Reflections: Standard Five

 

I have always thought assessing learners a key to the learning process.  The changes that have taken place in the past 20 years are making assessment instruments more informative and creating new perimeters of assessing learners that make better sense.   I use assessments to endure the learning content to learners rather than to test rote memory. The assessments I use are primarily summative and by exposing students' reaction to learning is to understand how they perceive the material. 

 

For students or teaching faculty it all means the same to me. The artifacts you will experience in this standard five module include:

Assessments: The artifacts below are for both Formative and Summative Assessments. I use both of these assessment types to learn about my students and have them assess their learning skills.

 

Learning Modules: Modules for learning are what I use when it is important for students to travel down the learning path one-step at a time and achieve certain waypoints prior to moving on in the learning.

 

Student Learning Outcomes: Student learning outcomes are systematic learning maps for students to plan.

 

Blogs: Blogs are similar to the discussion boards in learning. I use them to keep the discussion subjects going throughout the course.

 

In my assessments, artifacts below you will see what options I use for formative and summative assessing. I always leave feedback but not in such an obvious way.  Instead of telling students the correct answers, I prod them into looking for it and better understand why it is correct.

 

I have learned a lot about how to better use assessments in this certification process to say the least. Adding the extra responsibility of actually verifying the instrument seems to go contrary to faculty professionalism standards by asking them to consider that they may not know everything about one of the integral components of teaching.  I have had to reconsider and focus more thought on how to verify the instruments validity.   "Why" the answer is current, and then give them positive feedback when they do.   I expand on my feedback to evolve the learning into the next week's work and set the stage for what is hope is a seamless transition to that material. Validation for the instrument comes in the form of measurable increasing learning, grades and written work.

 

This is one of the most challenging modules for me to develop a plan.  I have spent some time reading other resources, believe I have learned much more about the assessment process, and feel more comfortable doing it.