assessment for learning
Strategies to support the development of assessment for learning
How do the teachers in this video involve their students to reflect on assessment? What routines have they implemented? Please discuss with a partner.
Sharing learnign objectives and learning outcomes
A significant feature of assessment for learning is the sharing with students of both the learning objectives and the expected learning outcomes in a clear and explicit way. The teacher makes it clear that the learning objective is what the students are intended to learn, and that the learning outcomes define how achievement can be demonstrated by the pupils.
For example
When structuring a lesson and planning the lesson design, it is important to think through both the learning objectives and the expected learning outcomes in advance of the lesson. The nature of the objectives will determine what teaching approach (or model) you use, and the strategies and techniques you will employ to ensure that the learning is effective and efficient.
Learning objectives
Research shows that, all too often, students have a good surface understanding of individual tasks but little sense of the purpose of the task and, ultimately, what they are required to learn. Sharing learning objectives with students helps them recognise what they are trying to learn and why.
Learning objectives can be categorised into different types, and common stems can be used to share them with students, for example By the end of the lesson you will...
- know that … (for knowledge: factual information, such as names of people or equipment, places, symbols, formulae etc.);
- understand how/why … (for understanding: concepts, reasons, effects, principles, processes etc.);
- develop / be able to … (for skills: using knowledge, applying techniques, analysing information etc.);
- develop / be aware of … (for attitudes and values: empathy, caring, sensitivity towards social issues, feelings, moral issues etc.);
- explore and refine strategies for … (creating, designing, hypothesising, exploring alternatives).
Learning outcomes
The learning outcome will specify what is expected from the pupil as the result of a task or an episode within a lesson. It will explain the criteria for success.
This can be accomplished in a number of different ways, for example:
1. by using stems such as:
- What I am looking for is … (for you to be able to use different tints to produce a…);
- What I expect from everyone is … (that you use the idea of energy to explain why …);
- To be successful you … (will need to identify where words have different meanings and explain their effects).
The language used in describing learning outcomes is product related, for example: be able to … describe … compare … explain … generalise … create. These criteria can be written out (possibly on cards) and presented to pupils to consider during the lesson.
2. by clarifying what is expected through the use of questioning.
- To produce a good … what do you think you will need to do?
- How will you make sure that …?
- What do we already know that will help you …?
- What do we mean by creativity?
3. by looking at examples of pupils’ work and discussing which features meet the criteria and why.
Helping students recognise the standards they are aiming for
At times, sharing learning outcomes at the start of a task is not enough, and there may well be occasions when more time needs to be spent on helping students understand what they have to do to reach a particular standard. The research evidence and teachers’ own practice indicate that this is time well spent. Students need:
- to be shown ‘what a good one looks like’;
- to be told why it is considered ‘good’ and what specific features contributed to that judgement;
- to be given some suggestions about what to do, or to include, in order to reach a similar standard;
- to be told what they need to do to reach the next stage in their learning.
The following are some ways in which this can be achieved:
- modelling (see unit 6) is particularly useful for introducing a new skill, procedure or convention (such as a text type);
- showing and discussing good examples and bad examples is useful for a wide range of products, such as artefacts, texts, written designs, diagrams and new behaviours;
- teacher-led discussion against criteria is useful for judging a piece of work and demonstrating how some aspects match the criteria and some do not. This helps pupils begin to understand which qualities are being sought. Explaining mark schemes to pupils can also help here;
- peer and self-assessment against criteria can be used for a wide range of products and have many benefits
Peer and self-assessment
Students are more likely to make rapid progress in their learning if they understand what they are aiming for – the intended learning outcome – and can assess what they need to do to achieve it. Peer and self-assessment are much more than simply marking their own or each other’s work. In order to improve learning, it must be an activity that engages students with the quality of their work and in reflecting on how to improve it.
Peer assessment hopefully provides students with valuable feedback, enabling them to learn from and support each other. It also adds a valuable dimension to learning: the opportunity to talk, discuss, explain and challenge each other enables students to achieve more than they can unaided.
Self-assessment promotes independent learning, helping students to take increasing responsibility for their own progress. Students do not become self-evaluative overnight.
By planning and using a range of techniques, and by dedicating time to allow pupils to students on and discuss their learning, teachers can develop students’ assessment skills. The process of developing peer and self-assessment needs to be tackled in stages. In the beginning the students may need to have the process modelled for them. It is useful to have examples of work that demonstrate the intended learning outcomes, produced either by previous students or by yourself. These can then be discussed with the whole class, so that you can model the approach before expecting students to assess either each other’s or their own work.
Assessment for learning - activities
Check out this website for ideas to assess for learning in the EFL classroom.
hands-on
Based on the 3 videos at the top, please develop an assessment activity for an EFL classroom, create the materials (i.e. produce worksheet, post-its with questions etc.), share it on this padlet (i.e. take a photo, rec ord a video) and explain why you created this assessment activity. Please comment on one activity of a fellow student based on content and structure.