Formative Assessment in PBL Math

Introduction or Project Entry Event

• Have you ever finished with a unit of instruction, only to realize you 'lost' half your students on lesson one!?
• Have you witnessed your students furiously copying your every word (pauses, coughs, errors and all), only to discover that they can only regurgitate the information?
• Do you ever notice that in your practice assessment tends to only occur at the end of a unit of instruction, offering few opportunities to correct conceptual mistakes (such as violating order of operations)?
• Do you wish to acquire learner feedback more frequently during instruction?

If your answer to any of the above questions are 'YES', then you are ready for the mini-course ahead. Within this course, you will go through the steps of the 'Design Process', view examples of formative assessment implemented in a math project-based learning environment, and will work to design your own lesson to implement assessment opportunities.

The Design Process

Course Objectives

• Define and explain what formative assessment is and the benefits of using it in the classroom.
• Identify various types of formative assessment as illustrated through authentic examples
• Design formative assessment opportunities to enhance learning in an identified instructional area.