Friday, March 6, 2015

Assignment 6: Formative Assessment in EFL Blended Instruction


                                        Dear Access teachers and teacher assistants, 


    When teachers assess student learning and performance acquired through blended instruction, it mainly concentrates his /her main goal on purely formative purposes, since often there is no final mark on the paper and no summative grade in the grade book. 
  This formative assessment – the most valuable one -supports learning through an immediate online peers or teachers’ feedback, or even better a self- reflection posted as text-/media-based comment.

This week we provoke you to try new digital tools for applying effective assessment strategies and developing multitasking rubrics. 
Enjoy experimenting!

  
Task1. Analyze the following resources:
Formative, Summative, Interim: Putting Assignment in Context

and write your reflections on the following tasks:  
 
a.       Define a formative assessment, and reasons of using it in instruction ( maximum 2 phrases);
b.      State the difference between formative and summative assessment ( maximum 2 phrases);
c.       Identify 3 strategies of formative assessment you consider most effective for your students, justifying your choice ( maximum 2 phrases).   


  Task 2. Digital tools represent innovative and effective ways to express feedback on the accomplished students’ assignment in Blended Instruction classrooms.

 a.       Scavenger the links below:

b.      Select 2 online tools you could use to ensure the formative assessment strategies you presented in Task 1.   

Share your choices as a comment to this Assignment.

Task 3. Rubrics, as a simple scoring tool, can be used to assess almost any type of student work, be it essays, final projects, oral presentations, or theatrical performances. 
 
 Read the information below: 

 What are Rubrics

 and outline in a 50-word paragraph what the rubrics are and what they are used for; the types of rubrics; the steps to follow while creating rubrics, and criteria to consider when evaluating a rubric.



Task 4. From the previous Assignments you posted during the whole period of Access teacher training (your  project idea, a blog and a lesson plan) choose one you like most, and create a rubric to assess the accuracy and completeness of the accomplished task. Post the created rubric as a comment to this page.

Watch the following tutorials and other useful online resources to complete this task: 



27 comments:

  1. Task #1

    a. Formative assessment is a numbers of tasks given in the course of a lesson and aimed to answer the following questions:
    What did students know?
    Were the learning goals achieved?
    Should the teacher “re-teaches” a certain topic / grammatical structure?

    b. The purpose of Summative Assessment is to evaluate learners’ knowledge and skills at the end of a unit or school year, and it doesn’t give the possibility to improve or change the “situation”.
    By contrast, Formative Assessment provides a strong base for future planning and still can adjust the learning process to meet learners’ needs.

    c. The 3 strategies I consider to be the most effective in my Access Group are “Exit Slips”, “Three Questions”, and “Traffic Lights” because they are universal - I could put them into practice whether I teach a grammatical structure or a civilization topic.

    Respectfully,
    Daria
    Hincesti

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Daria,
      I have also learned many new things from the given topics. To my mind assessment is one of the most difficult part in our career. That's why these types of assessment will be very useful for me too. I agree with your ideas. It's always good to use modern techniques and strategies.
      Best regards,
      Diana

      Delete
    2. Daria,I also would choose these three strategies "Exit Slips", "Three Questions", and "Traffic Lights" because they are simple and interesting - thus I will be able to know better students' skills and knowledge.

      Delete
  2. Task #2

    I would choose movenote.com and vialogues.com to ensure the formative assessment in my Access Group. First, both these online tools offer the possibility to approach any topic and they “force” students to activate their vocabulary (orally or in written for). Also these 2 instruments give the chance to follow students “activity” after lessons and can transform a simple formative assessment into an extracurricular activity.
    Still, there are few issues that may reduce their effectiveness: students should have a web connected device and they can be hardly used during lessons since they are time consuming.

    Respectfully,
    Daria
    Hincesti

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daria, I liked the fact that you mentioned both the advantages and disadvantages to using those online platforms. It's always vital to grasp both sides of the coin, and you did it very well. I also agree that "activating a student's vocabulary" is important in order for him to master any desired language.

      Delete
  3. Task #3

    1) and 2) Rubrics is a tool that can be used a formative or summative assessment and makes the grading process transparent and more objective. Also it gives explanation to students regarding their grades and can play the role of the “guide” when they are performing a task.
    3) There are 3 type of rubrics: Analytic (evaluate the quality of a final product), Developmental (the level of skills learners developed) and Holistic (all the elements a teacher assesses are integrated in a single scale).
    4) To create a rubric a teacher should respect the following steps:
    a. Identify the outcome (the objective of the lesson, communicative purpose, the “qualities” a product should contain)
    b. Rank the performance levels (from the highest to the lowest) in form of the numbers or criteria
    c. Create descriptions for each criteria (the Holistic Rubrics does not need this step)
    d. Share with students (in order to ensure a transparent and objective grading)

    Respectfully,
    Daria
    Hincesti

    ReplyDelete
  4. TASK #1
     Formative assessment is grading done by teacher, when he/she regulates the process of learning, provides the movement of all the students towards a successful assimilation of material, investigates the needs of the students “day-by-day, minute-by-minute”;
     Formative attitude: “no child left behind”, is ongoing, delivers information during the instructional process, permanent attention of the instructor, assistance within the studies, takes place always. While Summative is the final (state, federal dependant) grading, it measures students’ level, it is the final grading, does not presuppose the analysis or communication between teacher and student about the process or the result;
     Running records/making notes – both indicate the ability and development of different skills; watch body language – an immense indicator for teacher about the implication and interest of the students; check for transfer -- helps to see how well students can apply what they studied for the real-world situation; 3 things – you clearly see how efficiently was the activity done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Emma,

      You have provided a very detailed answer and I liked the difference you have mentioned here. The strategies you brought as examples are really important and I will agree with you that body language is the best indicator about the students' implication.

      Delete
  5. Task #3
    From the provided treasure of sources it might seem hard to identify only two, because many of them are useful and appropriate. However, I would try Movenote (and we had already done it) – because it is a perfect way to incorporate web 2.0 tools into learning process and make students acquainted with working in a different sphere where everything is new, but at the same time close to their interests.
    Another one would be Mentimeter—it might help both teacher and students collaboration to understand questions, reply, make workshops, create and be instructed by the teacher and following the activity, taking into account the fact, that students have their devices and can do the assessment anytime, anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Emma,

      I also like to work with movenote because it can improve students' speaking and they also practice some presentation strategies. Nowadays it is really important to teach students these things, they will need them in their future for sure.

      Delete
  6. oh, slip of the pen --the above one was TASK # 2

    ReplyDelete
  7. Task #3
    Rubric is a useful tool to grade, score and evaluate student’s achievements. Through this, teacher assesses any type of student’s work. Rubric saves time, makes evaluation more objective, provides transparency for students. It helps to follow the progress and development of student’s abilities, within different types of rubrics. While creating rubric it is important to consider the course level objectives, skills, description and outcomes or final result.
    All the three types: analytic, developmental and holistic, represent a grid /scale that is scored either individually or generally, with the help of criteria. Rubric needs to be well-defined and might be discussed. Using rubrics in both traditional teaching and with online instruments makes the process productive and easy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emma, rubrics are of great help for teachers. Some years ago I started to use them and understood that they help not only me, as a teacher, but they are like guides for students. By their help they get a full idea of what they will be graded for. My students really like them.

      Delete
  8. Task #1:
    * Formative assessment is a way of getting the feedback from the students in order to see if they do understand everything they are tought. So, the teacher knows what is the real result after explaining grammar/ a task etc.
    * Formative assessment offers us the possibility not just to see what is the product, but also to solve the ''problems'' and be sure that everyone is alright with the given task/ question. Summative Assessment is a way just to gather information/ opinions regarding the students' viewpoints/ level of comprehension after finishing the entire chapter/ module and of course you can not re-teach the subject at the end because you have no time.
    * The 3 startegies I consider to be the most effectiv in my Access classes are: ''Anticipate responses'', ''Answer the LEQ'' and ''Partner Quizzes'' as they seem to be interesting and flexible.

    Respectfully, T. Gheorghe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Gheorghe,

      You gave a very nice description of Formative Assessment and rationale for it's importance. I think it's good that you identified 3 strategies that you feel will work best for you in Access - once you identify strategies it makes it so much easier to implement. Keep up the good work!

      Best,
      Sheryl

      Delete
    2. Dear Gheorghe,

      Your thoughts were organized and very descriptive when it comes to formative assessments. I checked out the three strategies that you consider to be the best for your ACCESS students and I must agree that they are indeed very interesting and can be manipulated in such a way so that every student's need is met.
      I also agree that summative assessment is not as great as the formative one, since it just puts an end to the topics that were studied and doesn't really work toward increasing the quality of work and understanding of what's being learned. I'm happy that we share a similar point of view and I hope that you will apply your acquired knowledge in your ACCESS classroom.

      Best Regards,
      Margarita

      Delete
  9. Task #2:
    I likes the movenote.com and glogster.com online tools because of their facility in use and evident answers of the students. I mean, to ensure the formative assessment it's quite easy to ask them to make a short movenote presentation and after watching them it's really clear what are the problems one/ more student/s face. As we used these online tools I know that everyone can create a beautiful, colourful, informative poster and this way share his/r reflections about one or another topic. The problem may appear when some of the students don't have computers at home and can not solve the task.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Gheorghe, I movenote.com and glogster.com tools seem very student friendly, it will be interesting to see how students use them. The issue you brought forward about students not having computers at home is one that we also face in the US. We want to reduce the difference between the "haves" and the "have nots" as much as possible, and the home computers are a real challenge in this area. I think it's good that you are sensitive to this issue.

      Best,
      Sheryl

      Delete
  10. Task #3:
    Rubric is a fast, useful tool to analyze the achievements, results of the students use in the formative and summative assessments. It is a type of guide for the students that shows them the criteria of appreciating their work and is an unique method of identifying the "problem" and see how the advanced model/ solution looks like. Rubrics make the entire process of evaluating more visible and correct. There are 3 types of rubrics: Holistic, Analytic and Developmental. When creating a rubric the attention should be focused on the identification of the lessons' objectives, numerotation of each criteria (high-medium-low), and usefulness of the rubric as a entity (to be clear and specific). After creating a rubric, the teacher would better share it among the students and see if there is something left untold. (Tha's why it's good to have some free spaces). Generally, rubrics are very effective when evaluating students implication, outcomes, progress as they have specific, well-definited criterias.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Gheorghe, I am very impressed with the thoughtful answers you gave to the 3 tasks in this assignment - great job! Formative assessment is being given great significance in the US, teachers are encouraged to use it and there is research to show that it improved academic achievement. We have teachers that are somewhat hesitant to use it because it is out of their comfort zone. They need to be more like you and give it an honest try. Good luck with this, I'm sure your students will benefit.

      Best,
      Sheryl

      Delete
  11. Task #4

    I created a rubric to assess a group activity during a Task Based Lesson.

    Since I elaborated it in form of a table / chart and can't post it here.
    This is the link to this rubric on my blog:

    http://enjoy-your-english.weebly.com/having-fun-during-lessons.html

    Respectfully,
    Daria
    Hincesti

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Daria. What I really appreciate in your rubric design is that you assess multiple skills that students will need while working properly in groups.

      Delete
  12. Task #1

    a. Teachers use formative assessments to provide feedback to students about their progress. However, they also use it to guide decisions about next steps in the learning process so that there are no gaps left or subjects poorly understood.

    b. Summative assessment is a final form of evaluating a student which identifies the level achieved by the child. Formative assessment is better because it doesn't just show the results of a student, but evaluates them, sets goals and improves the teaching method in order for the child to do better next time.

    c. "Hand Signals", "Index Card" and "Exit Card" are the best strategies of formative assessment. They consist of having the student admit what he doesn't know or understand, therefore contributing to the comprehension of the material that is yet to come.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Task #2

    I chose "Voice Thread" and "Vialogues" as the best digital tools for learning. The first one assesses student learning through an online, multisensory experience that simultaneously increases student-student interaction and builds community. The second one can be used for formative assessment of students' comprehension on any topic.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Task #3

    A rubric is a scoring tool that involves important assignment grading criteria and then shows the possible levels of achievement. It can be used for almost any type of work, like essays, performances or various projects. There are three types of rubrics, such as analytic, developmental and holistic. Things like clarity, organization, and grammar should be considered when rubrics are created. When evaluating this scoring tool, we should ask ourselves whether the criteria used is important and relevant and whether they are well-defined. Also, we should see if the rubric can be applied consistently by different scorers: if not, it has to be adjusted so that the scale points are well defined.

    ReplyDelete
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