Using Assessment to Support Teaching and Learning in the Classroom

Using Assessment to Support Teaching and Learning in the Classroom
Cornelius Young Consider ways in which assessment can support learning…kind of teaching activities that help students understand the subject matter to be capable of asking probing questions… The Professional Development Service for Teachers is funded by the Department of Education and Science under the National Development Plan

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Sharing the Learning Intentions
Compare different modes of Assessment and describe how they can be applied in your teaching  Describe how you can develop Questioning skills in Assessment for Learning in your classes Describe the benefits of Peer and Self Assessment and how they can be applied in your class l...

I just want to point out this slide at this stage but I will come back to it later..
In terms of AfL… Where am I ? Where do I need to be? How do I get there ? 3 Step Interview or KWL Chart

Assessment for Learning
How will this inform my teaching? What am I learning?

K-W-L Chart Know already Want to Know Learnt

What do you understand by ‘Assessment’
How do you assess your students currently? What is the purpose of assessment? Observation Tests Questioning Homework (Portfolios) (Projects) (Essays)

Assessment is the process of gathering information about children’s learning
Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information about the processes and outcomes of learning. Certification: acknowledge that the student has learned (worked), understand (points NB for leaving cert not grades) (& what the teacher has thought) this) Differentiate students: into different levels of ability/ achievement/ material learned this) Learning: How much have students learned, what have they learned (from what was thought) this but not using it well) Diagnosis: find where there are gaps/difficulties in understanding, Check how students understand procedures etc this) Feedback: Confirm that students have worked/not, understand material/not, identify problems giving out not at clarifying problems)

Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information about the processes and outcomes of learning. Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information… about the processes and outcomes of learning. NCCA Assessment for Learning Certification: acknowledge that the student has learned (worked), understand (points NB for leaving cert not grades) (& what the teacher has thought) this) Differentiate students: into different levels of ability/ achievement/ material learned this) Learning: How much have students learned, what have they learned (from what was thought) this but not using it well) Diagnosis: find where there are gaps/difficulties in understanding, Check how students understand procedures etc this) Feedback: Confirm that students have worked/not, understand material/not, identify problems giving out not at clarifying problems)

Schemes of assessment should:
Provide information about what students know and what they can do Enhance the quality of learning Measure progress made by students Certify achievement Motivate Supply information for teachers, students and parents that enables them to direct future strategies for teaching and learning Allow and encourage students to become reflective and independent learners

Types of Assessment OF Assessment Learning FOR AS

Traffic Lighting Can Not Understand Not Too Sure Clear Understanding

Traffic Lighting To get an overview of the understanding of the class
Topic checklists are completed at the start of a topic and the information used by the teacher to structure the planned learning -greens first, reds later At the end of the topic, students re-traffic light their understanding of the learning outcomes and list what they need to do - make the basis of a revision lesson Green Amber Red What I know about AfL

Assessment OF Learning
Summative Assessment Happens after the learning takes place Information is gathered by the teacher Information is usually transformed into marks or grades Looks back on past learning Comparison with the performance of others

Summative Assessment Tests Practical exercises Purpose:
To find out what pupils know, understand and can do (do not know, understand...) What progress have they made?

Assessment FOR learning
Formative assessment An integral part of the learning process Clarifies for students what is to be learned and what success would look like. Give useful and timely feedback to students Comparison with aims and objectives is important Helps students to identify the next steps they need to take and who can help them. Sets up the objectives for the class/lesson/topic What we want out of this learning/course/lesson, what a good answer would be Timely feedback; time to change approach, diagnose problems and plan how to address them Clarify the learning gap, give direction where we are going with this topic/lesson etc.

Formative Assessment Questioning Feedback (marking and oral)
Peer and Self Assessment Purpose: To help pupils learn

Assessment ‘processes’...
Traditional / typical: instruct instruct instruct then assess AfL: assess instruct

Assessment OF Learning Assessment FOR Learning
Happens after learning takes place An integral part of learning process Information is gathered by teacher Information is shared with learner Information is usually transferred into marks Information is available on quality of learning Comparison with performance of others Comparison with aims and objectives is important Looks back on past learning Looks forward to the next stage of learning It is important to avoid seeing assessment of learning and assessment for learning as opposing or contradictory practices. While the assessment of learning will always have a place in education and in classroom and school practice, the development of assessment for learning offers new opportunities for teachers. The relationship…btween AfL and A of L…If the goal of learning is to achieve deep understanding, then formative assessment should identify problems and progress toward that goal, and summative assessment should measure the level of success at reaching that goal. They are different stages of the same process and should be closely tied together in design and purpose..

Assessment AS Learning
Enables students to: Identify and reflect on elements of their own learning Set their own learning targets Practice self and peer assessment. Figuring out how one learns best (learning style) and how to use it to learn Setting objectives/challenges, may not to learn the whole but master part (MTW project sometimes too ambisious) Follow marking schemes, teachers teach exam technique, Grid- what an A looks like, B looks like etc etc

Research Findings OECD 2005 Formative Assessment
“The achievement gains associated with formative assessment have been described as among the largest ever reported for educational interventions” Formative assessment also improves equity of student outcomes. Schools which use formative assessment show not only general gains in academic achievement, but also particularly high gains for previously underachieving students

Research Findings OECD 2005 Formative Assessment
Attendance and retention of learning are also improved, as well as the quality of students’ work Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms (OECD 2005) Whole school evaluation and subject inspection now recognise formative assessment as critical to effective teaching and learning

AfL is characterised by five principles:
Sharing the Learning Intention Sharing the Criteria for Success Quality Questioning based on Criteria for Success Providing Feedback based on Criteria for Success Peer & Self Assessment What are the objectives of this lesson/topic, what are you going to teach? What are you looking for in this lesson/topic, what is looked for in the exam? What are the key points/concepts/etc Method: a variety of types of questions, different order questions Feedback with direction Teaching students how to assess themselves, what to look for, set their own objectives

Compare different modes of Assessment and describe how they can be applied in your teaching  Describe how you can develop Questioning skills in Assessment for Learning in your classes Describe the benefits of clarifying the Learning Outcomes at the beginning of a lesson ... What is the Criteria for Success? 1. 2. 3.

How well can you draw? The NCCA has devised a short course called Houseology. As a student sitting the first exam, your task is to draw a house and give it a name You have 40 seconds Best of luck

Success criteria Grade D The house has at least two windows Grade C
The house has a door, roof and a chimney Grade B The drawing is three dimensional in nature Grade A The house has a name that reflects its features At least two decorative techniques have been used including smoke coming from the chimney The level descritors are for the teacher. The children need to be very clear about the success criteria and how you are going to judge their work.

Sharing the Learning Intention
Students should have clear notion of learning intention of each lesson (put on board at start of class) The learning intention is what you hope students will know, understand or be able to do by the end of lesson Examples: - By the end of this lesson you should be able to separate sand, salt and water - By the end of this lesson you should be able to understand the character of …. - By the end of this lesson you should be able to draw a diagram of … Remembers doing theorems: QED at the end= sequential learners not given an overview first Setting objectives for lesson; may not meet them/may exceed them – give overview of what you are going to do (Reaffirm, Reaffirm, Reaffirm) Learning intentions are expressed in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills, and link directly with the relevant curriculum objectives. What do I want students to know? What do I want students to understand? What do I want students to be able to do? Learning intentions that focus on knowledge Thinking about the different kinds of knowledge, and being specific about the kind of knowledge that is required in a particular situation, will help teachers design their learning intentions. They consider, for instance, knowledge about a particular topic (know about different types of energy) knowledge of how something is done, of the steps involved in producing something (know how to construct a pie graph) Learning intentions that focus on skills Learning intentions that focus on skills always start with the words 'to be able to' followed by a verb. For example, to be able to write a recount to be able to solve a problem using more than one strategy to be able to work as part of a team Often learning intentions that focus on skills will also imply the acquisition of certain knowledge or understandings. For instance, to be able to write a recount, students must have a knowledge of the structures and features of a recount. Learning intentions that focus on understanding Understanding builds on knowledge and requires some kind of processing. For instance, a student might be able to list the causes of an historical event - thereby showing knowledge of them - but understanding requires analysis and, perhaps, interpretation. Understanding, then, is of a higher cognitive order than knowledge and, in designing learning intentions, teachers ensure that students are exposed to learning which makes those higher demands as well as demands of a lesser nature. understand the causes of an historical event understand the effects of diet on health understand how persuasive language can position the reader to agree with the author understand how the internet can be used for research purposes

How will I know whether I've achieved the learning intention?
Success Criteria How will I know whether I've achieved the learning intention? We are learning to use effective adjectives in our writing... What I am looking for is that you have used at least 5 effective adjectives in your paragraph What I am looking for is that you have used at least 4 adjectives which describe the jungle You’ve done your fortnightly plan so you know what you’re going to teach so tell the children. So you’re not only telling the children what you want them to do in the lesson (the tasks) but also what you hope they will be learning Children are more likely to engage in the task and achieve the learning intention if when stated, it is then followed by an invitation to create the success criteria – i.e. how will we know we’ve achieved this? The purpose of the success criteria – or what we’re looking for – is to make sure the children know what is in the teachers mind as the criteria for judging their work. Very often the children know what they have to do but do not know how the teacher is going to judge their performance. Can be lists of ingredients/ series of steps Brainstorm to achieve success criteria/ give samples – can simply be one statement or a list of success criteria e.g. the “how will we know” needs to state exactly what the children and teacher will want to see. In a learning intention of “using effective adjectives” three alternatives re, success criteria might be What you’re looking for is that you have used at least five effective adjectives in your paragraph; What you’re looking for is that you have used at least four adjectives just before a noun; What you’re looking for is that you used at least four adjectives which describe the jungle. Success criteria need to be brief and succinct, a summary of what has been discussed so far. Need to be visually displayed – 90% of what the brain remembers is derive from visual images – so once the sc are displayed children often look up while they are working to check that they are on task. Shirley says when she works with adults now, she only gives tasks if they are accompanied by a learning intention and success criteria – adult learners need the same visual prompts. You can believe you understand a task presented to you at the time, but once you are engaged in the actual activity, it is easy to loose track of the whole point of the exercise.

LCA Graphics & Construction 2008

LC English 2008 Ordinary CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT
The tasks set for candidates in both Paper 1 and Paper 2 will be assessed in accordance with the following criteria: Clarity of Purpose (P) 30% of the marks available for the task Coherence of Delivery (C) 30% of the marks available for the task Efficiency of Language Use (L) 30% of the marks available for the task Accuracy of Mechanics (M) 10% of the marks available for the task

What Contribution can Questioning Make to Learning
Learning Intention How would you define a good Question… Criteria for Success Why ask questions in class? Perhaps the table of descriptions? What Contribution can Questioning Make to Learning- If this question is stated at the beginning as the target question that we want answered then This could become the Learning Intention How would you define a good Question – The answer to this question can get students/teacher to clarify what is the desired outcome ie: Criteria for Success

A Quick Test!!!! 'Corandic is an emurient grof with many fribs. It granks from corite, an olg which carps like lange ' Question: What is Corandic? … this has the appropriate 'comprehension ' questions 1) what is corandic

Good use of questions How would you define a good question? (Why do you ask questions in class?) Causes students to think Promotes discussion One to which every child has an answer One which has a purpose Some students, for various reasons, do not answer in class, how do you encourage these students to answer in class? What is a good question… Causes pupils to think Promotes Discussion One to which every pupil has an answer Has Purpose/ is leading somewhere NB: Create a classroom environment where all students feel safe to take risks and make mistakes

Count Define Find Identify Rewrite Analyse Apply Illustrate Integrate Select Choose Judge Justify Compare Classify Label List Summarise Conclude Compose Make Organise Role-play Construct Critic Name Outline Show Decide Debate Perform Paraphrase Write Demonstrate Design Predict Plan Teach Describe Discuss Produce Prepare Explain Develop Distinguish Rank Prove Differentiate Draw Recite Quote Report Examine Evaluate Relate Rate Review

Knowledge Count, Define, Describe, Draw, Find, Identify, Label, List, Match, Name, Quote, Recall, Recite, Sequence, Tell, Write Comprehension Conclude, Demonstrate, Discuss, Explain, Generalise, Identify, Illustrate, Interpret, Paraphrase, Predict, Report, Restate, Review, Summarise, Tell Application Apply, Change, Choose, Compute, Dramatise, Interview, Prepare, Produce, Role-play, Select, Show, Transfer, Use Analysis Analyse, Characterise, Classify, Compare, Contrast, Debate, Deduce, Diagram, Differentiate, Discriminate, Distinguish, Examine, Outline, Relate, Research, Separate, Synthesis Compose, Construct, Create, Design, Develop, Integrate, Invent, Make, Organise, Perform, Plan, Produce, Propose, Rewrite Evaluation Appraise, Argue, Assess, Choose, Conclude, Critic, Decide, Evaluate, Judge, Justify, Predict, Prioritise, Prove, Rank, Rate, Select,

BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY
Creating Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing. Evaluating Justifying a decision or course of action Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging Analysing Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding Applying Using information in another familiar situation Implementing, carrying out, using, executing Understanding Explaining ideas or concepts Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining Remembering Recalling information Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

AfL – questioning type of questions... 40

AfL – questioning what? who? when? how many? state...
one word type answers useful to check who learned facts 41

AfL – questioning can you be sure that? what would happen if? how would you explain? what does that tell you? what is wrong with saying? answers longer & more varied useful to promote thinking skills 42

How can we encourage students to ask questions?
Working in pairs, list below 2 strategies for encouraging students to ask or formulate questions. Strategies to encourage participation by greatest number of students Pair work Group work “no hands up” approach Invite students to speak by name Create an atmosphere that allows for speculation and/or error Listen and use positive language Allow students to write before they speak

Use of Questions When looking at questioning in the classroom we should consider: Wait time Variety of questioning Developing key questions (for key stages of the lesson) Quality of questions (why does..? Could you explain..?) Well thought out questions Involving more than one student in the answer No Hands Up When looking at questioning in the classroom we should consider: Wait time (0.6 seconds) Variety of questioning (Redirection, probing, Controversy, Debating) Developing key questions (for key stages of the lesson) Exercise Page 5 Quality of questions (Why does..? Could you explain..?) (Blooms Taxonomy) Well thought out questions Involving more than one student in the answer

Effects of Increased Wait Time
Longer answers Decreased failure of response Increased confidence of response Students challenged and/or improved answers of other students More alternative explanations offered This is what we found for all 36 of our teachers. more varied answers longer answers better answers more students answering more questions discussion

Read the extracts carefully and answer the following questions:
What is the teacher doing with his questioning? What is the lesson like for the learners? Two extracts from Mary Doherty How can we encourage students to ask questions? Use a Question Box Ask for questions for a Class Quiz on a topic Prepare questions for Who wants to be a Millionaire? – simple questions to begin, then on to more difficult Groups form questions Bring a visual image of a topic into class - other students ask questions about it Student presentations on a topic of their choice DVD – students devise questions after the viewing

Subject Specific From a few Questions for a Topic you are
Covering tomorrow 47

Classroom Strategies: Ask Better Questions
Ask fewer questions. Variety of questions Sequence questions. Prepare key questions Developing key questions (for key stages of the lesson) Quality of questions (why does..? Could you explain..?) Well thought out questions Involve more than one student in the answer Involve the whole class. Think, pair, share, square. Wait-time (1 and 2) Try no hands up. Traffic lights The first thing we can do is to ask better questions by planning more carefully and taking more care when framing our questions. We each need to consider: What do I want my pupils to learn? How will they learn it? How will I find out if they have learnt it? We then must make sure that our questions reinforce the focus for learning and draw out pupils’ understanding of the learning. To start, we should ask fewer questions. Many of the questions we ask pupils are not meant to be answered; they are really instructions (‘Would everyone line up, please?), rhetorical questions (‘Do you think I didn’t see that?’), or answered by the teacher. The first step in asking more effective questions is to ask only the questions that you really want pupils to answer. We should also use more ‘open’ questions. Different types of questions serve different purposes. Some seek facts only and others encourage and extend pupils’ understanding. Where recall is required and you want to find out what your pupils know, closed questions are appropriate. However, when you want to know what they understand, use more open-ended questions (eg Why do you think… Could you tell me more about… or even ‘closed’ questions with more than one possible answer, such as ‘What colour is the sky?’) These will extend learning and aid reflection. You can also think about reframing questions to encourage more thoughtful answers (eg, rather than ask ‘What is 7+8?’, ask ‘How many ways can we make 15?’). Alternatively, to encourage pupils to take risks, you could use ‘Have a go’ questions (perhaps deliberately difficult or open-ended) where pupils do not have to find the right answer but are rewarded for exploring options and sharing possible solutions. Sequencing your questions is also useful. Single, stand-alone questions rarely achieve the kind of outcomes we are aiming for, and a barrage of closed questions can sometimes ‘close down’ the learning. The best questions look ahead and help move the lesson forward. By carefully planning the sequence of questions, you can expand the learning, encourage pupils to the desired outcome/answer and help them on their learning journey. For example, your questions could move from narrow to broad (specific to general) or from broad to narrow (general to specific). Preparing 3-4 ‘key questions’ before a lesson or activity can help you to introduce the lesson and its learning intentions, structure the lesson, make links within the lesson and keep everyone on task. They can be displayed on prompt cards or in the form of a mind map. NCCA mention preparing 1 or 2 HOT questions Wait-time 1 – refers to the amount of time the teacher allows to elapse after he / she has posed a question and before the student begins to speak Wait-time 2 – refers to the amount of time a teacher waits after a student has stopped speaking before saying anything

Question Stems How can we be sure that ...?
What is the same and what is different about …? Is it ever/always true/false that …? Why do ____, ____ and ____ all give the same answer? How do you ….? How would you explain …? What does that tell us about …? What is wrong with …? Why is _____ true? ACTIVITY - pick a topic you are going to teach. Can you formulate questions using the stems. What sort of answers might you expect and how would you deal with that?

Visual cues can be simple as in this French test.

Difficult for a pupil with dyslexia or poor literacy skills
Difficult for a pupil with dyslexia or poor literacy skills. One answer filled In correctly only serves to mislead the pupils when attempting further Questions. To differentiate this activity, the teacher would put in letters in spaces that are common to two words i.e. where two words cross and/or at the start of words.

Marking a French test for a pupil with dyslexia
Marking a French test for a pupil with dyslexia. The pupil scored zero out of twelve. Is this Marking scheme motivational for the pupil? Does it reward partly correct work? You can leave the answers to these questions to the teachers themselves. “Translate the following expressions into French”

Feedback through marking
How clear is the feedback we give the students? ‘you must try harder’ ‘develop these ideas further’ ‘good work keep it up’ ‘more detailed needed here’ How does the student interpret the feedback? ‘a tick means he probably likes it’ ‘there is a lot of writing at end this means it is bad’ ‘this is one of my best because my hand writing is neat, I checked my spellings and I put in the date’ ‘you must try harder’ to get what? ‘develop these ideas further’ How? ‘good work keep it up’ What is good work? ‘more detailed needed here’ What detail? ‘a tick means he probably likes it’ – I have a lot of writing, spellings are correct, I have every bit of information that is required ‘there is a lot of writing at end this means it is bad’ ‘this is one of my best because my hand writing is neat, I checked my spellings and I put in the date’

Feedback Teacher marking [peer assessment] [self assessment]
[summative as formative] 54

Examples of Ineffective Feedback “Good work.” “Well done!”
“Needs more effort!” C+ or 67% More Effective Feedback “You’re paragraph has a clear and engaging topic sentence. Provide at least three details from the text to support your opinion.” Guidelines 1. Descriptive rather than evaluative 2. Focused on the learning goals and the success criteria 3. Limited to a few traits or characteristics of student performance 4. Timely 5. Implemented by students and monitored by the teacher • descriptive rather than evaluative. o Feedback should identify what the student is doing well and what needs improvement, and, most crucially, provide next steps to guide the student on how to improve. • focused on the learning goals and the success criteria. • limited to a few traits or characteristics of student performance. It is tempting to point out all the areas where improvement is needed; however, feedback is more likely to improve learning when it is focused on a few priorities. • implemented by students and monitored by the teacher. Students are expected to act on the feedback. This means that they must be provided time and opportunities to respond, with teacher support, and that teachers need to follow up on the students responses.

Study 1: 4 schools, 12 classes
Lesson 1 work given, marked as follows: 4 classes awarded marks 4 classes given comments only 4 classes awarded both marks and comments Question: Which set of classes performed best?

2nd piece of work given. Students told they’d get same kind of feedback
Students given marks only made slight/no gain Students given comments only scored, on average, 30% more on second occasion Students given both mark and grade made no progress

Study 2 –200 students Feedback given on first piece of work as follows: ¼ of students given comments ¼ students given grades ¼ students given praise ¼ given no feedback at all

2nd piece of work done and examined
Those given comments had improved substantially Those given grades and praise had made no more progress than those given absolutely no feedback

AfL – feedback A B 60

Effective Feedback Feedback is most effective when it confirms the students: Strengths Weaknesses where to go Next (S.W.N.)

Feedback and Motivation
Timing of feedback is crucial Minimal intervention promotes better learning Feedback should focus on what needs to be done to improve, rather than on how well the student has done Feedback should be designed to lead students to believe ability is incremental, not fixed. Feedback tells students where they are, says what’s good about what they’ve done and do to improve their work i.e. how to ‘close the gap’. Managerial feedback dominates – presentation, handwriting, spelling, quantity….. Grades and marks show students where they are at not where they can go……. Ideally feedback should cause thinking, focus on the task not the person. Allow time for students to act on feedback. It s only formative and useful when it is used.

Peer and Self Assessment
Students are involved in and responsible for assessing their own piece of work (students know criteria for success) Peer Assessment Students are involved in assessment of the work of other students (students have to have a clear understanding of what to look for in their peers’ work) Peer and self assessment are often considered together. Peer assessment can help self assessment. By judging the work of others, students gain insight into their own performance. According to the literature, peer and self assessment have several advantages over teacher assessed work. They: Require students to take responsibility for their own work (take the initiative) Encourage learning through discussion (students required to justify ideas) Increase motivation and interest Make students think Develop collaboration skills Mark own work in small groups using text-books Group marking of questions; Compare answers and decide which is the best answer 1 + 1 = Students in groups given a problem or similar exercise and asked to present findings to class – peers asked to identify one learning point and make one suggestion to improve

Self assessment Traffic lights system
Mark own work using marking scheme Use checking sheets Graphic Organisers Flash Cards

Self Assessment Children looking at their own work in a reflective way - metacognition Whole class, group , individual Criteria must be agreed beforehand by the teacher Fosters independence and motivation and positive classroom climate Can be shared with other parties Self-assessment is an essential part of AfL. It enables the child to take greater responsibility for his/her own learning. Children are involved in self-assessment when they look at their own work in a reflective way, identify aspects of it that are good and that could be improved, and then set personal learning targets for themselves. Self-assessment involves metacognition—the process of being aware of and reflecting on one’s own learning. Whole class discussions, group situations or one-to-one conferencing are all platforms for self-assessment. Self-assessment can be used by children of all ability levels and in all areas of learning. In age-appropriate ways, it can be used throughout the primary school and across subjects. Classroom climate Makes children more independent and motivated. Developing self confidence and feeling more secure about not always being right Shared The results of the child’s self-assessment (for example, learning logs, portfolios, pieces of writing) can be shared with his/her parents during parent/teacher meetings. This can give parents more information about the child’s learning from the child’s own perspective.

Self assessment - How Writing process- drafting, revising, editing and publishing Choosing the best samples of his/her work to include in a portfolio Creating, talking about, and recording musical compositions The skills of self-assessment need to be learned over time. This involves a long-term, continuing process that is planned at class and school level. The skills the child needs can be taught or modelled by the teacher and practised by the child until he/she feels comfortable using them independently. It can be used to foster reflection, both verbal and non-verbal, and higher level thinking skills.

Peer assessment Mark own work in small groups using text-books
Group marking of questions - Compare answers and decide which is the best answer 1 + 1 = Students in groups given a problem or similar exercise and asked to present findings to class – peers asked to identify one learning point and make one suggestion to improve Caroline O’Brien Clip

Compare different modes of Assessment and describe how they can be applied in your teaching  Describe how you can develop Questioning skills in Assessment for Learning in your classes  Describe the benefits of Peer and Self Assessment and how they can be applied in your class ...

Thank you for your contributions during the session
Please complete and return the evaluation Forms. Cornelius Young The Second Level Support Service is funded by the Department of Education and Science under the National Development Plan

Thinking Skills Table A B C D Students' actual use of thinking skills
Uses strategies and can self- evaluate strategies' effectiveness; will try new one if needed Will use new strategy if teacher prompts Will use strategy only when directed by teacher. Requires teacher direct contact and modelling of specific strategy to use awareness of strategy use Student has 3 or more strategies in his/her repertoire specifically taught. Student has 2 strategies in his/her repertoire specifically taught. Student is aware of generic strategies (study, ask, etc.) No strategy awareness. of their own thinking Student is lucid and able to expound on his metacognitive strategies. Student can verbalise some thought processes behind thinking. Student verbalises awareness of thinking but not actual 'self-talk' or analysis of Student has no understanding of metacognition.

Graphic Organisers

Flash Cards

Continuum of assessment
Methods positioned towards the left are those in which the child plays a leading role in assessing his/her own work; towards the right of the continuum the teacher plays a greater role in leading the assessment. While no single assessment method is exclusive to AfL or AoL, those towards the left of the continuum (the child in a leading role) generally have a stronger AfL focus while those to the right generally have a stronger AoL focus. A teacher may use a combination of methods at any one time

KWL Know Want Learnt (KWHL -How)
One of the most popular self assessment tools is a KWL grid. KNOW WANT LEARNT HOW What I know ? What I want to know ? (how wiil I learn) What I learnt ? KWL allows the teacher to see how much prior knowledge pupils have and spot any misconceptions and avoid what is already known. Pupils can see success. The KWL can be done as a whole class activity so that the teacher can model filling in the grid HOW It can be a KWHL grid with a How will I learn? Column but children would have to have KWL experience to do this successfully.

PMI diagram Plus Minus Interesting
Developed form the work of Edward de Bono Plus Minus and Interesting Encourages pupils to identify what has worked and not worked for their learning Teachers should start with the PLUS Easy way to identify what they liked – did not like and found useful or not. Can be done on a table, list, graph .... The I section might be more difficult at the start but it is worth persevering with.

Talk Partners 3 things learnt Easy Difficult Future learning
Pupils share with a partner Three things they have learnt What they found easy What they found difficult Something they would like to learn in the future Teacher gains on overview of the learning that has taken place when he/she gets children to share with others Children are encouraged to think beyond the next step

Check lists Check list can be prepares beforehand and are written in terms of achievement. Children can fill in Not yet, sometimes or always sections.

Thumbs up – thumbs down Thumbs up – I understand
Thumbs down – I dont understand Thumbs horizontal – I’m not sure Eyes closed – so that only the teacher sees.

Other Self assessment tools
W W W E B I Ladder 2 stars and a wish Numerical scale of understanding 1-5 Prompts – the most important thing I learnt was what I found difficult was W W W E B I What went well Even Better if Learning objectives are placed on the ladder. Pupils identify key learning. Useful mechanism for sharing learning objectives with the children. Children could also place themselves on a numerical imaginary line from 1-5 2 Stars and a wish two stars’ should refer to two aspects of the work that successfully meet the success criteria, and the ‘wish’ should refer to the area needing improvement. Numerical scale A numerical scale (for example 1-5) can also be used to indicate their degree of understanding. Prompts Here are some sample prompts which could be used as a circle time activity or a written activity. The most important thing I learned was … What I found difficult was … What I enjoyed most was … What I want to find out more about is … What I need more help with is … What still puzzles me is … What surprised me was … What I have learned that is new is … What helped me when something got tricky was … What really made me think was … Right now I feel … I might have learned better if … What I would change about this activity to help another class learn is …

Conferencing Sharing of knowledge and understanding of the child’s work Simple conversation or planned meeting Encourages listening, openness and feedback Could concern a single product of learning or a general learning experience Conferencing in the context of assessment means that those concerned with the child’s learning share their knowledge and understanding of the child’s work, its processes and outcomes during a planned or spontaneous meeting. When the conference is between teacher and child, about the work in a portfolio for example, the teacher talks to the child about his/her strengths and achievements and makes suggestions about where and how learning can be improved. Through conferencing the teacher listens to the child’s ideas about what he/she finds easy or difficult in learning, and encourages this kind of openness in the child. The subject of the conference might be a single product of learning (a written story, a drawing, a project), or general learning experiences, such as using ICT or taking part in a drama or a field sport.

Portfolio Collection of child’s work
shows improvement shows range of work shows strengths and interests shows best work Evidence of progress across a strand, strand unit or a theme or topic Hard copy and / or electronically (e-portfolios) Can represent AfL and AoL A portfolio is a collection of the child’s work, reflecting his/her learning and development over a period of time. From an early age children can develop self-assessment skills, gradually taking more responsibility for the quality of their own work. Creating a portfolio is a useful way to promote these skills. Depending on its purpose, the portfolio can be used over a year, a term, or a shorter period. Questions a teacher should ask when planning to use a portfolio • Why am I using the portfolio? • What kind of learning will I assess? Which subject(s)/skills/concepts/dispositions will I assess? • How will the portfolio contribute to my assessment of the child’sprogress and achievement? • What period of time will it cover—a term, a month, the full year? (Shorter periods will suit younger children.) • What size will the portfolios be? Where will I store them? Is electronic recording possible? • Who will select the content for the portfolio, and how frequently? • If I plan to assign grades or comments to items in the portfolio, what criteria will I use to assign these? How will the children know what these criteria are? • What will happen to the portfolio at the end of its use? Will the portfolios be shown to a wider audience (for example parents, other children in the school, at a school assembly or open day/evening)? A nice idea could be to keep a portfolio form Infants to sixth class and to let the pupils in 6th class look at the portfolios putting their own life on a time line.

Concept mapping Graphic organisers or picture summaries of the child’s understanding of ideas and the relationships between ideas. Rich insights into children’s learning and mis –conceptions Used at the beginning, middle or end of a unit of work Good for children with learning difficulties Concept mapping (also known as semantic networking) is a process used to make spatial representations of ideas and the relationships between these ideas. The concept maps (or semantic networks)are similar to graphs containing ideas and labelled lines which describe the relationships between them. Children constantly take in information about the world around them. They use this information to construct theories about why things are the way they are and why things happen as they do. These theories can change over time as a result of children’s experiences and interactions with their environment and with other people. Concept mapping begins with a discussion on the relevant idea or concept. Through this discussion, the teacher or children record(s) key words which represent the children’s understanding of the idea or concept. These words become the basis for creating the concept maps, with the idea or concept the central focus of the map. Concept maps can be 3-D or 2-D. Making 3-D maps requires resources such as paper or card and string or wool, while 2-D mapscan be created using paper and pencil or computer software such as word processing or concept mapping software.

Connections are made with the arrows and words

Teacher Observation Immediate and accurate information Learning needs
How pupils acquire and master different skills Ability to transfer skills and knowledge How a pupil collaborates with others Different types Teacher observation spontaneous or planned, can happen at any time a teacher and pupil interact. Observations made by the teacher in the classroom provide some of the most immediate and accurate information about a child’s learning. TO is part of classroom work. It includes listening and watching and requires the teacher to notice recognise and respond to the child’s thinking and actions. When teacher observation is complied as a written record it allows the teacher to describe a child’s learning in context. These records can make the planning of further work for an individual, group or whole class more focused and systematic. The teacher can observe how a pupil collaborates with others, what their learning needs are, their ability to transfer skills and knowledge and information on how pupils acquire and master different skills. Some of the knowledge and skills acquired but the child are best observed in action and in some cases teacher observation may often be the only way to assess a child’s progress accurately. When teacher observation is complied as a written record it allows the teacher to describe a child’s learning in context. These records can make the planning of further work for an individual, group or whole class more focused and systematic.

Teacher as Observer Some Early at Risk Indicators 4 (Numeracy)Class:
Number Concept Recognising and naming of numerals 1-5 Concept Development Naming five shapes Naming of five colours Pupil 1 Pupil 2 Pupil 3 Pupil 4 Pupil 5 Pupil 6 Please comment on the following: Number Concept: Can the child count to 10/20?Can the child respond accurately when asked to give teacher 1,2,5 blocks? Recognising and naming of numerals (1-5): The child is shown the appropriate numerals on cards. Concept development: Show the child a picture of three different boats. Ask them to point to the biggest boat and the smallest boat. Show a picture of a long and a short pencil .Show me the long/short pencil .Similar activities for full/empty, thin/fat ,small/big….. Naming five shapes: The child is shown objects of different shapes, pictures of different shapes. Circle, square, triangle, diamond, oval or rectangle. Naming of five colours: The child is shown cards of different colours. Show me …..

Teacher Designed Tasks and Tests
Oral assignments Individual tasks Group tasks Paper and pencil tests Tasks and tests can take the form of written or oral assessments or practical assignments developed by the teacher to assess children’s learning. They can be used through out the school year as a basis for continuous assessment. They can be used at the end of a period of learning for AOL. They can also be used for AFL to report and use the results to decide what they should teach and how they should approach each topic.

Guidelines for Written Tests
identify purpose at outset relate to pupil’s interests start with easy question vary questions use subject-verb-object structure a single question per page give key information in bold NCCA Guidelines 2007 The use of stickers or rewards for tests is generally of limited help to pupils. The main purpose of giving feedback is to give pupils information to them about where they achieved success in relation to the learning intentions and where they might improve. Pupils will need time to read or talk about the feedback as well as time to make improvements based on it.

Consider What will be assessed ? How will it be assessed?
How will the assessment be used? Do you use assessment to support progress or identify failure ? What will be assessed ? Not everything a child learns can be assessed or needs to be assessed. The teacher will sometimes focus on the child’s learning in a particular subject but at other times look at the child’s learning across different subjects How will it be assessed ? Much of the teacher’s assessment is done intuitively while some is planned for particular purposes. Intuitive assessment and planned assessment are complementary and both are necessary if the teacher is to gain a comprehensive picture of each child’s progress and achievement. While there are many more assessment methods that teachers can and do use, the guidelines use eight to demonstrate the diversity of assessment methods and to show their benefits. No one assessment method, of itself, will provide sufficiently useful information to the teacher. Indeed any one method usually involves using other methods to a greater or lesser extent, for example a teacher designed task may also involve questioning and observing children. How will the assessment be used Methods positioned towards the left are those in which the child plays a leading role in assessing his/her own work; towards the right of the continuum the teacher plays a greater role in leading the assessment. While no single assessment method is exclusive to AfL or AoL, those towards the left of the continuum (the child in a leading role) generally have a stronger AfL focus while those to the right generally have a stronger AoL focus.

Written tests Teach revision strategies and study skills (appropriate to your subject) Help students to identify for themselves the topics they most need to revise Consider the feedback to be given. It needs to be timely, specific and include suggestions for ways to improve: What was good about the work Areas for improvement Strategies for improving the work Avoid a competitive environment

Homework Possible approaches:
Set the homework at the beginning of the lesson (particularly effective for underachieving students) Provide written criteria for assessment in advance Provide exemplars to illustrate standards Encourage students to reflect on and improve their work Consider the type of feedback (marks / written feedback / both?

AfL as classroom practice
Plans new learning Share learning intentions Explores success criteria Uses variety methodologies and strategies Gathers and records information about what and how of children’s learning Using assessment as part of teaching and learning the teacher... Key Principles Is part of effective planning Focuses on ‘how’ to learn (not on what has been learned) Is central to classroom practice Is a key professional skill Is sensitive and constructive Fosters motivation Learner understands goals and criteria Comment only marking Helps learners know how to improve Develops capacity for self-assessment Recognises all educational achievement

Planning for AfL (Goal setting)
Strategies Description What are we learning to-day? Give learning outcomes and purpose of lesson at start of class in ‘pupil speak’ What am I looking for? Show at the outset what students will be able/required to do to demonstrate achievement of the learning goals: ‘you will be able to answer..’ you will know..’ Traffic Light Grouping Differentiate lesson according to difficulty of task by student self grouping, Green (confident), amber (doubtful), red (difficulties)

Planning for AfL (Questioning)
Strategies Description Wait time Systematically allow >5 seconds for all replies to teachers questions, without interruption No Hands Up Select students to answer questions- no volunteering/hands up Distributed Answers Ensure all students get to answer questions fairly & systematically calling Open/Closed Questions Vary types of questions: some requiring thinking and limit recall questions Think, Pair, Share Pair students to discuss and plan questions Traffic Light Differentiate students by Green (Known), Amber (unsure), Red (Not Known)

Watch the clip Hot Research Assessment for Learning
Learning and write down Two things that you learned Two questions I still have

Learning Preferences of Digital Natives
Teamwork Experiential activities Use of technology Multitasking Goal orientation Collaborative Digital Natives are better at: Taking in varied information Making decisions quickly Multitasking Parallel processing Thinking graphically (rather than textually) Oblinger, Diana. “Understanding the New Student.” Educause Review, 38.3 (2003):

Integrating Technology
Digital Educational Resources Presentation Tools Generic and Specialised Software Internet for Communication Virtual Learning Environment For Publication including Internet Testing A range of hardware incl: IWB Creating resources eg: simulations and Multimedia presentations Creating text based work including Portfolios, Blogs and typed assignments Creating Visual Representations eg: Mindmaps, Storyboards and video Sound Recordings eg: Podcasts Producing Multimedia Presentations Online collaboration

Using Assessment to Support Teaching and Learning in the Classroom

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