M5 Reflection

How do I assess student learning?


Student learning needs to be assessed early and often in a project based environment. Diagnostic, Formative and Summative evaluation all serve their roles in the process. Pinpointing your students' starting points and prior knowledge is extremely important if you plan to help students attach new learning to it throughout the unit. monitoring and guiding stusdents throughout the course of the unit is probably the biggest and most tricky type of assessment because it must lead them towards the finished product without being to rigid or to open. The fact that students need to take ownership over this very important part of the evaluation process requires some pre teaching and modeling on our part so that they have a good idea of where the project needs to go. This can be done by modeling how you assess them on a day to day basis and why you do it the way you do. Making constant inferences to the standards and other bench marks in the lessons leading up to large unit can pay dividends when it comes time to have them create their own assessments.

How do I involve students in the assessment process?

Getting students to understand the standards and objectives, let alone own them is difficult, but not impossible. It is extremly necessary if they are to create assessments. If they do not have the goal in mind, they cannot chart a course for it.

If students can understand how and why you assess them they can learn to assess themselves and others. Breaking down this process for them and making it transparent can really help them to understand what the bigger picture is in any activity and can help them to think more like you do. I've always said that if students could understand what you were doing and why, that they would be more likely to take some of the ownership in it. If you can get your students to take ownership in the assessment process then all else will fall into place.