In this ever-changing world we, teachers, have one thing in common – helping every student in our classroom succeed. Being in need of keeping up with new curriculums, research-based instructional practices, alongside increasing the achievement level of our students, we are constantly searching for ways to support ourselves in this challenge.
Assessment and instruction are an integral part of a classroom activity focusing on the student. To assess student readiness for a particular unit of study, to plan our instruction we need to make use of a variety of different strategies/techniques.
One may define three main types of assessment: pre-assessment, which is used to collect information about students before a lesson or a new unit of study to determine the readiness level of students and to inform instruction; summative, used at the end of a lesson or unit of study to provide evidence of what students have learnt; formative, that gathers information about student learning during a lesson or unit of study to track students` progress and to make changes to instruction. This article focuses on some strategies and techniques that teachers can use to help them formally assess their students, and create a learning environment in terms of Covid-19 and war time terms where students could assess their own learning.
What is formative assessment? When and why are formative assessment strategies/techniques used?
The goal of formative assessment is aimed at monitoring the student learning and thus to provide the instant ongoing feedback teachers need to identify which learners need more help and adjust their instruction and lesson plans accordingly; thereby it can be easily used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Formative assessment promotes equity in any learning environment.
There has never been a more important time for teachers to catch students up grappling with the academic gaps caused by Covid-19 and war time educational establishment closures. Students don`t feel as free to ask questions or interact with their peers if they are learning in virtual and hybrid environments. It`s crucial for students to feel valued and develop the skills they need to be successful. To precipitate learning, students must be partners in the learning process, be aware of what they`ve mastered and where they have learning gaps.
Formative assessment strategies/techniques may be used throughout a unit of study during the learning process to help teachers make adjustments to their instruction to better satisfy learner needs. To determine if the instruction is impacting student achievement, teachers can use the same strategy/technique or a different one, changing or adapting the instruction. If students are doing well and show the expected progression, teachers keep on practicing with the current instruction. Otherwise, they plan other learning opportunities to help students get information or skills they need to be successful.
The Council of Chief State School Officers defines formative assessment as “a planned, ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence of student learning to improve student understanding of intended disciplinary learning outcomes and support students to become self-directed learners.” More specifically, formative assessments:
• help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work;
• help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately.
Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:
• draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic;
• submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture;
• turn in research proposal for early feedback.
What type of formative assessment strategy/technique to use?
The choice of a type of formative assessment strategy/technique to use depends on a number of factors. Teachers need:
• to determine what aspect of student learning has to be measured;
• to consider the learning preferences of the students;
• to decide on the type of grouping used for formative assessment. Students can be given strategies individually, as partners, in small groups, or as a class.
How can the assessment information be used by teachers and students?
The main aim of using formative assessment information by teachers is to assess how their current instructional strategies are working with the students, identify misunderstandings students may have and adapt their instruction accordingly, depending on the students` level. Those, struggling, may need individual work or other way information presentations. Those, who have appeared to master the goal assessed, may be further assessed or have learning opportunities designed at their level of understanding to challenge them.
Using formative assessment information students can determine what they need to do to achieve the goals or outcomes of the unit. It can also be helpful for students to reflect on current learning goals or set new ones.
There`s a variety of formative assessment strategies/techniques to use. Here are some of them.
1. ABCD Cards, when students give quick, individual responses to multiple-choice questions posed spontaneously, or planned as part of a session to further collate the responses and use them as evidence.
2. Analogies, when students are asked to create an analogy between the new information they have just learnt and something they are familiar with.
3. Concept Maps, when students print the topic or main idea in the oval, placed in the centre of the page, using Google maps graphic organizers, and then support details in the spaces surrounding the oval. Students can use the concept maps as a formative assessment strategy in any subject area.
4. Computer Surveys, when creating short response questions – true/false, multiple choice, or one-word completion questions and using a particular computer platform, you are allowed to determine what your students have learnt about a topic or outcomes of the unit.
5. Double Entry Journals, when having two columns, students write key words, quotations, or ideas on the topic in the left column and personal responses to these words in the right one, which will provide you with information about student understanding of the topic.
6. Examples/Non-Examples, when students are encouraged to give examples and non-examples of a topic being studied, providing you with information regarding the depth of their understanding.
7. Exit Cards, when, at the end of the class, you ask your students a question or give a problem involving interest for them to solve. For example, working on grammar structure - Type I, II Conditionals you may ask students what could happen if all computers have gone crazy. The collected responses will help you determine if students have general understanding of the topic or whether you need to provide further whole class or small group instruction, create groupings for the next day lesson and plan activities based on students` responses.
8. Fist of Five, when your students respond a question by holding up from one to five fingers showing their level of understanding, making a quick assessment possible by a simple glance around the classroom and, thus, allowing you to adapt your instruction accordingly.
9. Four Corners, when corners of the classroom having been labeled “Strongly Agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree” and “Strongly Disagree”, students choose the one to stand in that matches their response on your statement made about the current unit of study. Students are supposed to discuss and share their reasons for a particular choice of response with the rest of the class, in this way, providing you with information to plan future lessons.
10. Gallery Walk, when students move through the virtual rooms with pictures or displays set up around or pages of a printed booklet responding to questions about each item individually or as a small group. They can respond to questions either verbally or by writing on the document. This strategy can be used to guide or track a change through time drawing out links between elements.
11. Inside-Outside Circle, when your students being divided into two groups, forming inside and outside circles, pair up, face to face, with other students in the opposing circle, respond by making comments and explanations to an arisen question or statement in a reverse role procedure. The information from their discussions will help set further planning.
12. Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, when students have detailed descriptions of what they should know, comprehend or be able to do by the end of the lesson or unit having done the tasks specified by the teacher and understand how to achieve a desired performance of those tasks. This strategy helps students track their progress, self-assess throughout the lesson sequences or unit of work.
13. Learning Logs, when, at the beginning or end of class, students write about what they have learnt about the topic, make connections between the topic and their own lives, proving you with information what they are learning to help guide further planning.
14. Matching Activities, when each student or pair of students is provided with a set of cards to match words with their definitions or group facts into certain categories. This strategy allows you to assess student knowledge of content area vocabulary or facts in a particular unit.
15. Observation, which gives teachers a record of student engagement and learning, assists in understanding misconceptions, helps to find out aspects of learning that was confusing to the students when guiding questions, for example asking them to talk about the things they don`t understand, find confusing or to explain their process when working on a task, and thus benefits to future lesson planning and instruction. This strategy may include check-lists, conferences or anecdotal records.
16. One Minute Essays, when students have one minute to respond a question on a particular topic reflecting on learning and making personal connections with their own lives.
17. Paper Pass, when students rotate around the classroom to the different chart papers with target words or questions posted around the room and jot down their comments about the topics and about other students` comments written on brainstorming sheets. The process of the strategy can be either formal or informal.
18. Peer Feedback, when students assess the work of their peers by providing valuable feedback based on reference points. Evaluating the work of the peers, students grind away to apply criteria, find out benefits, are challenged during the process that helps them clarify misunderstandings, see new perspectives, and simulate intellectual risk-taking.
19. Placemats, when students in groups of four or five have a large sheet of paper at their disposal with the topic or target question written in the middle of it which they divide into sections so that each of them could have one to write in or draw to demonstrate their understanding of the topic and some room in the middle to summarize their responses. Having shared what they have written or drawn with the other group members, they are expected to come up with two or three main ideas to write them in the centre of the paper and share them with the rest of the class, and thus, providing you with information about their current level of understanding.
20. Polya Questioning, when students are taught problem-solving while analyzing a problem, considering several possible solutions, trying them out and assessing the results. This technique may either focus on teaching mathematical problem-solving, or be useful for problems across all domains.
21. Portfolios, which demonstrate student achievement and progress working over an entire unit or course, representing both strength and areas to work on. They may contain uploaded files, images, student self-reflection etc. and can include written evaluations made by teachers and peers.
22. Problem Solving, when students` responses on the posed problem show their level of understanding regarding the unit being studied.
23. Questioning, when students are asked different level questions: lower – focusing on the facts and general information about the topic, higher – encouraging students to think about and reflect on their learning answering well-thought-out, high-order questions such as “why” and “how”; for the teacher to determine the depth of their understanding. This method can be used with individuals, small groups or the whole class.
24. Quizzes and Polls similarly to Computer Surveys can include multiple choice, true/false or short answer feedback assignments for assessing prior knowledge (a pre-topic quiz) or helping teachers check for understanding and have time to adjust their teaching (a mid-topic quiz). The strategy can also contain extended response, matching or paper and pencil tasks.
25. Rubrics, which can be used both by teachers and students to assess learning tasks, explicitly show the criteria for judging any student`s work that will be evaluated: presentation, portfolio, essay question, performance etc. This method provides an opportunity for fast decision making and turnarounds in self-assessment, peer assessment or teacher feedback.
Student Self-Assessment Strategies are used to implement self-assessment, activate students as owners of their own learning when being placed in the centre of the learning process. Here are some of them:
• a checklist or criteria;
• graphic organizers, when students display the bonds between concepts;
• hand signals, when students indicate their understanding of a specific concept, or process by displaying a hand signal designated beforehand;
• KWL chart, when a student writes down in 3 columns – What I know, What I`d like to know (at the beginning of the class, topic, unit, course), What I`ve learnt (at the end of the class, topic, unit, course);
• participation cards, when students respond expressing their opinion by telling/writing “I agree, I disagree, I don`t know how to answer”;
• pre and post class assessment, when students assess themselves at the beginning of the lesson and write how much they know and understand at the end of class, providing a teacher a touch base with students to discuss;
• three-minute-paper, which allows students to reflect on the concepts/ideas that have just been presented, implemented or introduced to make connections to prior knowledge or experience, and afterwards look for clarification. They may use the following expressions: “I was surprised about ___ , I became aware of ___ , I emphasized with ___ , I am not with ____ , I related to ____ , I`ve changed my attitude to ____ “ and etc.;
• traffic lights, when students identify their confidence, support, or somewhat attitude by using colored paper or sticky notes to hold up to screen at home;
• 3-2-1 Prompts, when students identify 3 things they didn`t know before learning a new subject, topic, unit; 2 things that made them open-eyed or astonished about the topic etc., and 1 thing they want to start doing with what they have learnt;
• Two stars and a wish, when students identify 2 things they have achieved and still have 1 thing to work on.
It`s important for teachers to create a learning environment where students could assess their own learning.
• Firstly, the learning target needs exact clarification for both the teacher and the students.
• Secondly, there should be created an opportunity for students to demonstrate the knowledge and skill of the entire learning target while learning and practicing the skill, rather than waiting for the test, when it`s too late to make a difference.
• Next, students` self-assessment practice should be availabe to demonstrate evidences of learning target.
• Then, comes verification of the students` self-assessments to the evidence they demonstrated.
• Finally, make revisions to both students` thinking and their work based on their self-assessment.
A successful usage of self- assessment by the students requires forethought and planning the routines to self-assess and make revisions, teaching the routines, and organizing students to practice them.
One may suggest several strategies/techniques allowing students to initiate their own formative assessment with the teacher`s support, the key to these strategies/techniques being all in the above mentioned routines. It`s essential to establish a transitional in any learning environment (virtual, hybrid or in-person) routine for student self-assessment.
Planning out routines for particular classrooms, a teacher has to first define actions for the strategy/technique to work in the classroom. Applying Student Evidence Tracker, a technology tool developed by Learning Sciences International`s Applied Research Centre, will help to make self-assessment easier by providing a step-by-step framework for both teachers and students.
By undertaking certain actions we achieve the fulfillment of the following strategies:
1. When both a teacher and students have a clear understanding of the learning target of the lesson, while the Student Evidence Tracker allows teachers to share the lesson`s learning target and criteria with students easily and quickly.
Actions:
• Teacher forms and shares the lesson`s learning target and criteria;
• Students have access to the Student Evidence Tracker, if they are at home on their home device (virtual environment)or in the classroom on a shared device (in-person environment);
• Students review the lesson`s learning target before they start the task. In terms of hybrid environment it takes the teacher time to make sure that both the virtual students and the in-person students have reviewed. They know the purpose for using the learning target and criteria during the fulfillment of the task.
2. Self-assessment strategy identifying if the students have learned something involves the following steps:
a. Formative self-assessment opportunities creation by a teacher within lessons based on evidence
b. Students progress tracking and self-assessment based on teacher`s checking the students` evidence of learning and comparing it to their self-assessment of learning
c. Teacher learning verification which forms partnership between a teacher and students in the assessment of learning, allowing the teacher to give feedback on the accuracy of the self-assessment
First step actions:
• Teacher identifies a task aimed at fulfilling the learning target (ex. Students formed in teams (virtual and in-person environment) use their roles and routines to collaborate on a task, while in hybrid environment they work on their own task individually before the teacher partners them together);
• Students demonstrate their own learning before coming to consent.
Second step actions:
• To make students understand the link between the criteria and the task, the teacher determines their self-assessment and tracking progress time point within the lesson, creates and teaches a routine for self-assessment and tracking;
• Using the criteria the students complete the task, track their demonstration of the criteria during the task, reflect on it to determine if they met the criteria during the lesson by checking off each criterion using Student Evidence Tracker;
• Having the student responses, a teacher verifies that student self-assessments match them.
Third step actions:
• Teacher identifies the verification time point within the lesson of student self-assessment and plans how to track progress;
• After students reflect, discuss and self-assess, the teacher verifies that the student evidence matched their self-assessment;
• In case of teacher`s disagreement about students` evidence meeting the criteria and the learning target, the latter are provided with the opportunity to revise their work and resubmit their self-assessment.
3. Self-assessment strategy implying the deepening of students` understanding and next steps teacher`s planning
Actions:
• To deepen self-assessment understanding, students search for support;
• Students revise their work based on their self-assessment;
• Teacher adjusts instruction and lesson plans accordingly.
Summarizing, it`s evident that using the above mentioned strategies/techniques students are enabled to understand what they are supposed to be learning and self- assess their own progress in different learning environments.
Formative assessment can be tricky, high stakes – for teachers, when designing just the right assessment, not students - as we`re using it to discover what students know while they`re still in the process of learning it, to figure out what comes next. We have to define if we`re ready to move on, whether our students need a different path into the concepts or even more likely, which students are ready to move on and which are in need of a different path.
A variety of individual and group formative assessment strategies/techniques allows teachers to pursue different tasks: individual – to get a clear picture of a particular student understanding of the concept or skill being measured; group – general data about student learning that can be used to plan instruction. Moreover, students can also benefit from using formative assessment information making changes to their learning.
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