Elements of Students' Development and Progress in Learning - Essay Example

Task 2 Introduction Effective assessment of students often requires that teachers and even schools in general to assess students’ progress in learning in a broad, inclusive and systematic manner. This implies that different aspects of students’ development and progress in learning such as reasoning, skills, affect, knowledge and deep understanding must be taken into account. Furthermore, different tools or approaches of assessment should be used to facilitate the formative, performance, transformative, summative and authentic assessment processes. Assessment should also be implemented at the individual, class and school level and both affective and cognitive domains should be taken into account (Popham, 2008; Killen, 2005; Gibbs & Simpson, 2004; McMillan, 2007). This paper will critically examine different elements of students’ development and progress in learning that are assessed in classroom and the importance or value of assessing these elements. It will further discuss the tools and methods used in assessing these elements and their appropriateness. In this case, assessment at the individual, class and school in both the affective and cognitive domains will be taken into account. Aspects of student progression and development assessed According to McMillan (2007), some of the key aspects of student progression and development assessed in relations to the cognitive domain include; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Firstly, assessing students’ progression and development in relations to ‘knowledge’ entails assessing their ability to remember or recall materials previously learnt as theories, procedures, specific facts, principles, dates, concepts and events. In classroom and school assessments, assessing the knowledge element is crucial mainly because it represents what students have learnt and know (McMillan 2007). In individual assessment, assessing students’ knowledge before they begin learning can enable teachers to develop instructional activities that build on student strength and address their weakness in specific areas of learning (Carnegie Mellon, 2012). Secondly, the ‘comprehension’ element assessed in schools entails assessing students’ understanding or grasp of meaning in a particular subject or topic. This element is epitomized by the way in which students interpret, explain, predict and infer to learning concepts. Assessing the comprehension element in the individual, classroom and school level enables educators to know whether curriculum goals or outcomes have been met (McMillan, 2007). Thirdly, the ‘application’ element often assessed in schools entails assessing students’ use of ideas or concepts that they have learnt in concrete or actual situations. It also requires that students should demonstrate what they have learnt practically. In individual or classroom level of assessment, assessing the element of application enables teachers to know whether curriculum goals have been realised and motivates students to learn better. It also motivates teachers to teach better (Earl, 2003). The ‘analysis’ and ‘evaluation’ elements of students’ development and progression in learning entails assessing students’ ability to differentiate, judge , criticize, defend, distinguish compare and relate different concepts or ideas. Assessing these elements in both the individual, classroom and school level is crucial mainly because it shows student deep cognition or understanding of what has been taught (McMillan, 2007). Lastly, the ‘synthesis’ aspect assessed in schools entails assessing students’ ability to combine and arrange elements into suitable patterns or structures. In essence, it touches on student organisation capability. Assessing this aspect is valuable mainly because it demonstrate students’ progress and overall comprehension of concepts or ideas (McMillan, 2007). At the individual and classroom level of assessment, assessment in relations to the affective domain entails assessing how students’ interact with each other, their attitudes, perceptions, values and emotions. Assessing these aspects is valuable mainly because they significantly influence students’ learning regardless of the subject or method used. Aspects of the affective domain can inhibit, enhance or prevent student learning thus it is crucial for teachers to take into account different aspects of the affective domain when assessing student learning (Carleton, 2012). In reference to “Krathwohl’s taxonomy of affective domain” some of the aspects that should be assessed in the affective domain include; firstly, ‘receiving’ which entails the ability of the student of being sensitive or aware of the existence different ideas, materials and phenomenon and being able to tolerate them. Secondly, ‘responding’ involves assessing students’ ability to commit and actively respond different ideas or materials. Lastly, ‘valuing’ entails the assessing students’ ability to value certain, materials, ideas or phenomenon (Krathwohl et al, 1956; Carleton, 2012). Tools and methods used in assessment When assessing different elements of students’ development and progress in learning, different tools and methods are often used. For instance, at the classroom and school level, methods such as written tests or exams can be used to assess aspects of the cognitive domain such as student ‘knowledge’, ‘comprehension’ and “evaluation” (McMillan, 2007). Written, tests or exams often incorporate a set of questions from different or the same learning areas. The questions can be open-ended requiring students to formulate their own response to questions or close-ended requiring students to choose answers from a provided set of options. Written, tests or exams can be used in the formative and summative stages of assessment to determine students’ prior knowledge, their overall progress in learning and to establish whether curriculum goals have been realised after the learning process. The use of written, tests or exams is suitable for assessing different aspects of the cognitive domain in both the classroom and school levels mainly because it assesses a wide range of topics or learning areas at the same time. Written tests or exams are also appropriate and valuable since they gauge student learning, provide a basis for assigning grades, enable students to compare their performance and provide students with feedback regarding their progress in learning (University of Texas, 2011). In addition to this, assessment methods and tools such as learning journals, written reports, oral presentations, poster presentations, portfolios and grading rubrics can be used at both the individual and classroom level to assess students in cognitive domains such as “comprehension’, ‘knowledge’, ‘analysis’, ‘application’, ‘synthesis’ and ‘evaluation.’ Generally, these assessment tools and techniques are suitable for facilitating performance, transformative, summative and authentic assessment processes. They help to clearly show students strengths and weakness and provide more detail and in depth information regarding students’ progress in learning (McMillan, 2007; Carleton, 2005). Moreover, different aspects of the affective domain can be assessed using tools such as survey of students’ comfort levels and questionnaire to measure indicators of students’ attitudes, values and behaviours. Survey of students’ comfort levels evaluates students’ self-reported comfort level and experiences in different learning areas. It can be used in the formative stages of assessment in the classroom to determine students’ expectations, attitudes, previous experiences and interests in a particular learning area. Secondly, questionnaires to measure indicators of students’ attitudes, values and behaviours can be used in the formative and summative stages of assessments to evaluate how students’ attitudes, values and behaviours may have an effect on their learning of a particular topic or course (Carleton 2008). References Carnegie Mellon (2012). Assessing prior knowledge. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Carleton (2005). Assessing student learning. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Carleton (2008).Assessment tools for the affective domain. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Carleton (2012). The affective domain in the classroom. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education 1, pp. 3-31. Killen, R. (2005). Programming and assessment for quality teaching and learning. South Melbourne: Cengage. Krathwohl, D., Bloom, B., & Masia, B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook II: Affective domain. New York: David McKay. McMillan, J.H. (2007).Classroom assessment: Principles and practice for effective standards- based instruction. (4th Ed). Boston, MA: Pearson-Allyn & Bacon. Popham, W.J. (2008). Transformative assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. University of Texas (2011). Instructional Assessment Resources: Exam. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Task 3 What is feedback and why should teachers provide it? Shute (2007) defines feedback as information communicated to the learner that is intended to modify the learner’s thinking or behavior for the purpose of improving learning. This definition suggests that feedback can be used to either reinforce certain desired behaviors on one hand and or to discourage certain behavior of a learner if undesired. However, what is common in the use of feedback is that feedback is meant centrally to correct the learner where they are wrong. Providing feedback to the learner is majorly aimed at helping students to improve their learning however, feedback is used by teachers and instructors also to reinforce positive behavior and to reward excellence on the part of the learner. Juwah et al (2004) acknowledge that ‘feedback results in benefits on learning and achievement across all content areas, knowledge and skills types and levels of education.’ The importance of teachers providing feedback can therefore not been stressed any further. It is crucial that effective learning is reinforced or corrected through the appropriate feedback provided by the instructor (Juwah et al, 2004). Strategies for the implementation of an effective feedback Brookhart (2008) suggest that in order for teachers to implement an effective feedback, they need to put themselves in students’ shoes. In essence teachers should be empathetic and communicate clear and positive messages that students can relate to. Effective feedback comprises of information that students can hear, understand and use. In order for teacher to implement effective feedback, they must take into account factors such as; when to give feedback, how much feedback to give, what content should the feedback incorporate and what is the best mode or approach of giving feedback. When it comes to deciding when to give feedback, teachers must take into account what students are learning. For example, if students are studying basic mathematics, then they may require immediate feedback whether their approach or answer is correct or incorrect. However, when students are learning aspects such as writing or problem solving then it is crucial for the teacher to wait until they have observed pattern in students’ performance before they provide feedback. It is also crucial for teachers to determine the content of their feedback. Brookhart (2008) notes that, the choices that teachers make on what to say to students determines how students interpret and use the provided feedback. Brookhart (2008) recommends that teachers should focus on students’ work and process by describing the student's work, commenting on the process that the student have used to do the work, and makes specific suggestions on what students can do next in order to improve their performance. Brookhart (2008) further suggests that teachers should relate their feedback to the set curriculum goals. Teachers should also provide feedback that is specific, positive and descriptive rather than judgment. For instance a teacher can say to a student, “You have made good progress in learning about different verb tenses. So far you know how to write sentences in the present and past tense. Now you need to focus on writing sentences in the in the future tense. There are several modes or approaches that can be used to provide feedback .Tedick & Gotari (1998), present six forms of feedback used by instructors or teachers, they include: repetition, explicit correction, clarification request, recast, metalinguistic clues and elicitation. Firstly, repetition involves the teacher repeating the student’s error and adjusting their intonation to draw student’s attention to it. Secondly, explicit correction involves the teacher clearly indicating that the student's utterance was incorrect and subsequently providing the correct form. Thirdly, clarification request, involves the teacher using phrases like "Excuse me?" or "I don't understand” to indicate that the message has not been understood or that the student's utterance contained some kind of mistake and that a repetition or a reformulation is required. Recast is also another form of feedback that requires the teacher not to indicate directly that the student's utterance was incorrect. Instead, the teacher implicitly reformulates the student's error or provides the correction (Tedick & Gortari, 1998).On the other hand, a metalinguistic clue as a form of feedback requires the teacher not to provide the correct answer. Instead using this from of corrective feedback the teacher is required to pose questions or provide comments or information related to the formation of the student's utterance. For instance questions and comments like “Do we say it like that?" “Is it in the present tense?" “There are five vowels in the sentence” can be considered as feedback. Lastly, elicitation involves the teacher directly eliciting the correct answer from the student by asking questions. For instance, "How many vowels are there in the sentence? Pausing a question allows the student to complete the teacher's utterance. Elicitation questions differ from questions that are defined as metalinguistic clues in that they require more than a yes or no response (Tedick & Gortari, 1998). Constraints to providing feedback At times teachers or instructors may find it difficult to provide feedback due to a number of reasons. Time constraints are among key reasons why a considerable number of teachers fail to provide effective feedback to students. In a number of learning settings, considerable amount of time is allocated for instruction and student activities. As a result, it may be difficult to find adequate time to provide adequate feedback to students that will enable them to improve on their learning. Moreover, the errors that students make in different aspects of learning may also make it difficult for teachers to provide appropriate feedback. Some teachers may feel that the feedback provided may discourage students hence they become hesitant especially when it comes to providing corrective feedback. A teacher may become overly cornered in attempts to provide the most appropriate feedback mode (types) as discussed above. Parviz & Elahe (2012) acknowledge that there is no one single way of treating learner’s errors. They continue to suggest that a variety of factors such as context of instruction, learner’s age, development readiness and error made can affect the teacher’s choice of feedback types (Parviz & Elahe, 2012). References Brookhart, S. (2008). “Feedback that Fits”. Educational Leadership 65(4), pp. 54-59. Juwah, C., Macfarlane-Dick, D., Matthew, B., Nicol, D., Ross, D. & Smith, B. (2004).Enhancing students learning through effective formative feedback. The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Parviz, A. & Elahe, F.A. (2012). “English language teachers’ corrective feedback types in relation to the learners’ proficiency levels and their error types”. Journal of Academic and Applied Studies 2 (8), pp. 37-51. Tedick, D. & Gortari, B. (1998). Research on Error Correction and Implications for Classroom Teaching. ACIE Newsletter, vol 1, no. 3. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from Shute, V. J. (2007). Focus on formative feedback. Educational Testing Services Research Report, Princeton, NJ. Read More