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Importance of feedback in teaching
The characteristics of formative assessment
Importance of feedback in teaching
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Formative Assessment is used in any classroom to check students understanding of a topic. The type of formative assessment used in each classroom is different, depending on the teacher and the student’s needs. Teachers should incorporate a variety of formative assessments to truly see if students are learning. Dixson and Worrell describe formative assessment as gathering data to improve student learning. They are correct but teachers also need to provide students with feedback. Feedback gives students a better idea of what concepts they need to work on in class. There are many ways to integrate formative assessment and feedback into the classroom. Ms. Ladsten is the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Big Foot High School. She has Ms. Ladsten started keeping a clipboard nearby during her classes to take notes on what students needed to improve on and questions to ask students. She uses the clipboard during foods lab when each group has a different recipe. Ms. Ladsten would read the students recipes the night before and create four questions for the four lab members. These would be written on the clip board and the teacher would record the students’ answers. Ms. Ladsten also has TA’s that assist her with labs. The TA’s are responsible for walking around and watching the labs to make sure they were following proper procedures. The teacher and the TA’s both record notes on the clipboard if any groups were struggling with their lab. If Ms. Ladsten was working with another lab group the TA’s were able to see what groups still needed to be asked their questions. The clip board was a way for the TA’s and the teacher to communicate about what was happening in lab. Using the clip board in lab based classes is a great way to keep a record of formative One tool Ms. Ladsten created is high low high where students are writing information down and turning it in to the teacher. The first high is a question about the content they are learning. The low is what the student is still struggling with or what they need more work on. The last high is something that is going well in their life. Using high low high checks students’ knowledge about the main objective that is being covered. In the article Formative Assessment at Work in the Classroom the author states the importance of being precise in describing what we want students to understand (Baron 51). It is a formative assessment which gives students a chance to share with the teacher what they need help with. This also informs teachers what information they need to go over again. And lastly an important part of teaching is building a relationship with students and creating a positive environment for students to learn in. High low high is a formative assessment that gives the teacher a lot of information in a short amount of
Formative Assessment- There are a number of formative assessment that are used. The first one is the list created on the first day after reading the passage along with student participation on sharing their findings the following day on day two. Student participation in day six when sharing their papers and the write up of a peer’s paper will be used for a formative assessment. All of these are graded on accuracy and completion and will be worth five points each.
Elwood, J. (2006). Formative assessment: possibilities, boundaries and limitations. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 215-232, doi:10.1080/09695940600708653
It is how you make many educational decisions regarding the classroom. My CT stated that she knew how most of the students would do but there were a few that surprised her. Having this digital way of assessment is also convenient for parent reference. The students individual scores are easy to print and also the classroom scores are given to the principal for review. It is a smooth, efficient and manageable way to assess the students equally. Assessments like this could also be helpful in creating a seating arrangement or partner system. I think it is beneficial to pair lower and higher skilled students together. You could use the higher skilled students to help teach other students. Students teaching students can be a valuable resource to struggling
Formative assessment to inform instruction and guide student learning is being underutilized. Many students are not given feedback that is effective in helping them see where they are in regard to reaching the learning goals or that provides plan for moving them forward to achieve that goal. Students are not always given the opportunity to take an active role in the learning process by regularly assessing themselves and their peers as they work to achieve their learning goals. The purpose of this study is to determine how the use of formative assessment with immediate feedback using student response systems will impact student learning. This study will also investigate the effect that student involvement in self-evaluation has on learning.
Although somewhat vague compared to summative assessment, several key features help frame formative assessment. First, formative assessment happens while learning is taking place as opposed to at the end of content delivery. Rather, this is considered “assessment for learning,” (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012, pg. 5). The format is formal or informal, but the outcome in its use is an in-progress check of what students know and what students do not know. Chappuis, Stiggins, Chappuis, and Arter (2012) define formative assessment as, “Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning,” (pg. 24). Second, this type of assessment is used to make instructional strategy adjustments. If student learning did not happen via one instructional method, the teacher must make the necessary accommodations to reteach the concept or skill. Next, it is not only used by teachers for feedback on instruction, but formative assessment is also used for providing timely, descriptive feedback to students and extends to allow for student self-assessment (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012; Popham, 2008). Formative assessment provides opportunity to provide specific feedback to students on where they are currently in their learning, and where they should be headed.
... experimental teacher training to yield better results. Our classroom textbook makes note of alternative implementation approaches to support their call to action. Formative assessment is not a single entity, it states, but rather a levels approach. Where school wide implementation is necessary, along with classroom climate shift, student-learning tactic adjustment, and teacher instructional adjustment. The authors state that teachers need tremendous support, school wide implementation and training, along with adapting formative assessment to the needs of their students.
However, a formative assessment is ongoing and is used to check for students’ understanding throughout a lesson. Both work samples “matched learning objectives” and I was able to identify the students’ strength and weaknesses. I was also able to “analyze assessment data to understand patterns and gaps in learning” to guide my future instructions. In the word problem assessment, I recognized where the student was struggling and gave “effective and descriptive feedback” to address the area that she needs work in.
The instructor gauges how they are doing by comparing the week to week journaling and communicating with the student. It allows the instructor to see if there is a connection between old knowledge and the newly presented information. The instructor is there to guide the student to further improve the journaling process. By directing students to collect pertinent information, by probing and asking pointed questions, instructors direct students toward thinking exercises that foster a deeper understanding. The process of reflection is guided rather than left open to free-form, unstructured comments
I always help students identifying their learning and progress and give them feedback. Students need to be aware of their achievement and progress. I adapt practice and plan further learning, this will make the assessment meaningful and effective as it will answer to the learner needs. 6.3 Use types and methods of assessment, including peer and self-assessment, to: - Involve learners in assessment - Meet the individual needs of learners - Enable learner's to produce assessment evidence that valid. Reliable.
In addition, teachers can have students create exit tickets or write a journal entry about one thing that they found interesting that they learned that day, or something that they felt they were confused with during that day’s lesson. These types of assessments allow the teacher to assess each student’s understanding and to assist them in adjusting lessons to meet the needs of their
This article sheds light on how important it is that tests contain “context-rich” tasks to better prompt student’s conceptual understanding. The physics education research community believe the curriculum and testing should build on prior knowledge. Physics education researchers are trying to encourage the use of formative testing; “formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments
Being in the classroom with no sense of direction is as pointless as walking around with your eyes closed with no guidance. Lastly, Providing oral and written feedback to students (teachingworks.org). Providing feedback is an on-going process for teachers, the feedback is a tool for students to know where they are succeeding and where they need to continue to put further work in to succeed. Specific feedback allows students to better know what the teacher is looking for and making sure they are on the right track. The feedback can provide guidance for students to help adjust their learning, create better understanding, and set objectives for future projects.
Cauley, K.H. & McMillan, J.H. (2009). Formative assessment techniques to support student motivation and achievement. Clearing House, 83(1), 1-6.
As teachers, we have to monitor the progress our students make each day, week, quarter and year. Classroom assessments are one of the most crucial educational tools for teachers. When assessments are properly developed and interpreted, they can help teachers better understand their students learning progress and needs, by providing the resources to collect evidence that indicates what information their students know and what skills they can perform. Assessments help teachers to not only identify and monitor learners’ strengths, weaknesses, learning and progress but also help them to better plan and conduct instruction. For these reasons, ongoing classroom assessment is the glue that binds teaching and learning together and allows educators to monitor their efficacy and student learning.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a