.: Abstract
For this project I chose a new course that maps to a Microsoft computer networking certification. This course is comprised of both content-based theory and performance-based skills, which are taught through lab activities.
Using the principles learned in EPsy590ASA I was able to create course objectives and performance-based assessments that helped me measure my effectiveness as a teacher as well as the content and skills that my students were learning. This was accomplished by replacing several of the textbook assessments with new performance-based assessments. This project focused on three new assessments: real-world problem scenarios, student developed exam questions, and journaling. These assessments promoted active learning and provided the students with a sense of empowerment.
As a result of these changes assessments now have a purpose and reinforce the objectives set for the course. I plan to continue using and revising these assessments while I transfer these assessment instruments to other courses.
.: What Did I Learn
This project has reinforced the importance of assessments as instruments of purpose, directing the student toward the goals and learning objectives of the course. I have learned to match the lesson objective with the appropriate type of assessment and how to use a mixture of content-based assessments and performance-based assessments to assist the student in reaching the defined objectives.
It has been in the area of performance-based assessments that I have gained the most knowledge. The project has forced me to re-evaluate assessments and not to settle for the typical textbook-provided assessments, but to always be looking at ways to emphasize higher-order thinking skills. I have learned that when students are empowered with making decisions about how they learn, they will also become more motivated and engaged in the active learning process.
I have learned that performance-based assessments require more of the teacher’s time and effort, in other words, they do require more work. A teacher must be committed to this process or it will become easy to find reasons to go back to the “old ways.” It often becomes very difficult to justify the extra time these assessments require when one must cover the large amount of prescribed course content. This forces the teacher to be more creative in the efficient use of time and lesson preparation.
I have learned that not only do performance-based assessments mean more work for the teacher, they also mean more work for the student, so don’t expect them to become excited about your new, revolutionary forms of assessment. Through their years of education students have developed their own expectations of assessments and how to perform them. By incorporating your new assessments, which probably will go outside the box of their expectations, you will be moving them outside their comfort zone. Don’t be surprised if your great ideas are met with reluctance, and maybe even some rebellion. It does take time and training before they begin to see the benefits of these new assessments.
I have learned that besides this being a learning process for the teacher, it is also a learning process for the student. Students have been programmed with the typical multiple-choice and true/false formative assessment structures, and moving them from that type of assessment mentality to one that requires higher-order thinking skills takes time and training. For many students this is a new and uncharted territory requiring clearly defined instructions and rubrics to provide added direction. Rubrics help the student understand the value of the assessment and the expectations of their performance. Without rubrics I found that students had a wide variety of explanations of what they thought the assignment actually required them to do. In one of the first performance-based assessments that I assigned I forgot to include the rubric with the assignment. The resulting submissions were varied and poor. The assessment had very little validity. I had wasted their time and mine. I learned my lesson quickly. Besides the value of a good rubric I have also learned the value of modeling exemplary outcomes. For those visual learners that can read a rubric and still be confused as to the expected outcomes, providing models of an exemplary outcome provides them with a visual picture of the desired performance. Students can then use the model for contrast and comparison with their submission.
Finally, I also have learned that in spite of the extra work, the added time, the reluctance and sometimes rebellion on the part of the students to change, it is all worthwhile when you see your students experience those “ah-ha” moments when suddenly the light comes on as content becomes knowledge and they make that piece of knowledge their own.
.: What Would I Do Differently
In retrospect, I wish I had chosen a different course for this project. I chose a new course that had not been taught at our college because I wanted to develop it with the proper goals, objectives and assessments to insure its success. Although these were the correct motivations, I discovered that I had nothing to compare my student performances against. There were no previous semester benchmarks, no formative or summative assessments for comparison. All I could do was use formative assessments to determine their learning progress. Had I chosen a course that I had already taught, it would have been much easier to compare and contrast the differences the new performance-based assessments had on learning outcomes.
In retrospect, I would have started my new assessments earlier in the semester. Making revisions to my already established assessment program created some confusion with the students as I frantically revised my lesson plans. I had used the standard content-based assessments during the first half of the semester and then to change to performance-based assessments for the last half of the semester changed the expectations. It also required teaching the students how to operate in these new forms of assessment. As with anything new, there is always the natural reluctance to change that also must be addressed. This is a process, for both the teacher and the student, and as such takes time. My students were actually just beginning to capture the process and benefit from the assessments with only a few weeks left in the semester.
The process of training students how perform in these new types of assessment must begin earlier in their education. The course I was teaching was a college sophomore level course and the highest level a community college offers. I think there was this feeling among some of the students that since this was their last year they didn’t have to pour themselves into this new process. It also meant less time to help them establish these higher-level thinking skills as habits for a lifetime. To try to remedy this situation I plan to discuss with our other professors the implementation of these performance-based assessments in our first-year courses.
In retrospect, I would have revised one of my revisions. One of the performance-bases assessments I incorporated used journaling as an instrument to validate their knowledge of the labs they had performed. Although the journals did help the students reflect on their work and assist them in troubleshooting problems, the benefits were only on an individual student level. The class never benefited from what others had learned since the journals were not shared. I am considering a suggestion that Mark and Steve, my small group partners, made about using a wiki instead of a journal for the lab exercises. By using the journal only the lab team reaps the benefit of what has been written. If I use a wiki, the entire class is contributing their thoughts, questions, problems and solutions to an assigned lab. This could then become something I could use each semester.
Since submitting this paper I have already started using a wiki in another course for a lab project that class is completing. The students have really enjoyed this different type of journalling and have actively posted and shared information with the class.
.: Final Questions for the Class
Question One
As I consider my objectives for this project I am still struggling with the best way to assess lab performance. Just because a student completes the structured steps in a computer lab exercise doesn’t mean they really understand what they did and why. To address this issue I used journals as a performance-based assessment. Although I think they were very helpful in helping the student reason through the process and apply their content knowledge to a real-world scenario, I still found it difficult to design a rubric that would accurately assess their performance. If every student writes a journal entry on their lab and one student writes one paragraph while another student writes two paragraphs, does the student who wrote more get a better score?
Question Two
Although my courses are primarily technology-based comprised of heavy content-based theory and skills-based performance I still place a strong emphasis on soft skills. Soft skills, like communication skills, presentation skills, collaboration, critical thinking, and leadership, are critical to a student’s success in life. These skills and their assessment are a part of several of the projects students must complete. Assessing them becomes a challenge. Although I have compiled a rubric that defines my expectations in these areas, I still struggle with how well they really define the student’s command of these skills and the level of performance I can realistically require. I do spend some time addressing these skills in class but time constraints do impose a limit on how much interaction I can have with each student in helping them develop these skills. If I don’t actually teach the skill in my course, can I still require and assess that skill?
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