Assess to Assist

Hello Everyone,

Back to the Chinese wisdom in its exceedingly sensible tongue: “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” Siding yourself sure with the last, how can you create that aspired learning “involvement” that lets learners actively understand and thus answer their collaborative enquiries? What is your “active” role here as an instructor?

Teachers are invited to envelop the "scaffolding" method of communication which is a strategy aimed to simplifying tasks within learning by making smaller steps, all leading to the final outcome (our final project tasks are not far away from this). This aids in maintaining any frustration while keeping in mind what is important throughout the learning process. Socratic learning is suggested as the best method of communication in this theoretical framework (learner/learner or teacher/learner questioning and dialogue), as it allows the teacher to actively note any study skills the learners verbalize, their progression, and even their frustrations.

Students need the sort of learning that makes sense. Project Based Learning, in this respect, lends itself to many disciplines. It provides learners the opportunity to have a voice in how and what they learn, while building intrinsic motivation towards problem-solving, high mental inquiry, and the much-needed critical thinking.

How can PBL help students be accountable for their own assessment tools?

Susan Gaer’s Less Teaching and More Learning drew my attention to the value of developing learning and assessment experiences that engage students and teach them how to “produce,” rather than simply “reproduce”. The emphasis shifts hence from facts and isolated knowledge to active learning, where students work together to examine information and issues, solve problems, and communicate ideas. These shifts in emphasis should be accompanied by changes in assessment practices typified by involving students in authentic tasks, measuring a variety of outcomes, and involving students in peer and self-evaluation and reflection.

For me, rubrics were not mere scoring devices when they led my students toward high-quality performance along with lowering their anxiety about what was expected of them. Besides, I have always had the interactive opportunity to share and discuss the contents of rubrics that were used to assess an activity early in the process. As a result, the expectations were clarified and, in some cases, negotiated.

Colleagues, it’s all about the need to ASSESS the difficulties which separate your facts of today from your bright hopes of tomorrow.

Regards,

Hassan