One question I had about the chapters was how do you think of one assessment other than a test that can validly grade students on how well they understand the information? For instance if they make a poster or write a paper they have other resources to help them, so how do we know what students really know?
I think the only way to know whether a student understands the material or whether or not an assessment works is by comparing different types of assessments. You could look at a pop quiz vs. a midterm or a paper vs. a test. There will be the most information being tested in a summative assessment.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
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SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
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FORMALLY ASSESSED
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Giving students a review before a test.
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A test over something students have just recently done.
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INFORMALLY ASSESSED
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Putting students in groups and having them work on assignments together.
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A final.
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I think the only way to know whether a student understands the material or whether or not an assessment works is by comparing different types of assessments. You could look at a pop quiz vs. a midterm or a paper vs. a test. There will be the most information being tested in a summative assessment.
I think a good way to know if students really understand things is to ask them to put it into their own words. If they can only recite what they have already been taught then maybe they remember the information, but it has not necessarily been encoded into their brain or anything. You could ask students to put things into their own words in an essay or poster, or you could ask them orally in class, thus somewhat replacing tests.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah, I think that different students show that they understand material in various ways, which depends upon the student. It is easier to ask students to show what they know by asking them to reflect their knowledge in their own personal way. Assessments can vary in many ways. However, I think that testing is one way to show reflection of knowledge if the facts are solid and there is no interpretation involved. If students can reflect their knowledge through an essay or poster or even discussion because interpretation can be used than that is more effective.
ReplyDeleteYour question seems like you're assuming that if students have resources to help them, then they don't really "know" (it's not 'in there', in their head), and I want to make sure you know that's one assumption that's not necessarily true (depending on your beliefs). Learning theory tells us that retrieval cues are often the key to getting information out of long term memory, so in that sense, resources, reminders, discussion, etc, might be required to get it out of 'there'. Also, in real life, we have resources all around us, so you may want to assess students in a similar authentic environment. You would be assessing their performance and use of the tools surrounding them (which can be a skill all on its own).
ReplyDeleteAre the boxes in your table switched in some way? It seems to be that the 'informal' boxes should both have something that won't feel like a test for students, but in the formative box, it should be something that you are looking at and will use to guide your instruction. It seems to me that a review session might be somewhat informal, but definitely formative.
It's a great point that using multiple kinds of assessments is the best way to see what students know. However, are you saying the way to distinguish summative assessments is that they contain more material? I think it's a bit more complex than that. How is each kind of assessment used? Do they have different purposes?