Assessing Problem-based learning

Casey Phinney

Assessing PBL projects can feel like a monumental task to most teachers. How do you give a grade to a student or a group when they are creating their own path? Assessing a PBL project should be a PBL in itself. Students should have a voice in the way their project should be evaluated and as a result a voice in their final grade.

Assessing a PBL project should be a PBL in itself.

Going Gradeless

Summary, Explanation, Re-direction and Resubmission, or SE2R, is a process of communication and narrative feedback loops to create mastery in a topic.

Summary

“Summary” would include a brief description of what the student has done.

Explanation

“Explanation” would include a more detailed account of the strengths and weaknesses of the student.

Re-direction

“Re-direction” is providing clues and guidance to help the student hit the learning targets.

Resubmission

“Resubmission” is the product of the assignment after “re-direction” was taken into account.

Begin a Project Based Learning activity by explaining the learning targets and expectations of the assignment to both the students and their parents. Throughout the assignment use the SE2R model to guide the students and administer standard based assessments, using the scores as data only. At the end of an assignment, schedule a 1:1 meeting with each student to agree on a final grade.

By reflecting on the SE2R feedback, results of the assessments and the ability to show evidence of completing the learning targets the teacher and student together create a final grade.

PBL and the ways PBL is evaluated in the classroom is a unique experience that most students thrive on. Even though most students really like PBL and the evaluation of assignments, there are two types of students that shy away from it.

The first is the students who don’t enjoy school to begin with. These students find it hard to just coast or hide in the corners. Using SE2R and 1:1 evaluation meetings makes these type of students more accountable.

The other type of students that shy away from PBL are the students who do really well in a traditional classroom setting where traditional grading is utilized. These students are motivated by the “grade” and find it hard to grasp the PBL grading practices. Both of these types of students are forced outside their comfort zones, which is one of the purposes of PBL in the first place.

How in the world do you grade group projects???

One area that has proved to be more difficult to evaluate is group learning, which happens to be a big part of PBL. In group work, one student may feel they deserve a better grade than the rest of the members of the group. This is usually because of the amount of work each student contributes. The teacher can even the playing field by focusing on three areas of evaluation. The first is “individual skill area.” This includes oral and written communication, leadership and being a team player. The second area is “role based assessment.” This is where members get to evaluate other members as well as self assessment. Most students will be oddly honest about their own contributions to the project. The last area is “weighted scoring.” The group will get a “group grade” but it will show individual assessments as well. Basically where did the points come from. This provides accountability and lets everyone in the group know that the teacher realizes where the effort came from.

Just as it takes a very creative teacher to create an authentic Problem Based Learning lesson it also requires thinking outside of the box in terms of assessing the overall project. Traditional grading isn’t always going to work in a project where students are managing the project. Having unique ways of assessing the students ultimately rounds out the Problem Based Learning experience for both teacher and student.

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