Reflecting on My Portfolio

As individuals, our experiences shape who we are and where we go. Through those experiences, at several moments in time, we are assessed. We can be assessed by our surroundings, at school or at home, and so on. Over the past couple of months, I have learned more about the assessment of student learning and creating effective learning experiences. At the very beginning of the course, I was required to write my core beliefs on assessment and those three beliefs can be viewed here. Today, I will reflect on how these beliefs have evolved over time to include all the new knowledge I gained with regard to assessment theory and application in a digital setting.

My first core belief came from starting with the end goal in mind as represented by Understanding By Design (UbD). I believe that assessments should be goal-oriented. Linking assessment to the learning steps is essential for students to understand that it is part of their learning process (Shepard, 2000). In a traditional assessment design, some teachers create tasks that could be hands-on, but not minds-on. Others might just try and cover as much as possible in the textbook. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) explain that to focus on student learning, assessment designs must have a clear insight into larger purposes. Students should also understand those purposes so that they can make connections and enhance understanding. In turn, an effective assessment design that has clear desired outcomes allows teachers to establish acceptable evidence of understanding.

Assessment must be fair, valid, reliable, and authentic. This was my second core belief. Even though I still truly believe in all these points, after the course work I realized that the importance of assessment is if students actually learn. So, my previous core belief was unpacked into my Assessment Design Checklist (ADC). For my second core belief, I believe that assessments should be an integral part of the learning process. In order for assessment to play a more useful role in helping students, it should truly be formative and part of the teaching and learning cycle (Shepard, 2000). Gathering feedback for formative assessment can help m reflect on how I can adjust my teaching to cater to those students' needs.

My third belief initially focused on defining the criteria of an assessment. At the time, I was reading more about metacognition and this made me think about assessment in a new light. My third belief is that assessment should provide students with the opportunity to self reflect, or 'think about their thinking'. According to UDL guidelines, effective assessments are flexible and in order to meet learner variability “assessments should not offer only one means of response but should provide multiple opportunities in varied media for learners to demonstrate skills and express themselves” (Meyer & Gordon, 2014, p.74). Applying the criteria of the UDL guidelines allows an assessment to become more personalized. This provides students with ownership of their learning by allowing them to choose which method they are most comfortable in organizing their ideas. In turn, this will motivate them to self-reflect on their progress. Assessment should provide clear criteria and personalized feedback, which will then complete the learning process. The criteria should be transparent enough so that students should be able to self-assess themselves. The assessment design would not be sequential with instruction but rather a dynamic cycle where students will receive feedback on task to improve strategic processing and self-evaluation. There is considerable evidence that providing feedback aimed to guide students from task to processing to regulation is most effective (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Hence, to enhance student learning students will be given the opportunity to take in the feedback and improve their work.

All three core beliefs have somewhat transformed over the summer semester. However, much of the initial meaning is still there but is now more aligned with the assessment theory. My first change came to my mind when I was working on my Assessment Genre Critical Review. While reading about metacognition, I realized it is not only the criteria we want students to keep in mind while completing a task. Metacognition is a skill that needs to be developed and some students would need guidance to become more aware of their thinking processes. In my Twitter post, I believe that assessments should build on this skill which will allow students to practice other cognitive thinking skills such as planning, organizing, mapping, and making connections with the content they are engaging with. My core beliefs also transformed while developing my Assessment Design Checklist (ADC), which comprises of 5 questions that were all grounded on my three core beliefs. It was especially fun applying my three beliefs of assessment in digital contexts. The most important thing that I keep in mind while choosing the technology is whether is supports my assessment design and not the other way around. Digital tools will not only help bring those elements of my checklist to life in the classroom but will also provide me with the data I need to stay up to date and for students to stay digitally connected. However, designing assessments on a CMS makes me think about how to select features that align with views on assessment. Selecting a CMS relates to all three beliefs and should be selected based on the affordances and constraints towards the task being created.

During the school year, so much time and effort are allocated to improve test scores as many stakeholders perceive that as the main criteria of success. Although the term in itself, 'assessment', is usually perceived with a negative connotation, it is our role as educators to promote students to grow and learn from assessment. It was great to take some time to design assessments that will truly inform me about student understanding and create learning opportunities that will enhance their skills. Throughout the semester I worked on the following assessment designs: Annotated Assessment Exemplar, Formative Assessment Design (FAD), CMS Assessment, and Game-based Assessment Project. All of these assessments were designed starting with the desired outcomes in mind. At the beginning of each, the objective is identified and the assessment is tagged with the curriculum outcome it is covering. Second, all these assessments are formative assessments that will help me understand where students are and how they can reach the desired outcomes. The assessments are designed in a way where I will receive valuable insights on student understanding so I can close the learning gaps.

With new technologies that are readily available, I always am trying to find new ways to maximize the use of face-to-face time within the classroom. Flipped learning allows teachers to personalize feedback, track student progress, and facilitate the learning process (Sams & Bergmann, 2013). My DNA Replication game was an assessment that I built on software called Twine where students are learning a new literacy while playing and viewing multimedia. In the modern world, it is essential that students develop new literacies and learn about new semiotic domains (Gee, 2003). This game-based assessment that is based on the semiotic domain of molecular and will assess students on the process of DNA replication. It is a formative assessment that is part of classroom instruction. It allows students to self-reflect on the choices they make in the game and go back and fix any mistakes they make.

After several modules and a great learning curve, I developed my ADC which is a detailed checklist that I can use while designing assessments. My FAD, called the Building Blocks of Life, is a perfect example to show how my third belief is embedded in this assessment's design. Students receive feedback at different stages in which they can self-assess and incorporate what they learned into their next iteration. In turn, I receive feedback that will allow me to self-reflect on my teaching strategies and adjust my plans accordingly. My hope is to create a learning culture that shifts students' mindsets from one where they work hard for a grade rather than to develop their thinking skills.

References

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112.

Meyer, A. Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: Theory and practice. Wakefield, MA: CAST.

Sams, A., & Bergmann, J. (2013). Flip your students' learning. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 16-20. 

Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. 

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. (Vol. Expanded 2nd ed). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.