Ch. 7: The Effective Lesson
1.) In teaching by direct instruction, at what steps in the lesson will a teacher need to assess students' skills or knowledge? At each of these steps, what is the purpose of the assessment?
The steps in a lesson that a teacher would need to assess students’ skills or knowledge is during independent practice. “The term independent practice refers to work students do in class on their own to practice or express newly learned skills or knowledge,” (Slavin 171). The teacher will hand out a worksheet that will help assess a student’s skill or knowledge on a certain material. At each of the steps, the purpose of the assessment is to see progress through each of the steps. Eventually, hoping that the student should be able to fully understand the material that is taught to them and being able to take an assessment.
2) How is small-group discussion different from whole-class discussion? What is the role of the leader during a small-group discussion activity? What type of information is learned best through discussion?
Small group discussion is different from whole-class discussion because it is when, “Students
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This cooperative learning activity typically involves something having to do with science. Project-based learning, “Involve students working in self-chosen groups. Each group may work on its own task, which may also be self-chosen. The group’s task will be to produce a product that represents the groups learning,” (Slavin 202). These features reflect constructivism because the constructivists approach in science, “Discovery, group work, and conceptual change,” (Slavin 197). In the example given above, the students are able to choose their own group, the task that they want to research, all based on science material. It somewhat relates to the concept-reading instruction that is involved in
Small groups received much more individualized attention from the teacher. The chance of the teacher being able to evaluate and involved all the children in discussion is much more intense and positive when you have a group of five instead of twenty. Teachers are able to interact and observe the students in the small groups and be able to evaluate and act on any issues that the child may have. Each child is then given more of a chance to participate and the teacher to include the student who is shy or not participating is much more predominantly addressed. Small groups are easier to behave and manage than a huge group of seventeen or eighteen three-, four-, or five-year olds.
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.
What is pivotal in assessment is that it enhances teaching and learning; it is also the crucial link between learning outcomes, the content that is taught and learning activities. Furthermore, Sieborger (1998) states that assessment is a reciprocal process; as it is used by both learners and teachers to decide where the learners are at in their learning and where they need to go and how best to get there. The characteristics that Sieborger identifies to be contained in assessment are made up of: tasks, exercises, tests and exams, which are set and assessed by educators.
Assessment although being a critical part of the teaching and learning cycle may be one of the hardest areas for trainee teachers to address and understand but will crucially have a negative impact on children’s learning within any given classroom if not preformed effectively. The Department for Education and Science (1988:7) states ‘Promoting Children’s learning is a principal aim of schools. Assessment lies at the heart of this process. It can provide a framework in which educational objectives may be set and pupils’ progress charted and expressed. It can yield a basis for planning the next steps in response to children’s needs… It should be an integral part of the educational process, continually providing both feedback and feed forward’. To be able to have an understanding of how to assess children within the classroom firstly we must have a significant understanding of differen...
Also, I will create a relaxing and positive classroom interaction atmosphere, organize proper heterogeneous or homogeneous cooperative learning group based on my teaching content and goal. In the English teaching, the scientific cooperative study is helpful to students’ active cooperative consciousness, their correct competitive attitude and the healthy group
Assessment, in the context of education, was defined by Lambert, D (2000, pag 4) as the processs of gathering, recording and using information about pupils' responses to educational tasks. Despite some can consider that assessment is separated from the learning process, assessment is, in fact, an essential part of the learning proccess. Maguire, M. and Dillon, J. (2007, pag 213) pointed out that assessment is intrincately bound-up in the teaching-learning cycle.
Group discussion allows me to engage more learners and assess their understanding of a subject at the same time. It also gives them a chance to develop communication skills and ability to analyse the subject of discussion. It can be, however, dominated by a few members. Shy and withdrawn learners may have knowledge and a lot of interesting points to convey, but feel hesitant to contribute and decide to exclude themselves from the group. From the inclusion point of view it’s vital to mix less able learners with the more advanced ones, to ensure all learners are involved in learning.
How can teachers incorporate collaborative/cooperative learning activities within lessons and units of study? Zarei and Keshavarz (2011) discussed that many educators think that just because their students are working in small group that they are participating in cooperative learning grouping; nonetheless, this is not the case (p.40). Cooperative learning is the techniques that students use while in groups. However, there are several ways for teachers to include collaborative/ cooperative learning activities within lessons, such as Jigsaw groups, Student Team Achievement Divisions, and Learning circles. According to Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz (2014), when students are placed in jigsaw groups of three to six, they are provided a topic that they
Based on the small group that I joined in communication class, I will talk about what is working well and what is getting in the way in our group. Then I will discuss about what I can do to improve the group and the things about group project if there is a chance for a start over again. At last, I am also going to talk about what I think that I learned is an important lesson in this semester.
Collaborative learning is an educational approach that involves groups of learners working together to reach a consensus through negotiation to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product (Bruffee, 1993). Learning occurs through active engagement among peers, wherein the main characteristics of collaborative learning are: a common task or activity; small group learning, co-operative behaviour; interdependence; and individual responsibility and accountability (Lejeune, 2003).
It is important that teachers give children a fair chance to show their knowledge when assessing. “The purpose of assessment is to provide feedback that can be used to improve student performance” (Orange 2000). Teachers assess children to ensure that they are understanding the material, and to make sure they are learning. For young children, tests should never be the only criteria for assessment. Instructors should always make sure that their assessment is fair.
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
They also stated that cooperative learning is based on the idea that students lean thorough social contexts (Adams and Hamm, 1994). In this case study the research is based on active learning through examining the relationship between student’s involvement in cooperative learning and academic achievement with undergraduates. There were some important background points in cooperative learning. One point that Tasy, and Brady (2010) made was that cooperative learning is a valuable tool
Collaborative and cooperative learning promotes student learning through group-oriented activities. Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which student teams will work together to create a meaningful multimedia project. Cooperative learning, which will be the primary focus of this paper, is a specific kind of collaborative learning. In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups on a structured activity. Cooperative groups will work face-to-face and will learn to work as a team. The multimedia project will allow all students to benefit from gaining a deeper knowledge of the multimedia matters through communication with their peers and building relationships among their peers of different ethnic, backgrounds, learning abilities and gender.