meaningful for learning.

Assessment strategies used in this course and links to learning theory:

This class has utilized many ideas to ensure that assessment contributes to learning. It is also relevant to the learning taking place, as assessment should be flexible to suit the aims of the class being given (Black & Wiliam, 2014). Many of the assessment practices within this course can be seen in Conrad and Openo’s (2018) writing on authentic assessment as outlined below:

Group tasks – these should enable us to discuss our learning, come to a deeper understanding of the topics being addressed, and give us a way to clarify information or different interpretations of the readings. The online platform of Mattermost is being used as a community building forum to enable collaboration. Learning from each other provides a link to constructivist pedagogy, allowing us to create our knowledge based on different inputs, including through social interactions (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Learning outcomes are communicated – Weekly, we are being given outcomes for our learning, which we can relate back to and reflect on. This can help us to focus our readings and thinking back to the core learning of the class and ensure that we are on task, alike to a roadmap. These learning outcomes are pre-set and linked to the core course content, showing a leaning towards cognitive learning theory – organizing knowledge and the steps needed to acquire it (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Reflection – The blog posts are giving us an outlet to discuss our readings and understanding, and can give the instructors information on our learning. Although these are individual, being asked to comment and question others enables us to learn through collaboration. Allowing musings via blog-posts and reflections on our readings links to a cognitive slant to the learning design, allowing us to link new material to our prior knowledge, (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Real-life tasks – It can be seen that tasks linking the learning to something real or relevant for the learners can help motivate and engage them. I can see the value of this assessment task, and it provides an opportunity to put my learning into practice rather than just read about it. Completing it with others is also more alike to a real-world environment where we might be asked to develop resources within a team (Conrad & Openo, 2018). This assessment opportunity is aligned to constructivist theory, as it allows learners to go beyond the information given and assesses on the transfer of skills and knowledge to a task (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Open ended task – Although there are clear parameters for the task, we are able to choose our own subject matter and create something new. This is not just regurgitating facts or being able to write about our readings, but something applied where we can complete it as we wish, with reference to our learning. This could be seen as cognitivist, or constructivist, as it allows us to make connections with other areas of learning and be active in determining the plan or end-product of the task, (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Peer-feedback – part of the assessment in this class is to provide meaningful peer feedback to another group. This can enable a greater understanding of the assessment process and give deeper knowledge of how to improve our own work. Using a rubric is different to just reading or trying to follow it (Black & Wiliam, 2014), and can allow for multiple perspectives to be considered in the learning, a constructivist approach (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Giving a rubric – Being able to self-reflect or self-assess using the rubric given (for blog posts etc) has been helpful in outlining the expectations for the tasks being given. It has made it more understandable and I am more aware of what is needed to be shown in order to gain marks. As Shepard (2005) notes, using self-assessment can increase motivation and make it feel that the learner has some control of their own performance. This can be seen as linking to a more cognitivist learning theory, as the learner is active in creating their own outcomes using a structure of information (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Learner survey – During the learner survey I was asked to give my previous experience of creating learning resources using a technology mediated environment, allowing my instructor to see my prior knowledge. This is important, to help guide the teaching and to inform the teacher of the starting point for the learners (Shepard, 2005). Pre-assessment can be linked to behaviourist learning theory (Ertmer & Newby, 2013), but it really depends on how this information is used as to which learning theory it would be support.

Not being used:

Examinations – although in some areas this might be an appropriate form of assessment (Black & Wiliam, 2014), for this class it would not show that the relevant skills or knowledge has been learned in a meaningful way. Examinations would link back to a more behaviourist way of teaching, fact checking and knowledge based rather than process based (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). In my educational experiences, examinations have often been used at the end of a class, and often with very large social implications such as whether I would go on to study at the university of my choice. However, I don’t remember ever seeing the exam papers after they have been marked.

Essay writing – although we are writing blog posts, long essays are not being used as an assessment in this class. Often these are used at the end of a class, as has been my experience, as a summative assessment. However, last term I experienced the instructor allowing us to hand in drafts before the final deadline in order to receive formative feedback. This was new for me, and something that I greatly valued as it gave me greater confidence and clear pathways for improvement.

Comparison to other courses:

Although some of these assessment tasks have been used in my other classes for my MA, this is the first that has focussed more on community/collaborative learning instead of an individual end product. As mentioned, formative feedback has been provided in one of my other classes, however for others, the final grade has depended on presentations or papers to be handed in or presented by a deadline. In these situations, I have found that a rubric has been provided, which I did use to guide my task completion and help identify the areas that need further improvement. Peer feedback was part of one assignment, however the feedback was not monitored and varied greatly between the people who gave me feedback – there was no structure or information on how to give meaningful peer feedback which I feel would have helped to give me constructive improvement points.

Reflection:

It is clear that carefully planned assessment should be part of the learning design, and that assessment needs to be meaningful to learning, give appropriate and useful feedback, and link back to the learning outcomes that are being presented through the lessons. Using the assessment triangle of cognition, observation, and interpretation can help us to ensure that this is the case (Pelligrino et al., 2001).

As I move forward to planning a sequence of learning, I need to keep this in mind, ensuring that the assessment is valid and reliable, to help learners rather than simply give a judgement. How this is possible on an online environment is interesting, as it relies teacher/learner dialogue (Black & Wiliam, 2014) and I wonder how this can be achieved in this technological learning system.

I also think about my personal feelings about assessments being used in this class, and will admit that there is a part of me that misses the paper-writing, summative element of my other classes. I acknowledge that this is a safe assessment system for me, something that I am used to and have proven myself to be able to ‘do’. The different assessment tasks being used within this class are, therefore, challenging for me and encouraging me to be more self-reflective in my learning.

References:

Brookhart, S. M. (1993). Teachers’ Grading Practices: Meaning and Values. Journal of Educational Measurement, 30(2), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3984.1993.tb01070.x

Black, P., Wiliam, D. (2014) Assessment and the Design of Educational Materials. Educational Designer, 2(7).

Conrad, D., & Openo, J. (2018). Assessment strategies for online learning: engagement and authenticity. In Assessment strategies for online learning (1st ed.). Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771992329.01

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.

Kohn, A. (2016, February 21). Why Grades Shouldn’t Exist [Video]. Fiddlestick Productions, Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfRALeA3mdU

Park, S. (2018). Motivation theories and instructional design. In R. E. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/motivation_theories_and_instructional_design

Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (2001). Knowing what students know the science and design of educational assessment. National Academy Press.

Shepard, L.A. (2005). Linking formative assessment to scaffolding, Educational Leadership, 63(3) p. 66-70