22/Jan/2011 03:27 PM
I’m not a blogger by nature, but I am one by assignment. I guess I find it hard to believe that anyone would want to read what I have to say. And for the bazillions of blogs out there, just because someone does have something to say, it doesn’t mean it’s worthy of being said. With that understanding, we spent the past week in class reading and discussing how a blog can be used for assessment purposes.
I have to admit that prior to this week I did not see any real advantage to using a blog in a classroom, especially for assessment. If you read my previous post, you might get the feeling that that last sentence was quite contradictory to my constructivist views. It took a bit of persuading for me to see the advantages and power that a classroom blog can bring to student learning. I think the greatest benefit of using a blog is that students are able to build on their own knowledge and understanding. Then they can take it further through the interactions and clarifications with peers who can “speak” in the same language.
For many teachers, the mindset of the student in charge of his or her own learning can be difficult and threatening. Not for me though. I have always embraced it and now I’ve added another tool to my belt.Tags: blog, assessment, learner-centered
19/Jan/2011 09:30 PM
One of the activities we had to complete for the Assessment in E-Learning course was to complete an interactive survey of our understanding of teacher-centered or learner-centered assessment. After completing the survey, I wasn’t surprised that most of my responses matched with the learner-centered style of assessment. My undergraduate teacher education courses in science were centered on the constructivist model for learning. That was way back in the mid-80’s, right after the influential study, A Nation at Risk, was released. The study basically said that education in America was broken and that to stay competitive with the world, it must change.
One of the reforms it ushered in at my university was a “paradigm shift” in how science should be taught. The jargon that we used at the time was, “hands-on,” “experimental,” and “student exploration.” From that experience, I put those ideas into action in my own teaching. I soon realized how powerful the constructivist model of learning can be for students. I even structured student assessments to be learner-centered through lab practicals and products.
One area in the survey that didn’t match up was, “Assessment is used to monitor learning.” Monitoring student learning is absolutely critical to drive instruction. I also didn’t select, “Emphasis is on generating better questions and learning from errors.” While I tend to be more learner-centered with my assessments, they don’t always match up with the national drive for high-stakes tests that have become so prevalent. Tags: assessment, teacher-centered, learner-centered
