1. ASSESSMENT

2. The Prophet (saw) taught by…
using engaging and stimulating methods
through dialogue and questioning
analogy and comparison
drawing on the ground
answering questions in full
joking and humour
narrating stories
giving feedback
repeating his words and statements 3 times
varying his body language according to the audience
asking rich, deep and thought provoking questions
using perfect pedagogical methodologies.
consult on issues
work as a group in a group
changing the complexity of language

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVE
I will understand the difference between FORMATIVE and SUMMATIVE assessment

4. What is summative assessment?
Summative assessments checks or tests the learning of a pupil at a particular time.
i.e. Class Test, Exam
It is described as ‘Assessment of Learning’

5. What is formative assessment?
Formative assessment is a self-reflective process that intends to promote student attainment when the feedback from learning activities is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet the learner's needs.
It is described as ‘Assessment for Learning’

6. What are summative and formative assessment?
The garden analogy
If we think of our children as plants …
Summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. It might be interesting to compare and analyse measurements but, in themselves, these do not affect the growth of the plants.
Formative assessment, on the other hand, is the equivalent of feeding and watering the plants appropriate to their needs - directly affecting their growth.

7. Assessment of & for Learning
Summative Assessment
- occurs after the learning
- to prove learning
- measures learning
- done to learners
- widens the ability range…
- externally referenced
- outcome focused
Formative Assessment
- occurs during the learning
- to improve learning
- grows learning
- done with learners
- narrows the ability range
- personally referenced
- process focused
There are two types of assessment: summative and formative.
We are all very familiar with and experienced in using summative assessment. This is assessment in the form of marks and grades given, for example, at the end of an activity, topic or year to measure and prove learning.
Assessment for Learning, on the other hand, is formative assessment. This means that assessment takes place during the learning process and seeks to improve the learning rather than measure performance at the end of it.
This slide indicates some of the other key differences between summative and formative assessment.

8. Formative and summative assessment
Formative and summative assessment are interconnected. They seldom stand alone in construction or effect.
The vast majority of genuine formative assessment is informal, with interactive and timely feedback and response.
It is widely and empirically argued that formative assessment has the greatest impact on learning and achievement.

9. Activity Draw a Star 8 Marks You may not ask any questions.
Must be done in Silence
You have two minutes
(Pass out blank paper and pens)
(Note: During this activity, be as ‘dictatorial’ as you wish. For example, insist on test conditions and silence, read out results to the class, make comparisons on performance, etc. The idea is to realistically play the ‘teacher’ role and use this exercise to spring assessment on them, compare them to their peers publicly, make them a little insecure, and keep them in the dark about what you expect out of them.)
To illustrate some important aspects of AfL, we’re going to do a drawing activity.
Using the paper and pens provided, I’d like you to each draw a picture of the Titanic. You need to:
Be as detailed as possible
Draw the Titanic in profile
Depict the ship in full daylight and afloat (not sinking ).
You have 3 minutes to complete your drawing.

10. Full Marks Exemplar Criteria MARKS Drawn with a pencil 2
Drawn an eight pointed star 4
Shaded
Shaded Blue
(Pass out Activity Sheet 3 – stay in teacher-mode)
Now that you have completed your drawing, here is a picture of a drawing that would get full marks.
Using the marking sheet provided, grade your drawing.
(Allow a few minutes for participants to mark their work, then ask questions such as:
How did you all do?
What did you score?
Did anyone score full marks? Hands up those who did.
Did anyone score less than 10? What went wrong?
Did you not know we were having a test?
Then end role play and discuss how participants felt being in the pupils’ shoes)
How did this activity make you feel as a learner?
How did you feel when you saw the ‘full marks’ drawing on this slide compared to your drawing?
How did you feel as you were tallying up your mark?
What did you think was being assessed?
What would have helped you do better in this assessment?
What would have made this a better assessment?

11. Why Use AfL in Your Classroom?
AfL helps pupils to:
understand the reason and focus for learning;
recognise success in learning;
identify and work towards a goal; and
understand how to make improvements and achieve their goals.
The purpose of that activity wasn’t only to put you in the pupils’ shoes; it was also to demonstrate why AfL is important to the learning process.
Had I been clear and transparent with you at the beginning of the activity about the purpose of the assessment, shared the ‘secrets’ so that you knew what was being assessed and why, and made plain what success would look like, you would have been able to produce a better drawing.
For example, although I said to be detailed in your drawing, I wasn’t clear about how detailed I meant. If I had said:
include the accurate number of portholes, funnels and masts; and
place all items in their correct location as they appeared on the actual Titanic
You might have drawn your picture differently, more accurately, and received a higher mark.
Assessment for Learning ensures that pupils receive this vital information, which in turn allows them to:
understand what they are learning and why;
recognise when they’ve been successful;
identify and work towards a goal, whether set by the teacher or themselves; and
understand how to improve and reach those goals.

12. Evidence – Black and Wiliam
There’s an over-emphasis on grading and giving marks.
To pupils, assessment that compares them with others seems to be more about competition than personal improvement.
Feedback from these comparative assessment approaches reduces morale.
These benefits, and others, are substantiated by research.
One of the seminal studies on the impact of Assessment for Learning was carried out by Black and Wiliam in Their study, ‘Inside the Black Box’, reviewed 250 research articles on assessment from 160 journals published over a nine-year period.
From this lengthy review, they concluded the following:
The giving of marks and the grading function are overemphasised, while the giving of useful advice and the learning function are underemphasised.
Assessment approaches are often used in which pupils are compared with one another. Pupils interpret the prime purpose of these to be competition, not personal improvement.
Consequently, assessment feedback from these approaches teaches low-achieving pupils that they lack ‘ability’, causing them to believe that they are not able to learn.

13. THE BLACK BOX Providing effective feedback to students.
Black and Wiliam’s research indicates that improving learning through assessment depends on five simple factors:
Providing effective feedback to students.
Students’ active involvement in their own learning.
Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment.
Recognising the profound influence of assessment on students’ motivation and self-esteem - both crucial influences on learning.
Ensuring pupils assess themselves and understand how to improve.

14. Implications for classroom practice
Sharing learning goals with students.
Involving students in self-assessment.
Providing feedback that helps students recognise their next steps and how to take them.
Being confident that every student can improve.

15. What do we want for our students?
The test of a successful education is not the amount of knowledge that a student takes away from a school, but the appetite to know and the capacity to learn. If a school sends out students with a desire for knowledge and some idea of how to acquire and use it, it will have done its work. Too many students leave school with the appetite killed and the mind loaded with undigested lumps of information.

16. AfL in the Classroom Learning, Teaching & Assessment Cycle Planning
Intentions
Improvement
Questioning
Questioning
Learning, Teaching & Assessment Cycle
Peer & Self-Assessment & Evaluation
Input
Questioning
Formative
Feedback
Success
Criteria
Here is a diagram showing how these elements of AfL fit into the Learning-Teaching-Assessment Cycle that shapes classroom practice. Most of the non-AfL steps do not require explanation.
However with AfL, PLANNING is critical. Consideration must be given to framing learning intentions, which declare the learning rather than the activity with which pupils are about to engage.
You’ll also see that there’s an IMPROVEMENT stage, which follows self-evaluation and feedback. This is an important part of AfL. Once feedback is offered, pupils are provided with the opportunity to read, process and respond to improvement prompts made in their feedback. They carry out these improvements to the work in question, not just to future work.
When integrating AfL into your classroom practice, we recommend that you take one area at a time and allow for its development rather than rush into a succession of rapid changes.
Also, do not underestimate the time, effort and planning required to effect real improvements. Engaging with the suggested strategies at a superficial level is not enough. Take time to understand the rationale underpinning each element and to make sense of it in your own classroom context.
Learning
Activity

17. Assessment for Learning (AfL) Effective Questioning
Welcome to Unit 4: Effective Questioning
Questioning is an integral part of assessment for learning and it is closely connected to the other cornerstones of the revised curriculum, such as:
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities;
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (at Key Stages 1 and 2); and
Learning for Life and Work (at Key Stage 3).
During this unit we’ll discuss what we mean by effective questioning, how effective questioning can benefit you and your pupils and some strategies for putting it into practice.

18. Learning Objectives
Know and understand that effective questioning is a powerful tool for learning
Be aware of strategies for effective questioning in the classroom
Consider ways to generate pupils’ questions
These are the learning intentions for this unit and its associated activities.

19. Some Starter Questions
Do you ask pupils to come up with their own ideas and to think aloud?
Do you encourage your pupils to explain their reasons for their answers?
Do they get the opportunity to ask their own questions?
Is it okay to give a ‘wrong’ answer in your classroom?
Is everybody’s opinion valued by everyone?
Before we begin, I’d like everyone to take a moment and think about your own classroom’s environment and atmosphere. How would you respond to these questions:
Do you ask pupils to come up with their own ideas and to think aloud?
Do you encourage your pupils to explain their reasons for their answers?
Do they get the opportunity to ask their own questions?
Is it okay to give a ‘wrong’ answer in your classroom?
Is everybody’s opinion valued by everyone?

20. Climate for Learning Risk-taking culture Community of enquiry
Commitment to learning for all
These questions, and their answers, are important because they all concern the classroom climate for learning. We must begin by thinking carefully about our classroom cultures, because establishing the right climate is a crucial factor in effective questioning – a climate where pupils feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and asking questions. Pupils will be more inclined to ask questions if there is a supportive atmosphere in the classroom.
We can establish a positive climate in our classrooms by:
Promoting a risk-taking culture. In order for pupils to take risks, they need to know that all contributions are encouraged and valued and that making errors is part of the learning experience. Is it OK to give a ‘wrong’ answer? Is everybody’s opinion valued in your classroom? By you? By the other pupils?
One approach to encourage this is to create agreed ‘ground rules’ and to flag these up on a regular basis (eg think time, valuing all contributions, standard conventions of talking and listening).
Problem-solving activities can also encourage pupils to hypothesise and think aloud. It also illustrates for pupils the trial and error of the learning process and can help them become more comfortable with making errors in order to reach conclusions.
Creating a community of enquiry and of independent thinking and learning will also help foster a positive climate. Supportive relationships (teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil) are extremely important. These can help create an environment where you are part of the learning community as well.
You can foster relationships in the class by setting up collaborative ways of working and using flexible groupings.
Finally we must demonstrate a commitment to learning for all pupils. We need to reinforce a shared belief that all children have the capacity to learn by:
emphasising progression in learning rather than performance. This can help promote self-belief and personal satisfaction on completion of tasks, because pupils can feel secure in coming up with their own ideas, thinking out loud and explaining their reasoning.
Keeping these things in mind, and using some of these approaches to create the right climate, can promote effective questioning. In turn, effective questioning can reinforce and help to develop and perpetuate a positive classroom culture.

21. Answering the Big Questions
Activity 1
Answering the Big Questions
Next, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on why and how we currently use questioning in our practice.
(Pass out blank sheets of paper.)
Working first on your own, think about a lesson you’ve conducted in the past week. Then record your answers to these two questions on the sheet provided:
What was the purpose of your questions during that lesson?
How did you respond to the answers the pupils gave?
After you’ve recorded your thoughts, pair up with someone nearby and share your responses.
(Allow 5 minutes for participants to finish recording and sharing in pairs, then discuss everyone’s findings and record the most common purposes on a flip chart.)
What was the purpose of your questions during that lesson?
How did you respond to the answers the pupils gave?

22. Why Do We Ask Questions? To manage and organise pupils’ behaviour
To find out what pupils know
To stimulate interest in a new topic
To focus on an issue or topic
To structure a task for maximum learning
To identify, diagnose difficulties or blocks to learning
To stimulate pupils to ask questions
To give pupils opportunity to assimilate, reflect and learn through discussion
Research indicates that these are the most common reasons for asking questions; some are more conducive to learning than others.
How do they compare with our list?
When you look at the reasons that focus on the learning, you find that these can be simplified into three main purposes. These form the focus of effective questioning. They are….
(Go to the next slide.)

23. What Is Effective Questioning?
Framing, delivering, timing, soliciting and responding to questions to:
identify where pupils are currently in their learning;
expand and deepen the learning;
inform planning for future learning.
To identify where pupils are currently in their learning;
To expand and deepen the learning; and
To inform planning for future learning.
So what exactly is meant by ‘effective questioning’? What characterises effective questions?
Effective questioning frames, delivers, times, solicits and responds to questions in a way that reveals as much information as possible, which can then be put to use for these three purposes.
It’s not, necessarily, about asking more questions. In fact, research shows that teachers ask a lot of questions in the course of a day … approximately one every 72 seconds, on average.
However, would it surprise you to know that 38% of these are actually answered by the teacher, not the pupils?
Given these figures:
How well do the questions we currently pose help us meet these three goals?
Is there anything we could do better or differently?
Undoubtedly even the best of us could improve the quality of the questions we ask as well as the way we respond to the questions and answers we receive from our pupils.
And there are some very simple strategies available to help us do this.

24. Classroom Strategies: Ask Better Questions
Ask fewer questions.
Ask more ‘open’ questions.
Sequence questions.
Prepare key questions.
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).
And finally, prepare ‘key questions’. 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.

25. Classroom Strategies: Ask Questions Better
Involve the whole class.
Think, pair, share.
Provide think time.
Try no hands up.
We can also be more effective in our questioning by asking questions better. This includes the way we ask questions as well as how we allow pupils to respond. Some suggested strategies are to:
Involve the whole class. If we want to promote a risk-taking culture, we need to ensure that pupils do not feel threatened. One strategy is to address the group rather than an individual. You can engage the whole class by simply walking round the room while asking/directing questions. This can increase pupil involvement and it may also help you observe pupil participation and engagement.
Another strategy is to Think, Pair Share. Pupils are sometimes intimidated by having to speak up in a whole-class situation. You can use this strategy to involve everyone. Here, pupils think about their answer, discuss it with a partner and then with a group. This can take the focus off the individual, improve self-esteem and give shy pupils a voice.
Providing pupils with time to think is also critical to effective questioning. Research shows that teachers typically allow less than 1 second of wait time between posing the question and asking for the answer (sometimes by providing the answer themselves). By increasing that wait time to 3-5 seconds, you can make a significant difference to your question’s effectiveness. Doing so:
gives pupils the vital time they need to order their thoughts;
ensures more pupils are likely to offer an answer;
results in fewer ‘I don’t know’s;
produces more thoughtful, creative and extended answers; and
benefits all children, no matter what their ability.
However, make sure pupils know and understand that there is time to think so that they do not feel pressured to answer right away.
Finally, to help you ask questions better, consider a ‘No hands up’ approach. When you ask a question and one pupil in a class puts his or her hand up, often everyone else in the class stops thinking or trying to work out the answer. By asking for ‘no hands up’, you can encourage all pupils to stay engaged with the question for longer.

26. Classroom Strategies: Deal With Answers Productively
Use wrong answer to develop understanding.
Prompt pupils.
Listen and respond positively.
Effective questioning also concerns how well we deal with responses from pupils. These are some strategies to help you:
First, use wrong answers to develop understanding. Part of our role here is to listen to the pupils’ responses. We need to listen for the answers we seek but at the same time not overlook other answers and responses that may reveal more about the pupil’s level of understanding.
We can actually put ‘wrong’ answers to use by turning them into a springboard for improved understanding. The trick is to point out the error in such a way that you don’t actually say ‘No that’s wrong’ and at the same time steer the pupil towards a better response.
Also, prompt pupils to rethink and review what has already been discussed and/or give cues to guide them and ‘nudge’ them in the right direction. For example, ask them, ‘Why do you think that…?’, ‘Could you explain…’ or ‘What about…?’. Remember, prompts do not always have to be verbal. A nod, smile or encouraging hand gesture can also be used to prompt pupils’ answers.
And finally, always listen and respond positively to pupils who are genuinely contributing to the discussion. This can encourage them to take risks and volunteer answers rather than being silent because they are afraid to give the ‘wrong answer’.

27. Classroom Strategies: Generate Pupils’ Questions
Model questioning for pupils.
Provide opportunities for pupils to practise their skills.
Plan time for pupils’ questions and for dealing with them effectively.
As teachers, we ask the majority of questions in the classroom (somewhere in the region of 50-70% more than the pupils). Encouraging pupils to ask questions is a key process in learning and promotes pupil involvement, develops independence, helps pupils to work through difficulties (rather than automatically asking for help), develops the ability to explain things more easily and develops reflection and evaluation of their own learning.
We can encourage pupils’ questions by:
Modelling the process. For example, think aloud and frame questions. This allows pupils to develop the appropriate vocabulary for questioning and to understand the difference between a good and bad question. We can also provide prompts/frameworks for questioning as a useful aid to pupils. KWL grids/QUAD grids and other questioning frameworks are good resources for this (see ‘Active Learning and Teaching Methods’ on the CCEA website).
We also need to provide our pupils with opportunities to practise their skills. For example, by providing an appropriate object or stimulus, we can stimulate pupils’ curiosity and encourage them to ask questions. Alternatively, pupils can create questions about part of a text (or a topic) as a means of finding a way into it. Pupils who come up with their own questions are much more likely to remember the answer.
Finally we need to plan time for pupil questions into our lessons. Our pupils will be more inclined to ask questions if there is a supportive atmosphere in the classroom.

28. Key Messages Establishing the right climate is crucial.
The classroom should be seen as a community of enquiry.
The role of questioner does not lie solely with the teacher.
Effective questioning performs three key functions:
- to identify the present level of understanding;
- to extend and deepen learning; and
- to inform future planning.
That concludes our training on Effective Questioning. To recap, here are a few key messages to take away with you.
(Review these bullets and then move on to next slide.)

29. Key Messages cont. Benefits of effective questioning include:
- improving the classroom ethos/environment;
- instilling the skills needed for independent learning; and
- supporting the objectives of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (at Key Stages 1 and 2), Learning for Life and Work (at Key Stage 3) and Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
(Review this bullet and then move on to final slide.)

30. Planning for Questioning - Adapted from E C Wragg
Identify the key questions in relation to the learning intentions for the
lesson
Decide on the level, order and timing of questions
Extend the questioning - thinking of subsidiary questions to ask
Analyse anticipated answers and responses you might give
Finally, as you think about developing questioning strategies within your own classroom, here is a useful mnemonic for planning.
(Pass out Handouts 1 and 2: ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy of Questioning’ and ‘Sequencing Questions’.)
These handouts are for you to take away and review in your own time. They can help to stimulate thinking when planning and formulating your own questions.