Tue, 14 Dec 2021

Monitoring and Documenting Learning Through Assessments

Assessments are at the heart of the goals of deliberately and effectively helping students in the acquisition of subject-specific information and skills, conceptual understanding, and the development of learning approaches.

Assessments are important because they help to inform learning and instruction. It entails acquiring and analyzing data regarding students' learning to inform teaching techniques. It also determines what pupils know, comprehend, and can do at various phases of the learning process.

The assessment gives data that can be used to improve learning and teaching. "Am I making progress?" is a question that both students and teachers ask themselves frequently. "How did I figure it out?" They amass indications of having learned to respond.

Monitoring, documenting, measuring, and reporting on learning are four characteristics of successful assessments. Each of these features has a distinct purpose, but they all attempt to give evidence to support learning and teaching. Although the four assessment dimensions are not equally weighted, each one has its significance and worth.

Monitoring learning

The goal of learning monitoring is to compare learning progress to personal learning goals and success criteria. Observation, questioning, reflection, sharing learning with peers and teachers, and well-considered feedback to feed-forward to the next stage of learning are all used regularly.

Tools used for monitoring learning include: Open-ended projects allow learners to provide their own opinions and ideas or respond imaginatively to a challenge that does not have a right or incorrect solution.

Tasks that are closed or open

The nature of the information requested determines whether closed or open tasks should be designed. The difference between the information acquired from closed and open activities can be shown by comparing examples of each task type. Consider what you might learn about students' comprehension of fraction addition by having them reply to these challenges.

Task completed:

What is the sum of 12 and 38?

The task in progress:

Which two fractions can be joined together to make 7/8? You should try to find as many pairs as you can.

Closed tasks typically:

Having one correct answer, which can be completed quickly, and assessing one specific piece of knowledge or a specific skill or procedure provides limited information about student thinking provide limited opportunity for students to demonstrate higher levels of understanding.

Open-ended tasks typically:

Having a variety of acceptable responses allow students to demonstrate higher levels of comprehension by taking longer to assess the breadth of knowledge and skills by providing information about problem-solving strategies and thinking.

Written or oral assessments
Learning portfolio: A learning portfolio is a collection of student work that demonstrates a student's effort, development, accomplishments, and competencies earned throughout a course or time at university. Portfolios are physical collections of student work that include written assignments, journal entries, completed tests, artwork, lab reports, physical projects (such as dioramas or models), and other material evidence of learning progress and academic accomplishment, such as awards, honors, and so on.

Documenting learning

Learning documentation is the collection of evidence of learning. Physical or digital documentation can be shown or recorded in a variety of media formats. Learning documentation is shared with others to make learning transparent and apparent. It enables opportunities to reconnect with learning goals and success criteria by revealing insights regarding learning.

Students and teachers can use a variety of formats to record learning goals, questions, comments, and proof of learning.

Learning logos or journals: These are used to keep track of ongoing learning feedback and reflections. Learning tales are narratives that describe a situation in which the learner demonstrates knowledge, conceptual understanding, or skills. Portfolios are a grouping of artifacts that might help in reporting.

Measuring learning

Learning measurement attempts to record what a pupil has learned at a specific "moment in time." Not all learning can or should be assessed. Measurement tools can be school-developed or commercially available, but each one adds to the overall picture of student accomplishment and development in learning.

Analyzing learning

Teachers measure student development using a variety of data indicators. The goal is to organize, aggregate, and disaggregate data to extract information that will help people make better decisions based on facts. It is suggested that collaborative data analysis be done for individual students, student cohorts, and the entire school to detect patterns and trends in student learning. The findings of this study are used to guide and inform decisions about learning and teaching. To create the most comprehensive picture of student growth and success throughout time, teachers employ a variety of assessment techniques and strategies. This incorporates the student's engagement in the process, which improves their capacity to appraise. Each tool and technique chosen offers accurate and accessible statistics on each student's learning to the learning community.

Reporting learning

Learning to report keeps the learning community informed and answers the question, "How well are we doing?" It explains the students' learning progress and accomplishment, highlights areas for improvement, and contributes to the program's efficacy. Reporting is the most visible component of assessment. Thus it must be carefully considered to provide clear, valuable information to students and parents. If a school gives out grades or other measures of accomplishment, it should make sure that the process is open, transparent, and well-understood by all parties involved.

References AAMT (2020). Closed or open tasks / Designing assessment tasks / Assessment / Fractions / Topdrawer / Home - Topdrawer. [online] Aamt.edu.au. Available at: https://topdrawer.aamt.edu.au/Fractions/Assessment/Designing-assessment-tasks/Closed-or-open-tasks. Great Schools Partnership (2016). Portfolio Definition. [online] The Glossary of Education Reform. Available at: https://www.edglossary.org/portfolio/. International Baccalaureate Organization (2019). Learning and teaching. International Baccalaureate Organization. mi.mcmaster.ca. (n.d.). Learning Portfolio – MacPherson Institute. [online] Available at: https://mi.mcmaster.ca/learning-portfolio/#:~:text=A%20learning%20portfolio%20is%20a.

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Monitoring and Documenting Learning Through Assessments