One of the first assisgnments the teacher left us was to go to a school that encourages active learning and
its curriculum was based on constructivism, observe a class and interview the
teacher.
We decide to choose Prometeo’s
school for this project and unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to
observe a proper class but my classmates, Mireya Morales and Daniel Bolaños,
were able to interview the school’s principal.
Celestin Freinet (1896-1966) was
a French educator and creator of new teaching methods and techniques based on
the creative work of students. He based his research on pedagogical style and
methods that are grounded in personality theory and individual initiative, and
on his experience of teaching in the public schools in France.
Freinet believed that children
only play because they can’t work or that play is always a reflection of the
real world and as such the ideal learning environment is one where children are
co-creators and producers and get to work alongside teachers and adults. He
believed that it was vital for children to learn in and about the real world.
He also said that school should provide opportunities for all kinds of artistic
action which can bring balance to the child's development and enrichment of
personality because artistic endeavor can be therapeutic, and can bring
satisfaction, challenge, and the feeling of accomplishment.
They work with the natural method
that says that authentic learning is created by using real experiences. The
activities are chosen based on children’s interests because they need to be
motivated to learn on their own.
Another characteristic of this
method is the fact that we the students are responsible for cleaning the areas
where they work.
Something that got my attention
was the fact that children are involved in serious decisions about the school.
Decisions that go from where to go on school excursions to new teachers or
upcoming events.
In conclusion, the main goal of
education, according to Freinet, is to arouse in students an interest in
learning and to develop positive attitudes toward it. It would have been nice to see
Freinet’s theory applied in a real class but the school’s principal provided my
classmates with useful information to understand a bit more about the theory. I think the way they work is really interesting and different to what we are used to see.
In this blog entry, I talk about
what it is language assessment, how we categorize it, types of tests, and the
guiding principles that govern testing design, focusing more on validity and reliability.
You will be able to find concept maps and a video, which take form of an
interview, explain what I already mentioned.
Introduction
to issues in language assessment
When we hear the word assessment,
we often think about the pencil-and-paper test that happens at the end of the
course that makes students really stressed because, now the teacher is going to
know how much they don’t know and he or she is probably going to fail them. But
assessment is so much more than tests. Actually, assessment includes a wide
range of activities and tasks that teachers use to evaluate students’ progress
and growth during the course, and their development at the end of it.
First of all, we need to define
some terms. Evaluationis the widest
basis for the gathering of information in education and it concerns analyzing
all the factors that influence the teaching-learning process, such as syllabus
objectives, course design and materials. Assessment
is part of evaluation; it refers to the different ways that teachers gather
information about learners’ language ability and their achievements. And last
but not least, testing is a
subcategory of assessment, and it is a systematic, formal procedure to collect
information about students’ behavior.
We, as teachers, have the
responsibility of choosing the best option of testing for a particular group of
students in a particular context, so it is useful to categorize tests by
purpose, type or stage of the course.
We have six different types of
test:
·Placement tests. They assess
students level of language and to position students in an appropriate course.
This helps to have classes that are homogeneous in level proficiency.
·Aptitude tests. They measure
our general ability or capacity to learn a foreign language, an example of this
type of test is the MLAT, which is the Modern Language Aptitude Test developed
by Caroll and Sapon in 1958.
·Diagnostic tests. They help
to identify areas in which a student needs further help.
·Progress tests. They measure
the development that students are making during the course.
·Achievement test. They are
similar to progress tests because they also determine what students have
learned regarding to course outcomes and they are typically applied at mid- and
end-point of the course.
·Proficiency test. They are
not based on a particular curriculum or program, and they asses the language
ability at varying levels. An example of this test is the TOEFL, which
measure English language proficiency of foreign students.
There are other ways of labeling
test, for example Objective Tests which are scored by
comparing a student’s responses with an established set of correct responses on
an answer key, with this labeling test the qualifier doesn’t require particular
knowledge in the examined area. On the other hand is Subjective Test that
requires scoring by personal judgment so, in this case, the human element is
very important.
There are Criterion-Referenced
Tests (CRTs), which are usually developed to measure mastery of
well-defined instructional objectives specific to a particular program;
according to Brown, the purpose of this test is to measure how much learning
the student has achieved. Norm-Referenced
Tests (NRT) also called Standardized Tests are designed to gauge language abilities, -based on Brown, - the
purpose of an NRTs are to spread out a continuum of scores. Test results are
interpreted with reference to the performance of a given large group of
students who are similar to the individuals for whom the test was designed.
Summative
Assessment is used at the end of the course to
determine if students have achieved the objectives set out in the curriculum. Formative
Assessment aims to use the results to improve instruction, so feedback is
provided to students during the course.
High
Stakes Tests are those in which the results are likely
to have a big impact in our lives, for example TOEFL; and finally the Low
Stakes Tests are those that have a small impact in our lives, a clear
example of these are the class test and short quizzes.
Is important to
understand that designing a test is highly complex, and there are basic
principles that are essential when doing so. The guiding principles that
govern testing design are
·Usefulness
·Validity
·Reliability
·Practicality
·Washback
·Authenticity
·Transparency
·Security
To have a better
understanding of two of these principles, which are validity and reliability,
here you have a concept map of each one. The maps are based on the information
of articles about reliability and validity.
This is the map for test validity:
And this is the map for test reliability:
As we can see, there are a lot of factors to
takeinto consideration when designing a
test, that go from the situation that it is created for, to the purpose that it
serves, to the group of people that it is evaluating, and many other ones. You
can’t take this matter lightly, and because It is an extremely complex work, it
helps to know what type of test you are creating and the principles that it has
to follow.
The maps were creted by: Adriana Aquino Diana Jiménez López Maria Juana Reyes Parada
Video: Talking about Testing
Why do teachers make quizzes? Why do schools
create high-stakes tests for students? Why do teachers create low-stakes test
during the course?The answer seems
obvious: to see what they have learned. However, tests serve many other
purposes in schools beyond just helping assigning a grade according to the
result of the student. Designing and doing a test is a really tricky matter
because testing can measure successful memorization of facts or the effective
application of critical thinking skills.Although test-taking can cause anxiety or stress in some students, the
desire to do wellcan help keep students
motivated, but it is our task to keep them motivated not just to get a good
grade but also to be excited about learning .
In the following video, which takes the form of
an interview, my classmates and I are talking about testing, types of tests,
how tests are labeled, among other things. We based on the information that was already mentioned at the beginnig of this blog entry.
As a conclusion, assessment is an integral part of instruction,
as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being achieved. Assessment inspires teachers to ask themselves
questions like: "Are we teaching
what we think we are teaching?" "Are students learning what they are
supposed to be learning?" "Is there a way to teach the subject better?".
And making teachers ask themselves these questions is a pivotal task to see if
they are meeting the curriculum objectives. My experience doing the video:
I enjoyed
doing this activity. We had to understand the information so it didn't sound so
robotic when answering the question, and we had to practice so it seemed more
natural. So at the end of the shooting of the video, the information was more
stucked in my mind. And, as in the previous team vide, it was interesting and
useful as a learning tool because everyone brought something different to the
task.
In this entry you will be able to find an example of an oral presentation rubric, an example of a scale, and an example of a checklist. Each one of them is better described in their sections.
Rubric: Oral presentation
First of all,
we had to determined what we were going to assess, in this case, we wanted to
assess some oral presentations of our classmates.
When we
started doing our rubric, the teacher provided us with some reading about
rubrics (reading 1 and reading 2) , and we looked for other examples of rubrics
evaluating oral presentations.
We obviously need to define what we want to
evaluate in order to know the characteristics it should have.
Therefore, speaking
is defined as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing, receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning depend on
the context in which it occurs, the participants that are involve in the process,
and the purposes of speaking (Burns & Joyce, 1997).
Speaking is the
students' ability to express themselves orally, coherently, fluently and
appropriately in a given meaningful context to serve both transactional and
interactional purposed using correct pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and
adopting the pragmatic and discourse rules of the spoken language, in this
case, English. They are required to show mastery of the following sub
competencies:
Linguistic
competence: This includes using intelligible pronunciation, following
grammatical rules accurately, and using a relevant and appropriate range of
vocabulary.
Discourse competence: This includes
structuring the discourse coherently and cohesively, and managing the
conversation and interacting effectively to keep the conversation going,
especially at the end, when the questions happen.
Pragmatic competence: This involves expressing
a range of functions effectively and appropriately according to the context and
register.
Fluency: This
means speaking fluently demonstrating a reasonable rate of speech.
2. Addressing
the intended audience at their level
3. It is
well-organized, including a clear introduction, which motivates and previews
the talk, and a summary
4. Avoiding
unnecessary details, and staying in topic all of the time
5. Using
well-designed visual aids
6. Engaging
the audience
7. And, ending
on time
We used Rubistar, which is a tool that allows you to create your own rubrics. It
provides you the format and it also gives you some examples of different types
of rubrics, the categories or aspects that you can evaluate in them, and the
descriptions for each aspect. In our case, we chose to assess five aspects or
categories: organization, mastery of the content, verbal effectiveness,
delivery, and visual-aids.
Rubistar was
really easy to use and it actually gave us a starting point, it helped us to
choose which aspects we wanted to evaluate and the actual characteristics of
those aspects. I would absolutely recommend it to other teachers because using
it is not only helpful but it’s also very quick to utilize.
When it was time for its application, I found two main struggles: the first one was that there were some aspects that we didn't covered in our rubric and that when I wanted to evaluate them, it was difficult to choose where to place them. And the second one was that it was difficult to me to evaluate them as a team, because some of them accomplished the characteristics of an aspect and some of them didn't, so I got confused about how to evaluate them.
The rubric was made by:
Maria Juana Reyes Parada
Adriana Aquino
Diana Jiménez López
Scale
A scale is a
tool used for assessing the performance of tasks, skill levels, procedures,
processes, qualities, quantities, and many other end products, such as reports,
presentations, drawings, etc.
These are judged at a defined level within a stated
range. Rating scales are similar to checklists except that they indicate the
degree of accomplishment rather than just yes or no. Scales list performance
statements in one column and the range of accomplishment in descriptive words
or numbers, in other columns. These other columns form “the scale” and can
indicate a range of achievement, such as from poor to excellent, never to
always, beginning to exemplary, or strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Effective
rating scales use descriptors with clearly understood measures, such as
frequency. Scales that rely on subjective descriptors of quality, such as fair,
good or excellent, are less effective because the single adjective does not
contain enough information on what criteria are indicated at each of these points
on the scale.
The scale that I designed was based on a revision of the Minerva Model. I used a scale from 1 to 4, 1 being the lowest rating and 4 being the highest.
As a conclusion, I thought making a scale was very easy but it turned out it wasn't. You need to be careful when you choose your parameters, for example if you want to evaluate frequency or effectiveness, because that will govern your overall instrument.
Checklist
First, we need to define what a checklist is. A checklist is a tool for identifying the presence or
absence of conceptual knowledge, skills, elements, or behaviors. Checklists are
used for identifying whether key tasks in a procedure, process, or activity
have been completed.
They usually offer
a yes/no format in relation to student demonstration of specific criteria. This
is similar to a light switch; the light is either on or off. They may be used
to record observations of an individual, a group or a whole class.
The checklist I designed is based on the characteristicas and the elements that our blogs should have. I took 12 aspects into consideration and there should be 18 elements in our blogs, from maps, to videos, to other assessment tools.
Here is the link to download the checklist: Blog checklist
To summarize, the purpose of
checklists and rating scales is to:
·provide tools for systematic recording of observations
provide tools for self-assessment
·provide samples of criteria so students can know what it's soing to be evaluated ··.
Questions
To finish this never-ending entry, I will answer some questions about the blog as a learning tool and as an assessment tool.
1. How does the blog work for the teacher, classmates and me?
For all of us is a portfolio, in
which we can find our assignments in an organized way and it allows us to add
to our post all types of formats and content. It provides, not only to the
teacher, but to us as well a kind of time-lapse work, where we could see our
progress and our improvement on designing assessment tools and on the way we
express ourselves when we are explaining the topics.
The blog shows our level of
understanding about the topics. And it was a source of feedback, not only from
my classmates but I could also see my mistakes and the thing I could improve
on.
2. To what extent does it match in
practice with what I read?
I think that all the reading that
the teacher gave us helped me to create every work in my blog. Every reading
was useful and accurate to the topic. If I wouldn’t have read the articles, I
wouldn’t have being able to accomplish what the teacher asked for, because I
used the readings not only for the concept maps but I also used them for my
videos, my tests, my rubrics, and every other task. They did not only provide
me with the content for my work but they also gave steps and tips to do the
tasks.
3. Would I implement it in my own
classes? Why?
Yes, as the reading
said, you can be used in any grade level and in any curriculum and I found the
blog very useful and accessible. You can enter and have the resources whenever
and wherever. It’s an interactive tool, and you can receive feedback, when
making the blog, from your teacher and your classmates. From their points of
view, you can learn something different, whether it is their method of
organization or a different understanding of a topic.
In this new entry, you will find more about formative assessment, specifically formative-assessment tools. You'll be able to find more about maps, rubrics and portfolios.
I got the information from some readings that my teacher provided me with in class. The readings are concept maps, rubrics, and portfolios.
We use
assessment tools to measure how much our students have learned up to a particular
point in time, and formative assessments help us, teachers, to be able to do
something if there are problems understanding a topic because it happens when
the learning is still happening and it gives us time to modify our future
instruction.
Formative
assessment has tools like:
Concept maps
Rubrics
Porfolios
Concept maps are tools that are useful to construct, organize, and communicate knowledge and they promote active learning because they involve students to pursuit their own knowledge. They are visual presentations that explicate ideas with key concepts by arranging them into topics and subtopics.
Arslan (2006) suggests thatt there are three things that students should do when making a concept map:
Write key concepts inside shapes
Link lines to show the connection between the concepts
Write link phrases to describe the relations between them.
There are different types of concept maps:
Anticipatory guides. Students have to respond to several teacher-generated statements or questions
Central and Hierarchical maps. They are structured around a central topic and the information is presented in order of importance.
Comparative maps. As its name says, it exists a comparison between two or more concepts
Directional maps. The information is presented in a sequence as a timeline or a flowchart.
Pictorial or Landscape maps. The information is presented with pictures, landscapes or symbols.
Semantic maps. They are used to introduce, review and clarify previously learned and newly introduced information.
Serial maps. They are a series of evolving maps that students can create about a single topic over a specified period of time.
Spider maps. The information is presented in a hierarchical and interrelated way.
Systems. The information is organized in parts and each one of them represents an input and output.
Webbing. The information is arranged in groups and sub-groups that show relation between them.
Rubrics are another type of formative assessment tool and it sets the expectations and desired outcomes. They describe the different levels of quality from proficient to poor for a specific project.
They provide feedback to both, teachers and students, and they also provide detailed information about students' strengths and weaknesses.
There are three types of rubrics:
Analytical rubrics: They separate assignments into individual parts and evaluate each part separately.
Holistic rubrics: They evaluate the overall assignment as a whole.
Scoring and Primary rubrics: They are used by instructors to assign grades and they supply guidelines that describe the characteristics of the different levels of performance.
And last but not least, portfolios. A portfolio is a collection of individual students' work which documents their performance and their growth over an specific period of time. They emphazise participation, engagement and understanding . They also give the opportunity to practice peer review by analyzing other classmates' work.
The different types of portfolios are:
Developmental. They document students' progress in a particular class throughout the school year.
Proficiency. Their goal is to prove mastery in a specific area.
Showcase. They document only students' best work.
College admission. Some colleges ask their participants for this type of portfolios to have a look of their capabilities.
Employment skills. They demonstrate an applicant's job readiness.
Writing portfolios. One of the first uses of portfolios in education.
Electronic portfolios. As their name describes, they are potrfolios that are stored on a server or CD-ROM and students can add images, audios or even video content.
And here is a video I created talking more about the topic:
In conclusion, these formative assessment tools have similarities and differences, and also advantages and disadvantages. And we need to know how to used them, in order to serve an specific purpose, to help us assess our students and being able to give them feedback at the same time as we receive it.
Assessment is
a very wide topic that encompasses everything from statewide tests to everyday
classroom tests, and not only tests but also everyday reviewed activities. The
more information we have about students, the clearer the picture teachers have
about achievement or where learning gaps may occur.
There are two
mayor types of assessments, which are formative and summative assessment. In
this entry, you will be able to find a concept map and a video explaining what
summative and formative assessments are, their similarities, their differences
and some examples. We got our information from the reading "Formative & Summative Assessments" and further reasearch.
And here is the video:
To summarize,
formative assessments provide both students and teachers with the information
they need to improve the learning process while it's happening, and they provide
students with feedback rather than a grade.
And summative
assessments are generally administered at the end of a unit or course. Unlike
formative assessments, which may occur several times during a course or unit,
summative assessments occur only a few times over the course of the academic
year. A common goal of this type of evaluation is to measure the mastery of
learning standards. Lastly, summative assessments always yield a grade.
My experience
doing the video
This was one
of the last video that I filmed for this course and it was a team-work activity
so, for me, it was easier to be in front of the camera. As a learning tool, the
video was interesting and kind of challenging, because we had to rehearse the
content so we would be able to sound sure about what we were talking about and
everyone brought something different to the task. But at the end of the day,
the video was an useful and effective learning tool.
