THE CORE PARTS 4 AND 5
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ETAP623 : THE CORE, PARTS 4 AND 5 This page last changed on Jan 23, 2008 by wikiadm1.
Unit 3.4 - Ongoing Assessment.
Ongoing assessment is the final piece of the puzzle in teaching for understanding. It is imperative to assess students' learning and understanding throughout the course of a lesson or unit, not just at the end. "To learn for understanding, students need criteria, feedback, and opportunities for reflection from the beginning of and throughout any sequence of instruction." (Perkins and Blythe, 1994, p. 7) Beyond mentioning its importance, this course will not discuss the process of performing ongoing assessments, as Randy DeVett has already created a thorough mini-course devoted exclusively to the area of ongoing assessments. For further learning, please refer to her mini-course, also found within the Knowledge Network for Innovations in Learning Project.
Teaching For Understanding: Ongoing Assessment Unit 3.5 - Providing an Environment for Understanding.
Moving beyond generative topics, understanding goals, performances of understanding, and ongoing assessment, there is one more factor that will help students build understanding. By providing students with an environment that fosters understanding, students' move towards understanding will be more productive. An environment that is oriented towards understanding is typically one that is comfortable and positive for the learner. It is possible to make the learner feel more comfortable by supporting the learner's mental processes. For example, you should allow and encourage students to "think on paper." When there is a lot of material to work with, working on paper will allow students to organize their knowledge (something that is particularly useful for visual learners). This organization of knowledge will be imperative when the number of ideas needed to solve a problem moves beyond the extent that the working memory (often referred to as "short-term memory") will allow. (Newton, 2000, p. 59) One can imagine that supporting the learners' mental processes will help them learn better because they will be less stressed and more at ease, thereby more willing to take on the learning challenge, as well.
Reflection.
What steps do you think you can take to help support students' learning processes? Do you already do so? Do your colleagues have any advice as to how to do so? Do you agree with the statement that reducing stress puts students in a better state of mind to take on challenging tasks? Support your thoughts with examples.
Once you have completed your reflection, please follow the link below to the final unit of the mini-course: Teaching for Understanding 07 Document generated by Confluence on Aug 31, 2008 15:05 |