1. (a CRPP-RGS PeRL Research Project) Student Performance and Assessment
The Performance task as an alternative assessment: Its contribution to teaching and learning
(a CRPP-RGS PeRL Research Project) Student Performance and Assessment
SYM033
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary), Singapore
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

2. OUTLINE
SYM033a : Informing the practice on the school-wide implementation of the Performance Task as an alternative assessment. By Mary George CHERIYAN
SYM033b : Teacher perception and attitudes towards the design and implementation of the Performance Task as an alternative assessment. By Puay Lan CHUA, Lucille
SYM033c : Student motivation and achievement in the Performance Task. By Christopher SLATTER
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3. The journey so far? …The Journey so far… I & E Thinking Schools
Learning Nation
(1997)
I & E
Teach Less
Learn More
(2004)
Teacher
Quality of
Interaction
Learner
The journey so far?
Why are we here?
TSLN vision of Thinking Schools and Learning Nation began in 1997 is still true today for education.
Our education has established a form foundation in core areas. To help grow from strengths to strengths and bring our children/schools to a higher level
I & E launched in 2003 was to encourage a mindset of initiatives and creativity.
2005 saw a progressive movement towards TLLM.

4. Guiding Principles Goals/ Outcomes Pedagogy Assessment
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5. Assessment Shifts – A Snapshot
2010
Holistic Assessment
School-based Science Practical Assessment
2004
C21st Skills
Higher order thinking
Information communication
National Education
Project work
GCE A level
2003
1997
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6. Other ways of assessment
Aims of exploring new ways to assess
Empower students to thinking more deeply about the Math they are learning
Provide teachers with information to revise and redirect their teaching
Using 0ther types of assessment is an ongoing process involving the partnership of student and teacher in making judgment about the student’s progress using non-conventional strategies which
Encourage students to think more deeply about the math they are learning
Provide teachers with information to revise and redirect their teaching
Learning becomes a shared ownership
Encouraging our students towards independent learning
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7. Homework Class Tests Semestral Exams Where are we? Project Other work
Assessment
In 2002, you were invited to
Try out the various suggested ways of assessing your students and to give us your feedback.
How effective were they?
How viable were they?
How can they be done differently?
Project
work
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8. Can it be done? Many other assessments Problem solving tasks
Investigation
Projects
Journals
Conferences
Portfolios
Oral presentations
Class discussions
Observation
Peer-directed
Self-directed
Teacher-directed
There are many other assessment that you may have tried.
To give focus to our message that they can be done at any levels, we have selected to share how journal writing can be carried out in the mathematics classroom.
Journal writing is not a radical idea. It’s being used in English Language lessons and as such for the uninitiated, introducing journal writing in the mathematics may face lesser storms in its maiden voyage.
Three teachers will detail how they extend daily mathematics tasks to include journal writing at P2, P4 and P6.
Project work is here to stay, how can we ride on it to expand our methods of assessment in the teaching and learning of mathematics?
This afternoon we will show you how project work can be that platform to integrate other ways of assessing mathematics such self assessment, peer assessment, portfolio assessment and oral presentation assessment.
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9. World TRENDS in Assessment
External
Agencies
Knowledge
& Skills
Self
assessment
Progress
World
TRENDS
in Assessment
Sole Reliance
On answers
We are not alone in the quest to expand our modes of assessing in mathematics
World trends in assessment are shifting gears too
From assessing Knowledge of specific facts and skills to judging the progress of each student’s attainment of mathematical power
From simply indicating whether or not solutions to exercises are correct to giving feedback to students about their performance in a continuous, comprehensive manner
From sole reliance on answers to brief questions and tests to using multiple sources (such as performance tasks, projects, journal writing, oral presentation and portfolios)
From external agencies such as the teachers being the sole judges of progress to students learning to asses their own progress
Solutions
Multiple
Sources
Feedback
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10. Other ways of assessment…
On-going process
Involving the partnership of both teacher and students
In making judgment about the student’s progress
Using non-conventional strategies
Using 0ther types of assessment is an ongoing process involving the partnership of student and teacher in making judgment about the student’s progress using non-conventional strategies which
Encourage students to think more deeply about the math they are learning
Provide teachers with information to revise and redirect their teaching
Learning becomes a shared ownership
Encouraging our students towards independent learning
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11. Many forms of assessment…
Problem solving tasks
Investigation
Projects
Journals
Oral presentations
Interviews
Portfolios
Class discussions
Observations
Checklists
Peer assessment
Self assessment
Student-generated items
The different ways of assessment available present to us as a buffet table.
We select what is appropriate for the students in our charge.
They range from structured and open-ended assignments to classroom activities.
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12. Three perspectives (house 1981)
Technological
Measurement
Knowledge
Skills
Cultural
Interpretation
Integration
Political
Power
Authority
Competing interests
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13. OUTLINE
SYM033a : Informing the practice on the school-wide implementation of the Performance Task as an alternative assessment. By Mary George CHERIYAN
SYM033b : Teacher perception and attitudes towards the design and implementation of the Performance Task as an alternative assessment. By Puay Lan CHUA, Lucille
SYM033c : Student motivation and achievement in the Performance Task. By Christopher SLATTER
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14. Presented at the Redesigning Pedagogy Conference, June 2011
Informing the practice on the school-wide implementation of the performance task as an alternative assessment.
((a CRPP-RGS PeRL Research Project) Presenter: Mary George Cheriyan Director RGS PeRL
Presented at the Redesigning Pedagogy Conference, June 2011
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15. Overarching Concepts
Culture of informed practice: Teachers integrate their experience, judgement and knowledge with current, relevant and reliable research.
Reflective Practice: habit of inquiring and investigating a problem situation in order to understand how to frame a solution (Schon, 1983,87)
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16. Open-mindedness (Dewey, 1933) Sense of responsibility
Outcomes
This way of thinking is likely to instill in teachers the following attributes:
Open-mindedness (Dewey, 1933)
Sense of responsibility
Motivation (Loughran, 2002)
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17. School-based research
Key ideas
The divide between academic and teacher research
Legitimacy of the knowledge production by school-based inquiries
The teachers’ voice
(Zeichner, 1995)
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18. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

19. Research project: The performance Task
Performance tasks are based on real world situations in which the student creates products and/or performances that demonstrate her key understandings of the big ideas in the topic. Students apply higher order thinking to synthesize their knowledge of content and acquisition of skills to offer solutions and perspectives on the given issue. They may do so through divergent products that are appropriate to the context and their learning styles. The rubric lists the criteria that describe the standards by which their product/performance is assessed.
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20. Value of pt
Multiple measures of learning (Eisner, 1999), Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006)
Demonstration of critical thinking ( Howell, Brocato, Paterson, Bridges, 1999; Foo and Fan, 2007)
Requires content mastery & conceptual understanding (MacLellan, 2004)
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21. The pt in rgs
Alignment to the Integrated Curriculum Model (Baska, 1987)
The RGS Assessment Framework
Time-based Assessments
Applied understandings
-Performance Tasks
Growth over time
-Journal and Portfolios
Applied understandings
-Performance Tasks
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22. The research questions
Reliability and validity of school-constructed performance tasks: Focus on Secondary maths
What are teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, self- efficacy and their pedagogical practices in designing and implementing the performance task? How are they related with one another?
What are students’ motivation and their achievement in the performance task? How are they related with one another?
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23. (a CRPP-RGS PeRL Research Project)
The Teachers’ Voice
Teacher perception and attitudes towards
the design and implementation of the
Performance Task
as an alternative assessment
(a CRPP-RGS PeRL Research Project)
SYM033b
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24. Focus Group interview Questions posed
What do you understand by the term, ‘Performance Task’?
Was this new assessment initiative been clearly communicated to you? Is it a practical move?
How accurate (valid and reliable) are performance tasks, compared to other forms of assessments, in gauging students’ understanding of a topic?
Do you vary your pedagogy according to the type of assessments planned, pen and paper assessment (PPA) or performance task (PT)?
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25. Focus Group interview Questions posed
What form of mentoring do you provide your students with as they embark on their performance tasks?
Which, PPA or PT, provides students with more opportunities to demonstrate their critical thinking and/or creative thinking?
How competent are you in designing a performance task? How can your competency be further developed?
What are the challenges that you faced in the design of performance task? How did you overcome your challenges ?
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26. Teachers’ responses ….. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
Understanding of Performance Task
Encourage creativity - create product (2)
Extend student learning beyond the classroom
Demonstrate understanding (3)
Involve critical thinking skills
Challenging
Project work (PW) or alternative assessment (AA)
Audience (3)
Role
Authenticity (9) - transfer or application of learning
Communication of Performance Task
PT design meetings – collaborative work
Inferences made about structure
Learn by doing…. look at past PTs, modify, adapt or create (5)
Dialogues on the multi-layered concept among teachers (3)
Workshops: Induction workshop(2) or PeRL PT workshop(2)
Draw parallels - similar to authentic transfer task in
Understanding by Design (UbD) workbook
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27. Teachers’ responses ….. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
Practicality of Performance Task as an Alternative Assessment
Feasible
Individualism (2)
Meaningful and engaging
Process of discovering and uncovering (3)
Assessment beyond the classroom; PPA and textbooks would not be seen as a ‘be-all’ and ‘end-all’ in learning
Authentic scenarios (2)
Challenging Raffles Programme (RP) curriculum
“Assessment chore”
Asia Pacific study on International Baccalaureate (IB) – intensive drilling carried out in Years 5 and 6
Recognition and acceptance of PT by overseas universities
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28. Teachers’ responses ….. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
Accuracy of Performance Task in Gauging Understanding
Fairness - assess different abilities and skills (3)
Use of assessment rubrics
Benchmarking
Transfer or application of learning (3)
Alignment to learner’s outcomes
Validation: internal and external
Pedagogical Approaches and Assessment Modes
Built-in PT Prep (3)
Show relevant examples or tasks
PPA - chalk and board talk on the answer structure (2),
PT - idea exploration and standards (in rubrics)
Understanding by Design (UbD) framework
- alignment of assessment and pedagogy to learner’s outcomes
Status quo
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29. Teachers’ responses ….. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
Mentoring of Students in PT
Level of mentoring depends on class character
Similar form of guidance
Set benchmarks
Audio-visual Aids and digital resources
Task outline
two levels – task requirement and level of development
Demonstration of Critical Thinking and/or Creative Thinking
Multi-dimensional exploration of task
Creativity in product design (4)
Measurement of creative thinking is a challenge
Regulate scale of product (2)
Higher order thinking skills like evaluation and decision-making(4)
Evidence of deep critical thinking – looking at perspectives
Variations in approach to task
No model answer
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30. Teachers’ responses ….. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
Level of Competency in PT design and Competency Development
“Good at, but not an expert on”
Begin with the end in mind – key understandings and
nature of product
Learn on the job or learn by doing (5)
Open-mindedness and receptive – continuous learning (3)
Collaboration (2)
Professional dialogues and sharing (3)
PT Guidelines
Challenges in PT design and Overcoming the Challenges
Learner’s outcomes – dimensions of learning
Nature of product
Assessment rubrics (3) – wording and standards
Key understanding
Bench-marking and objective grading
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31. FINDINGS :
High level of awareness on the existence of a STRUCTURE for PT design - GRASPS
G real world GOAL
R real world ROLE
A real world AUDIENCE
S real world SITUATION
P real world PRODUCTS or PERFORMANCE
S Standards Criteria to judge product or performance
Unevenness in the articulation of the meaning of PT
Organisational communication of the rationale and objectives of PT is somewhat overlooked as teachers have uncovered and understood the idea of PT through self-discovery, collaborative work, professional discourse and workshops
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32. FINDINGS :
Generally very supportive of the idea of PT as an alternative assessment as it
caters to individuality
supports the challenging Raffles Programme (RP) curriculum
equips students with the 21st century competencies
PTs have been viewed as an ‘assessment chore’
Low level of acceptance of PTs as an indicator of academic achievement by overseas universities
PTs do provide a valid measure of the intended student’s outcomes. However the element of reliability is difficult to determine as the nature and form of PTs change on a yearly basis.
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33. FINDINGS :
Slight to moderate variations in teaching pedagogy; it’s task dependent as well as subject dependent.
Teacher-involvement in the student learning process; some forms of teacher guidance, coaching and facilitation are provided.
Clear thought processes reflected in the design of PT
- begin with the end in mind, and
- mindful of a STRUCURE
Encourage critical thinking (higher-order thinking skills) and creative thinking (ideas and products).
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34. FINDINGS :
2The teachers, as assessors, take responsibility for their assessment design. They believe in learning by doing and they commit themselves to continuous learning to enhance their competency in the design of PTs.
1The teachers are very positive about the use of PTs as an alternative mode of assessment. They recognise and acknowledge the value of PTs, especially in equipping the students with the 21st century competency.
1TKey challenge – crafting of assessment rubrics
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35. IMPLICATIONS
1. Communicate with clarity, concreteness and completeness to the teachers the idea of PT as effective communication is a necessity to successfully promote a shared vision.
Provide
i. PT training workshop, conducted either by Alberta Assessment Consortium (AAC) or RGS PeRL, for teachers so that there is a common understanding among the teachers, and
ii. greater infrastructure support e.g. provide a rubric construction kit that comprises a rubric checklist and a list of rubric vocabulary.
3. Encourage the development of a Professional Learning Community, where dyadic communication, sharing and support prevails, for PT design.
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36. IMPLICATIONS 4. End-of-year departmental review of PTs to
fine-tune and improve the quality of existing PTs. (Students’ inputs can be sought.)
ensure the validity and reliability of PT as an assessment tool by using a set of PT assessment rubrics.
5. Validate PT as an alternative assessment so that overseas universities would recognise and accept the validity and reliability of PT as a measure of student achievement in RGS in their admission exercise.
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37. Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy
The Students’ Voice
Student Motivation and Achievement
in the Performance Task
SYM033c
Chris Slatter
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38. Introduction
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39. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
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40. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
The Ministry of Education recognized that nearly all students from the top schools in Singapore progressed to university.
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41. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
The Ministry of Education recognized that nearly all students from the top schools in Singapore progressed to university.
It was rationalized that these high ability students should not be required to sit O' Level examinations, but should be offered an enriched secondary school curriculum.
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42. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
The Ministry of Education recognized that nearly all students from the top schools in Singapore progressed to university.
It was rationalized that these high ability students should not be required to sit O' Level examinations, but should be offered an enriched secondary school curriculum.
This is the origin of the Raffles Programme.
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43. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
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44. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
Best practices in gifted education recommend that the teaching and assessment of high ability students should be aligned with their learning style as well as their interests.
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45. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
Best practices in gifted education recommend that the teaching and assessment of high ability students should be aligned with their learning style as well as their interests.
This means using a range of pedagogies to teach the students both inside and outside of the classroom, but what about assessments?
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46. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
Best practices in gifted education recommend that the teaching and assessment of high ability students should be aligned with their learning style as well as their interests.
This means using a range of pedagogies to teach the students both inside and outside of the classroom, but what about assessments?
Performance tasks give students some degree of autonomy through choice of topics and allow students to present evidence of their understanding in a variety of different ways.
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47. A Brief History of Performance Tasks at
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
The structure of a performance task...
G - real world Goal
R - real world Role
A - real world Audience
S - real world Situation
P - real world Products and Performance
S - Standards criteria to judge product and performance
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48. Compare and Contrast... 1) Alternative Assessment.
2) Authentic Transfer Task.
3) Performance Task.

49. Conducting Research into
Performance Tasks:
The Students’ Voice
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50. Conceptual
Framework
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51. Conceptual
Framework
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52. Conceptual
Framework
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53. What Does the Literature Have to Say About Performance Tasks?
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54. What Does the Literature Have to Say About Performance Tasks?
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55. What Does the Literature Have to Say About Performance Tasks?
Performance tasks tend to be used as an instrument to identify minority gifted / underrepresented gifted populations.
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56. What Does the Literature Have to Say About Performance Tasks?
Performance tasks tend to be used as an instrument to identify minority gifted / underrepresented gifted populations.
Performance tasks tend to be used as a formative assessment (assessment for learning).
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57. What Does the Literature Have to Say About Performance Tasks?
Performance tasks tend to be used as an instrument to identify minority gifted / underrepresented gifted populations.
Performance tasks tend to be used as a formative assessment (assessment for learning).
There is little evidence that performance tasks are used as summative assessments (assessment of learning).
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58. Hypothesis
Performance tasks enable teachers and students to achieve learning goals that are less accessible by traditional assessments.
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59. Research Question
How effective are performance tasks as an alternative form of assessment?
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60. Methodology
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61. Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Methodology
Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
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62. Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Methodology
Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Focus group interviews conducted with students (purposeful stratified sample - Year 1 to Year 4 Class Chairpersons, n = 40).
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63. Methodology Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Focus group interviews conducted with students (purposeful stratified sample - Year 1 to Year 4 Class Chairpersons, n = 40).
Interviews are coded, and qualitative data is extracted.
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64. Methodology Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Focus group interviews conducted with students (purposeful stratified sample - Year 1 to Year 4 Class Chairpersons, n = 40).
Interviews are coded, and qualitative data is extracted.
Qualitative data is used to design a survey for the collection of quantitative data from all students.
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65. Methodology Mixed methods design (sequential exploratory strategy).
Focus group interviews conducted with students (purposeful stratified sample - Year 1 to Year 4 Class Chairpersons, n = 40).
 Interviews are coded, and qualitative data is extracted. 
Qualitative data is used to design a survey for the collection of quantitative data from all students.
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66. Methodology
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67. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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68. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Seeing examples of good and bad products would be useful.
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69. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Seeing examples of good and bad products would be useful.
Setting students deadlines for certain key stages of the performance task would be useful for Year 1 students. The deadlines can be phased out as the students progress through to Year 4.
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70. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Seeing examples of good and bad products would be useful.
Setting students deadlines for certain key stages of the performance task would be useful for Year 1 students. The deadlines can be phased out as the students progress through to Year 4.
The overall percentage that the performance task is worth should reflect the amount of work that is required to complete it.
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71. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Seeing examples of good and bad products would be useful.
Setting students deadlines for certain key stages of the performance task would be useful for Year 1 students. The deadlines can be phased out as the students progress through to Year 4.
The overall percentage that the performance task is worth should reflect the amount of work that is required to complete it.
Deadlines for performance tasks overlap.
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72. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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73. Results - What Did the Students Say?
There is the danger that students just "copy and paste" information into their performance tasks without critically evaluating the data.
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74. Results - What Did the Students Say?
There is the danger that students just "copy and paste" information into their performance tasks without critically evaluating the data.
There should be peer evaluation of each student's work.
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75. Results - What Did the Students Say?
There is the danger that students just "copy and paste" information into their performance tasks without critically evaluating the data.
There should be peer evaluation of each student's work.
How to deal with students who do not do their fair share of the group component of the performance task?
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76. Results - What Did the Students Say?
There is the danger that students just "copy and paste" information into their performance tasks without critically evaluating the data.
There should be peer evaluation of each student's work.
How to deal with students who do not do their fair share of the group component of the performance task?
It is unfair to assess students on skills that they are unfamiliar with, for example, video editing. This also gives girls who have a video camera at home an unfair advantage.
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77. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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78. Results - What Did the Students Say?
The aesthetic qualities of a performance task should not be assessed.
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79. Results - What Did the Students Say?
The aesthetic qualities of a performance task should not be assessed.
The performance task should only cover topics that have been studied in class.
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80. Results - What Did the Students Say?
The aesthetic qualities of a performance task should not be assessed.
The performance task should only cover topics that have been studied in class.
Girls argue that it is unfair to give them scenarios that they are completely unfamiliar with, but this is required to some extent in order to make the performance task authentic.
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81. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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82. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Some performance tasks are valuable because they are aligned with the curriculum. The performance task is a natural progression of the topic being taught. Other performance tasks are very artificial. They are "done because they need to be done" and for no other apparent reason.
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83. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Some performance tasks are valuable because they are aligned with the curriculum. The performance task is a natural progression of the topic being taught. Other performance tasks are very artificial. They are "done because they need to be done" and for no other apparent reason.
Rubrics can be quite subjective. It would be better if they were more detailed.
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84. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Some performance tasks are valuable because they are aligned with the curriculum. The performance task is a natural progression of the topic being taught. Other performance tasks are very artificial. They are "done because they need to be done" and for no other apparent reason.
Rubrics can be quite subjective. It would be better if they were more detailed.
Students should be randomly grouped for each performance task by their teacher.
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85. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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86. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks are a more interesting form of assessment as compared to pen-and-paper assessments.
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87. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks are a more interesting form of assessment as compared to pen-and-paper assessments.
Performance tasks give students who are not good at
pen-and-paper assessments an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding.
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88. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks are a more interesting form of assessment as compared to pen-and-paper assessments.
Performance tasks give students who are not good at
pen-and-paper assessments an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding.
Performance tasks give students the opportunity to be creative in terms of the process and the product.
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89. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks are a more interesting form of assessment as compared to pen-and-paper assessments.
Performance tasks give students who are not good at
pen-and-paper assessments an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding.
Performance tasks give students the opportunity to be creative in terms of the process and the product.
Performance tasks allow students to “play to their strengths” in terms of the process and product.
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90. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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91. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks allow students to find solutions to authentic problems.
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92. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks allow students to find solutions to authentic problems.
Performance tasks are interesting because they are framed in a real world scenario.
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93. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks allow students to find solutions to authentic problems.
Performance tasks are interesting because they are framed in a real world scenario.
Performance tasks give students the opportunity to work in groups. Preparation for the work place?
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94. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Performance tasks allow students to find solutions to authentic problems.
Performance tasks are interesting because they are framed in a real world scenario.
Performance tasks give students the opportunity to work in groups. Preparation for the work place?
Some teachers go through the rubrics, clarifying, elaborating and explaining.
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95. Results - What Did the Students Say?
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96. Results - What Did the Students Say?
Students study a topic in more detail when they are assessed by performance task. They read more deeply into the subject.
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97. Conclusions
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98. Conclusions
Limitations of the performance task appear to be grounded in the technical details of its implementation. For example, deadlines, duration and mark allocation.
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99. Conclusions
Limitations of the performance task appear to be grounded in the technical details of its implementation. For example, deadlines, duration and mark allocation.
Some issues centred around pedagogy were raised. For example, some – but not all – teachers will discuss the grading rubric with their students. This needs to be addressed at a schoolwide level.
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100. Conclusions
Limitations of the performance task appear to be grounded in the technical details of its implementation. For example, deadlines, duration and mark allocation.
Some issues centred around pedagogy were raised. For example, some – but not all – teachers will discuss the grading rubric with their students. This needs to be addressed at a schoolwide level.
In general, the students recognise the importance of performance tasks and are able to verbalise this. Their feedback is in general agreement with the pedagogical objectives of performance tasks as stated in the literature.
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101. Recognised Limitations
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102. Recognised Limitations
Small sample size. The 40 students who participated in the focus group interviews are only a small percentage of the entire cohort of ca students.
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103. Recognised Limitations
Small sample size. The 40 students who participated in the focus group interviews are only a small percentage of the entire cohort of ca students.
The students that were interviewed were the class chairpersons. Are they typical students whose opinions reflect those of their peers?
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

104. Recognised Limitations
Small sample size. The 40 students who participated in the focus group interviews are only a small percentage of the entire cohort of ca students.
The students that were interviewed were the class chairpersons. Are they typical students whose opinions reflect those of their peers?
Just because a student (or anybody for that matter) says something, does not make it true!
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

105. Further Research
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

106. Further Research
To address the recognised limitations of the qualitative study, items that have been coded from the students’ focus group interviews will be translated into survey questions that will be given out for all students to complete.
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy

107. Further Research
To address the recognised limitations of the qualitative study, items that have been coded from the students’ focus group interviews will be translated into survey questions that will be given out for all students to complete.
Numerical data obtained from the survey will be statistically analysed, thus giving a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative information. This will allow (confident) recommendations to be made to both the school’s teachers and student population with regards to performance tasks.
Uncovering Wisdom Through Pedagogy