Guide to Self Assessments
Welcome !
Welcome to my mini-course ! Here we will be learning about the different self-assessments we may encounter at any grade level. The course is broken into two units, one on formative assessment and the second on summative assessment. Within each unit, there will be a chance to interact with your peers through discussions or collaborative projects.
If you have any questions throughout the course, please feel free to reach me by email at either of the following:
- sveltri@albany.edu
- samanthaveltri13@gmail.com
Another way to reach me is by clicking on the "Ask Me a Question" in each unit and you will be redirected to the discussion where you are able to post your questions and either I or your classmates will provide an answer for you.
What is the main goal of this mini-course?
The goal of this mini-course is to provide participants with some insight on the different types of self-assessments that can be used within their classroom. Self-assessments are not only for the students to learn more about themselves and their academic abilities, it's also for educators who are looking for ways to improve themselves in terms of how they teach, how their lessons are created, what they can do to improve themselves, and so on. As educators, we all have a general background knowledge on formative and summative assessments so the notes are short and to the point to just give you a review of the information and examples of each. Yes, the units are broken down into formative assessments and summative assessments, but the main focus is the types of self-assessments each one has to offer.
Unit 1: Formative Assessments
♥ Lesson 1: Introduction to Formative Assessment
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Identify characteristics of a formative assessment
- Define what a formative assessment is
- Participate in a discussion with peers to discuss their thoughts on formative assessments
- Notes for Lesson 1 - To start off this lesson, you will be learning of the definition of formative assessment as well as learning of the characteristics of a general formative assessment. Please click HERE to open the notes for this lesson. Feel free to print the document or take notes as you go along.
- Discussion Activity - After you have read the introduction to formative assessment, please post your thoughts or questions you may have to this Padlet. You are also required to respond to at least three of your classmates.
♥ Lesson 2: Types of Formative Self-Assessments
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Identify different formative self-assessments
- Have the opportunity to explore the formative self-assessment of their choosing
- Participate in a discussion with peers to discuss which self-assessment they'd prefer to use as well as how they'd incorporate it in their classes
- Notes for Lesson 2 - To start off this lesson, you will be learning about the different types of formative self-assessments. In the Google Slides, you will find different examples of common formative self-assessments along with some information of how they can be used. Please click HERE to open the notes for this lesson.
- Discussion Activity - After you have read the notes on examples of formative self-assessments, please post your thoughts on your favorite self-assessment (if you have one that isn't listed in the notes, please let us know) as well as how you would use it in your classroom. You are also required to respond to at least three of your classmates. Please submit your posts to this Padlet.
♥ Lesson 3: Formative Self-Assessment Class Guide
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Apply their knowledge from the last two lessons to a class project
- Participate in a class project where students will be creating a list of how to use formative self-assessments across different subject areas
- Notes for Lesson 3 - There are no notes for this lesson. You are going to use your knowledge and the notes from the last two lessons to identify how to use a formative self-assessment of your choosing in a specific subject area. This will be applied to the activity of the lesson.
- Class Activity - For this lesson's activity, you will be collaborating as a class to fill in a table in a Google Document. The goal is to create a list of different ways you can use different formative self-assessments within each subject area. This list will be a great resource for yourself as well as others in the future ! If you teach a specific subject area, I suggest that you submit your ideas within that specific subject. If you teach a few different subjects, you may choose which subject you'd like to submit your ideas to (or you can submit a few ideas to each subject area). If you are at the elementary level and have a general formative self-assessment that you feel works best for those grade levels, there is a section for you to write your ideas. This is also available for middle and high school levels as well. Please click HERE to open the collaborative Google Doc.
♥ End of Unit Project
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Apply their knowledge on formative self-assessments to create their own self-assessment
- Incorporate their self-assessment in a lesson plan
- Notes for End of Unit Project - For the end of unit project, you will be required to create your own formative self-assessment. You may use one of the examples mentioned from Lesson 2 or you can use one of which wasn't listed. You will also be creating a lesson plan of which you incorporate the self-assessment into. Make sure to include the self-assessment along with a detailed lesson plan.
- Where to Submit Your Project - To submit your end of the unit project, please save the document either as a PDF or as a Microsoft Word document. Send the document to sveltri@albany.edu. You will receive a confirmation email from me letting you know that the document was received and was able to be accessed.
- Requirements for Project - Please use the BDA template for creating your detailed lesson plan. Include the formative self-assessment at the end of the document.
- Grading -
- BDA Template - 5 points
- Class, Date, Unit and Topic are stated - 5 points
- Meaningful learning objectives and/or essential questions - 10 points
- Correct learning standards are used - 5 points
- Assessments (assessments before the lesson, during the lesson, and after the lesson are listed) - 10 points
- Key language/vocabulary and materials used are listed - 5 points
- Detailed description of what occurs before the lesson starts - 15 points
- Detailed description of what occurs during the lesson - 15 points
- Detailed description of what occurs after the lesson - 15 points
- Complete formative self-assessment included - 15 points
Unit 2: Summative Assessments
♥ Lesson 1: Introduction to Summative Assessment
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Identify characteristics of a summative assessment
- Define what a summative assessment is
- Participate in a discussion with peers to discuss their thoughts on summative assessments
- Notes for Lesson 1 - In this lesson, you will learn the definition of summative assessment as well as learn the different characteristics of a general summative assessment. Please click HERE to access the notes.
- Discussion Activity - After you have read the introduction to summative assessment, please make an initial post on this Padlet discussing your thoughts on summative assessment as well as whether or not you have used it and how it went. You are also required to reply to at least 3 classmates.
♥ Lesson 2: Types of Summative Self-Assessments
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Identify different summative self-assessments
- Have the opportunity to explore the summative self-assessment of their choosing
- Participate in a discussion with peers to discuss which self-assessment they'd prefer to use as well as how they'd incorporate it in their classes
- Notes for Lesson 2 - For this lesson, you will be learning about the different summative self-assessments you can use as well as how you can apply them to your lessons. Please click HERE to access the notes.
- Discussion Activity - After reading about the different types of summative self-assessments, post an initial discussion post on this Padlet discussing which summative self-assessment you favor or dislike and why. If you have an idea of a summative self-assessment that is not included in the notes, tell us about it ! You are also required to respond to at least 3 of your classmates.
♥ Lesson 3: Summative Self-Assessment Class Guide
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Apply their knowledge from the last two lessons to a class project
- Participate in a class project where students will be creating a list of how to use summative self-assessments across different subject areas
- Notes for Lesson 3 - There are no notes for this lesson. You are going to use your knowledge and the notes from the last two lessons to identify how to use a summative self-assessment of your choosing in a specific subject area. This will be applied to the activity of the lesson.
- Class Activity - For this lesson's activity, you will be collaborating as a class to fill in a table in a Google Document. The goal is to create a list of different ways you can use different summative self-assessments within each subject area. This list will be a great resource for yourself as well as others in the future ! If you teach a specific subject area, I suggest that you submit your ideas within that specific subject. If you teach a few different subjects, you may choose which subject you'd like to submit your ideas to (or you can submit a few ideas to each subject area). If you are at the elementary level and have a general summative self-assessment that you feel works best for those grade levels, there is a section for you to write your ideas. This is also available for middle and high school levels as well. Please click HERE to open the collaborative Google Doc.
♥ End of the Unit Project
- Learning Objectives - Participants will be able to:
- Apply their knowledge on summative self-assessments to create their own self-assessment
- Incorporate their self-assessment in a lesson plan
- Notes for End of Unit Project - For the end of unit project, you will be required to create your own summative self-assessment. You may use one of the examples mentioned from Lesson 2 or you can use one of which wasn't listed. You will also be creating a lesson plan of which you incorporate the self-assessment into. Make sure to include the self-assessment along with a detailed lesson plan.
- Where to Submit Your Project - To submit your end of the unit project, please save the document either as a PDF or as a Microsoft Word document. Send the document to sveltri@albany.edu. You will receive a confirmation email from me letting you know that the document was received and was able to be accessed.
- Requirements for Project - Please use the BDA template for creating your detailed lesson plan. Include the summative self-assessment at the end of the document.
- Grading -
- BDA Template - 5 points
- Class, Date, Unit and Topic are stated - 5 points
- Meaningful learning objectives and/or essential questions - 10 points
- Correct learning standards are used - 5 points
- Assessments (assessments before the lesson, during the lesson, and after the lesson are listed) - 10 points
- Key language/vocabulary and materials used are listed - 5 points
- Detailed description of what occurs before the lesson starts - 15 points
- Detailed description of what occurs during the lesson - 15 points
- Detailed description of what occurs after the lesson - 15 points
- Complete formative self-assessment included - 15 points
Example Lesson Plan for End of Unit Projects
HERE is an example of a detailed lesson plan using the BDA template.
Helpful Videos
What is a formative assessment?
What is a summative assessment?
Student portfolios for a classroom
References
Dixson, D. D., & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Formative and summative assessment in the classroom. Theory Into Practice, 55(2), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2016.1148989
Perera-Diltz, D., & Moe, J. (2014). Formative and summative assessment in online education. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching, 7(1), 130-142.