Educational Origami

I have been thinking about assessment and where we need to head with this for a while. This is the second draft and I would appreciate comments, suggestions etc. Many thanks to Nick and Brett for their comments.

Assessment, in the form of examinations, has be a constant feature of education since the 18^th Century. Some researchers indicate that the first printed examinations at school started in 1830 with the Sixth form at Harrow.[1, 2, 3]. For over 150 years, examinations have been our principal assessment tool. But do they reflect 21^st century teaching and learning. They have a place but is it the flag ship of assessment? More and more we are seeing a shift away from the examination. So what is a 21^st century assessment?

21^st Century Assessments should be focused on both the learning process and the assessment outcome.

So why are these component in this formula?

Rich Real World Tasks.

Our students have the worlds at their fingertips. They are exposed to vast volumes of information in a variety of modes. For our tasks to be relevant to them, for our students to engage we need to make the tasks rich. The tasks need to be relevant to them. This relevance takes the form of not only the purpose and objectives of the task but also the medium in which the task is undertaken. While to many teachers a written report is a suitable medium, to our media savvy students it is boring. Allowing the students to develop their tasks in rich mediums will engage them and an engaged student will learn. Rich Media like, video podcast, enhanced podcasts, cartoons and comics are more likely to engage higher order thinking processes as they plan, design and create their solutions.

Allowing are students to have input into the development of the assessment is a key step towards students ownership and engagement. Why should our students not have involvement in their own learning?

It is not only the process that is important but also the end product. We need to value not only the outcomes of our learning but also the process of reaching those outcomes.

“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”

Quote attributed to Thomas Edison http://www.wikiquotes.org

Higher Order Thinking.

This is not an “anti-examination” rant. Examinations do have a place, but there is a caveat with this comment. Most examinations only test lower order thinking skills. If we were to look at the keywords commonly found in examinations they are are lower order thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy or Art Costa three story intellect.

• list (Remembering)
• state (Remembering)
• identify (Remembering)
• name (Remembering)
• describe (Remembering)
• comment (Understanding)
• discuss (Understanding)
• explain (Understanding)
• exemplify (Understanding)
• compare (Analyse)
• analyse (Analyse)
• evaluate (Evaluate)

It is possible to structure an examination to test higher order thinking skills but there are definite limitations within this.

21^st Century assessments must be inclusive of higher order thinking. Inherent in higher order thinking is the lower order elements of recall and understanding. To be able to analyse, evaluate or create we must be able to understand, remember and apply.

Collaboration.

Ask a student at university if collaboration is part of their tertiary education or ask an employer if they value collaboration and the answer will be yes. Our students spend their days and nights collaborating and communicating. They are fluent in a variety of mediums. Whether the medium is collaborating via instant messaging, txt from their cell phones, chatting on embedded chatrooms on their facebook or bebo pages, twittering or working collaboratively on google documents; our students collaborate.

Collaboration is not a 21^st century skill it is a 21^st century essential.

In a report to UNESCO “The four pillars of Education, Learning: The Treasure within” Collaboration and communication is identified within each of the four pillars.

• Learning to know
• Learning to do
• Learning to live together
• Learning to be

(http://www.unesco.org/delors/fourpil.htm)

Ian Jukes, David Warlick, Marc Prensky and many others emphasise the importance of collaboration.

The question of equitable workload is one aspect raised as a draw back for collaborative projects and assessments. This can be overcome by personal and peer assessment. In my experience students are brutally honest in their appraisal of their own performance and that of their peers. For this reason, peer assessment is crucial in the 21^st Century assessment.

Timely and appropriate feedback.

The impact of timely and appropriate feedback is huge. Without feedback, assessment is NOT a learning activity, it is a compliance task.

To maximise learning regular detailed feedback is needed. This is not just end point feedback, which is often the review of the test at the end of the unit or what you could have done to make your project better. Rather this is regular feedback and reflection as students undertake the various tasks that lead to their learning endpoint.

Feedback is essential to refine the learning process, to maintain focus, to provide assistance & direction, to shape and adapt intra-personal and interpersonal processes and actions.

Our feedback must be:

• Timely – The end of the task is too late, we must provide feedback often and in detail
• Appropriate and reflective – The feedback must reflect the students ability, maturity and age. It must be understandable
• Honest & Supportive – Feedback can be devastating, our role as teachers is to nurture and shape. We must provide feedback that is honest and supportive in a manner and mode that does not ostracise the recipient.
• Focused on learning and linked to the purpose of the task
• Enabling – receiving feedback with out the opportunity to act upon it is frustrating, limiting and counter productive. Students must be able to learn from and apply this feedback

When suitable and appropriate, once a safe and open class or group environment has been established, peer feedback is a powerful learning tool. Obviously clear guidelines need to be established.

Appropriate, timely feedback is one of the most powerful learning tools available to educators.

Transparent Schema

How often do we provide our students with the rubrics or assessment schemes for their learning tasks and assessments? Do we involved them in developing these schemes and rubrics?

Crucial to students successfully achieving is transparency, they must know the end points they have to reach, they must clearly understand not only the objectives and goals of the task or task but the criterion they will be judged against.

It is an interesting and worthwhile practice to involve your students in developing rubrics or marking schemes for their tasks. This becomes part of the learning process, they are undertaking a process of goal setting crucial in planning a higher order thinking skill. The students involvement in developing these criteria will lead to greater ownership by the students of the task and increased engagement

Self & Peer assessment

As previously noted, students are often brutally honest in their assessment of not only their own performance but the performance of their peers.

Peer assessment supports students and teachers alike. The students insights and observations are valued. They often have a better grasp on group dynamics and relationships than the teacher.

Peer assessment stresses and reinforces the importance of collaboration. Peer assessment can be, depending on the group, linked to feedback as well.

Encouraging reflection and from this self assessment adds a powerful dimension. Reflective practice is a powerful tool for teachers and students alike. Reflecting via a blog or a journal on the days learning allows the person:

• to consider their actions,
• reflect on decisions,
• revise and solidify concepts developing ownership and
• consider/plan future processes and actions.

Reflective practice is something we should encourage in our students and ourselves, after all we are life time learners.

So in conclusion;

If we take all of these factors

• rich real world tasks,
• using higher order thinking,
• incorporating Collaboration,
• with timely and appropriate feedback,
• assessed against transparent schema and
• self & peer assessment,

link these to assessments that are focused on the learning processes and outcomes rather than compliance, we will have 21^st Century Assessment.