OER4Schools/Introduction to Assessment for Learning

Title: 4.1 - Introduction to Assessment for Learning
Number: 4.1

The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource

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Table of contents.

4.1 - Introduction to Assessment for Learning >>>

Facilitator's version, Participants' version

Learning intentions and objectives.
In this session you will learn about:

• Learning to use inventory as a self-assessment measure
• using Traffic Lights as a tool in AfL
• Understanding the concepts of ‘Assessment’ and ‘Assessment for Learning’
• Knowing the key aspects of ‘Assessment for Learning’ such as principles, essentials and strategies

Success criteria.
To meet the learning intentions you will:

• come up with ways that Traffic Lights can be used to help with the review of progress that is part of AfL
• watch an introductory video on AfL and draw out the important points for discussion

ICT components.
The ICT components you will focus on are

• Classroom use of Geogebra, spreadsheets, concept mapping,slideshows, EtherPad

Classroom based activities (with your students, after this session):

• you will ...

Review of follow-up activities from last session

Educator note

If you are running a professional learning programme which follows these sessions in sequence, then you should do the review of follow-up activities relating to the previous session (More on questioning). The 'review of follow-up activities' for that session is available here, and also shown below in the session text. However, if you are following selected sessions in a different order, then you should use the reflection appropriate to the previous session you did.

The review of the follow-up activities for this session (to be done at the start of the next session) is available here.

Review (10 min) of the planned activity, other strategies, and peer observation.

• Did you observe a buddy practising questioning in their classroom? Did your observation help your buddy? If yes, elaborate with specific examples about the changes in your buddy’s questioning after the activity. (You might want to continue the observation activity for a few more weeks)
• What did you learn by observing your buddy? Were there any questioning and handling responses strategies that you learned from your buddy?
• Did you notice any changes in pupils’ participation due to your new questioning and handling responses strategies? Share one strategy that you found most effective in your classroom. Explain reasons for why you think that the strategy was effective.
• Did you try any strategies for improving the quality of pupils’ responses? Which strategy or strategies led to chains of thinking about the content that you were teaching?

Review (10 min) of netbook based activities in the classroom.

• ICT activity – did you use the netbooks during the last week for the geogebra activity?
• Did you try anything else?
• How familiar are your students with using the netbooks?
• How familiar are you with using the netbooks?

My assessment inventory

Individual activity (10 min): Working on your assessment inventory Complete the assessment inventory My assessment inventory.doc ^(info). First fill in your name next to the title. Then add the date in the first row and describe your current understanding of assessment by identifying different kinds or elements of assessment. Lastly record the assessment measures that you have used. Please take care that you mention only the measures that you have used yourself and not the measures that you know of but have not tried.

You will add to this inventory by completing another row at the beginning of each session on Assessment for Learning. Thus you can assess your own progress as the workshops proceed, and we can also see what you feel you are learning, purely for research purposes. (At CBS it will also be used to plan further sessions.) Please be honest about filling in your responses; this inventory will not be used to judge you.

Educator note

Orally repeat the guidelines given above regarding the sequence of filling up the inventory. Emphasise that only the assessment measures that participants have used should be recorded.

Remind the participants to bring the inventory to every session on assessment.

Traffic Lights

Unit 4 is about ‘Assessment for Learning’ and not simply about ‘Assessment’. Before we proceed to understanding more about Assessment for Learning (AfL), let use our Traffic Lights!

[[todoinfo::Traffic lights were removed from here, and content now in these documents:

• OER4Schools/activities/Traffic_lights
• OER4Schools/How_to_make_traffic_lights

They need to come earlier in the programme. | ]]

We have already used the traffic lights (robots) in the ICT practice, to indicate our own progress in these activities. Let's do another quick exercise!

Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole Group discussion about traffic lights. What do you know about ‘Assessment for Learning’ at this stage? Show by holding up or putting forward on the table your Traffic Light! Now discuss:

• What are the different ways in which I can use Traffic Lights in my classroom?
• In what ways can I respond to each colour of the Traffic Light?
• When is it appropriate for students to respond instead of me? What are the pros and cons of that?

Educator note

If the number of participants is 10 or less, make a note of the Traffic Light colour of each participant on a flip chart. You can prepare the flip chart with the participants’ names listed on it, in advance.

Introducing Assessment for Learning (AfL)

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watching a video on formative assessment Watch 2 segments of this video, bearing in mind these questions for reflection:

• How is the concept of AfL different from the commonly known notion of assessment?
• What are some of the elements of AfL that have been mentioned in the video?
• Which element(s) of AfL did you find most interesting? Why?

VIDEO

Shirley Clarke video on feedback

0:00 - 0.56 (introduction to AfL), 4.38 - end (example of 10-year-olds doing peer assessment) In this video, Shirley Clarke explains the concept of ‘Assessment for Learning’ and its elements in brief. Some elements can also be seen in action.

Video/Formative Assessment in Schools.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Formative_Assessment_in_Schools.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Video from other organisations folder. Duration: 8:19 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox)(Series: Video from other organisations, episode N/A)

Educator note

Draw out the idea that AfL is about constantly reviewing ones progress rather than being tested on learning at the end of a piece of work. Feedback from peers is an important part of this review process. Also, it is easier to review progress if it is clear what is expected, that's where using success criteria can help.

Whole class dialogue (10 min): Discussion on the questions. Discuss the above questions for reflection.

Understanding ‘Assessment’ and ‘Assessment for Learning’

Observing, thinking, reflecting (10 min): Watching a powerpoint presentation By now, you will have already discussed some of the points that will arise on this PowerPoint. Do a mental assessment to see if your understanding of assessment and AfL advances by watching the PowerPoint (File:Unit 4.1 AfL.ppt).

Educator note

Play the slideshow of the Power Point ‘File:Unit 4.1 AfL.ppt’. Read aloud the contents of the slides if you think it will help the participants.

During slide 8, tell participants that AfL strategies are in yellow ellipses.

During slide 11, ask participants to read pages 3 to 6 of the VVOB handout called ‘Questioning the Questions’ that was distributed during Unit 2 Session 2, as a homework task.

During slide 12 titled ‘Self-assessment’, ask the participants to show their understanding about assessment and AfL on their Traffic Lights. Then take the following steps:

• If anybody shows ‘orange light’ or ‘red light’, ask them the specific topic to which they are referring.
• Then ask other participants who have shown ‘green light’ to explain the topic to their peers.
• If doubts are still not resolved, record the topic and include it in your feedback about the session. Assure participants that you will get back with more information.

Remember the AfL strategies will be discussed in the upcoming sessions. So if doubts are about the strategies, inform the participants that the future sessions will cover them.

If you had prepared a flip chart with the traffic light of each participant before the activity, record their current light. You can also ask the participants to come up and write their current traffic light. This will help them to see their own progress.

Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole group reflection on the powerpoint Questions for reflection on PowerPoint

• What steps, do you anticipate, you will have to take to implement AfL in your classrooms?
• What issues do you think will arise in implementing AfL in your classrooms? Discuss ways of resolving them with your peers.
• Are there any current practices which are useful or can become useful for AfL with some modifications? For example, current practice of marking notebooks can include qualitative feedback. Discuss these practices, the modifications and their use for AfL with examples.
• Do you think ‘Traffic Lights’ is a useful strategy for AfL? Why? (Tips: targeted help, self-assessment etc)
• How would you respond to each colour when using Traffic Lights in your classroom?

ICT practice: Different-tasks group work with ICT and activity planning

Different-tasks group work (20 min) with ICT on various topics.

• Classroom use of Geogebra, spreadsheets, concept mapping,slideshows, EtherPad

Connecting with overarching goals of the programme

Open space (10 min). It's now time for the "open space", that gives you an opportunity to discuss issues that have arisen, and to relate those to the broader context of the programme. Do not just gloss over this section, but make time to raise issues, and probe the progress that you are making. You could use this space to:

• Remind yourselves of the of the Most Significant Change Technique, and e.g. collect more of your stories.
• Discuss your assessment portfolios: Is there anything that you are unsure about? Is it going well? What could be done better?
• Check on the work with the classroom assistants: Is this going well? Are there any tensions? Any observations or tips you can share?
• Reviewing individual ICT practise (such as typing practise).
• If you are preparing a presentation for other teachers, you could work on the presentation (about what you have been learning, stories emerging from MSC).
• Remind those who are doing audio diaries, to upload them.
• You could discuss any other issues that have arisen.

You will find notes and summaries of various techniques and concepts on our reference page, and you might want to refer to those for clarification during this activity if needed.

Follow-up activities

Agreeing follow-up activities (5 min).

Part A: My Assessment Inventory is available electronically (My assessment inventory.doc ^(info)). Type the answers that you have written on paper, on this electronic version. As soon as you download the inventory, first save it with a new filename, which includes your name. For instance, if your name is “Esther Phiri”, save the document with the name “My assessment inventory - Esther Phiri.doc”. Save the document to your ‘files area’ on the desktop, so that it will get copied to the server. Remember to bring the paper inventory for every session and fill up the electronic inventory every week, from now on.

Part B: Try Traffic Lights as a part of one or more teaching lessons. You could employ the help of classroom assistants (from your own or another class) to resolve the doubts of ‘red lights’ and ‘orange lights’; for example those with ‘green lights’ could then help their peers? Record your experience of using Traffic Lights and your students’ responses on the dictaphone.

Part C: Read pages 3 to 6 of the VVOB handout called ‘Questioning the Questions’ VVOB - Questioning the Questions.pdf ^(info) that was distributed during Unit 2 Session 2. Note any issues that arise for discussion during the next session.

Part D: Consider watching the video clip and the Power Point presentation together again during the week. This will help you in understanding the concept of AfL by seeing some examples from real classrooms.

Educator note

In the next session, these follow-up activities will be reviewed. If you are using this session on its own, you can have a look at the review of follow-up activities here.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to:

• Dr. Sue Swaffield, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership and School Improvement at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge for suggestions and permission to use some of her slides in the Power Point presentation;

• Dr Shirley Clarke, for permission to use clips from her DVD 'The Power of Formative Assessment' for the session;

• Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, for permission to use their document 'CCEA: Afl Guidance KS 1-2 – 2007' in developing the session.

References

Assessment Reform Group (2002) Assessment for Learning: 10 Principles. Cambridge: University of Cambridge School of Education.

Criticos, C., Long, R., Moletsane, R., Mthiyane, N., & Mays, T. (2009). Getting practical about classroom-based teaching for the National Curriculum Statement. South Africa: Oxford University Press.

Educator note

At the end of each session, we provide an overview of the activities in this session, together with their suggested timings. Although this appears at the end of the session (for technical reasons), you should keep an eye on this throughout the session, to make sure that you are pacing the workshop session appropriately!

Total time: 110 (min)

Activities in this session:

• Review (10 min) of the planned activity, other strategies, and peer observation.
• Review (10 min) of netbook based activities in the classroom.
• Individual activity (10 min): Working on your assessment inventory
• Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole Group discussion about traffic lights.
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watching a video on formative assessment
• Whole class dialogue (10 min): Discussion on the questions.
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (10 min): Watching a powerpoint presentation
• Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole group reflection on the powerpoint
• Different-tasks group work (20 min) with ICT on various topics.
• Open space(10 min).
• Agreeing follow-up activities(5 min).

If you have printed this session for offline use, you may also need to download the following assets:

• My assessment inventory.doc
• Video/Formative Assessment in Schools.mp4 (local play / download options / download from dropbox)
• My assessment inventory.doc
• VVOB - Questioning the Questions.pdf

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