Adam P Rusch
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Heather A Ochmane-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates
Update #5 - Process vs Product
Assessment and indeed the 'goal' of most students is traditionally their grades - received for an end product which demonstrates specific learnign objectives at a given time. In my own experience I have seen how difficult it can be to motivate students to do activities which won't count towards their final grade, even when these activities will help them practice and acquire the skills and aptitudes which will aid their learning in general and would have a beneficial effect on their final products. Indeed, this concentration on the final 'product' does not necessarily allow students to develop life long learning 'habits of mind' and accountability for their own progress (Ramsey et al, 2010).
Evaluating the process by which students learn and create their 'affordances' has always been desirable, but it has only been with emerging technologies that is has been achievable and possible for that process to be extended beyond simply a teacher to student formation. The use of social tools such as wikis, forums or collaborative tools such as shared spaces or documents (ie Google Drive) has enabled the extention towards peer-to-peer feedback and learning. This goes beyond simply receiving feedback and feed forward on your own work but also the modelling of practice as drafts and affordances are shared.
This is an intrinsic part of social learning theory. Psychologists such as Bandura (1977) and Vygotsky (1978) forwarded the concept of learning as a social process and the importance of the interaction, collaboration and modelling of behaviours, skills and abilities in educational developement. You can find a summary of their theories under these links (Bandura and Vygotsky). One of the most well known and defined concepts was that of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP)which is illustrated below.
Traditionally the ZDP has been seen as a place dominated by teachers, experts or 'masters' (in the language of vocational education). However, with the emergence of more channels for students to share, colleborate and comment on thier work this zone has now been extended to allow for a diverse range of positions within the zone. Furthermore, the abilitiy to 'see' this process via drafts, comments and reflective practices now enables for that process to be evalauted beyond the 'one chance' graded product.
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall.^
Justice, S. (2020, 9th June) Get in the zone: ZPD marks every student’s sweet spot. Available : https://www.texthelp.com/resources/blog/get-in-the-zone/
Ramsay, P., Franklin, T., Ramsey, D and Wells, R. (2010) Rethinking grades for sustainable learning, Innovations in education and teaching international, 39(2), 117-123
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in society: The development of hgher psychological processes, Cambridge MA,Harvard University Press
From Infancy we have been conditioned by the carrot & stick, reward(positive reinforcement & punishment(negative reinforcement).
All our socio-cultural institutions and systems have built-in by design reward & punishment as means of behavior modification. The education system is no exception.
Implicit in the update, is a question needing to be a asked:
How do you motivate students beyond/without grades. This question leads us to ask:
What is the student's reason/motivation for this particular study?
If they're motivated by career development/transition goals (obtaining credentials/degree), then is it fair to assume, grades/GPA is what they need, to gain the educational & socially acknowledged measure of proficiency/performance, in their given discipline, and consequently the career development they seek.
However, if the student is motivated by knowledge for the sake of knowledge, grades alone (though of social value) will not be enough.
These students are driven by an intrinsic curiosity, that compels them to go deeper into the subject, and are open to a wider range of non-graded activities & work. This in my opinion, is the how students would develop, life long learning 'habits of mind' and accountability for their own progress (Ramsey et al, 2010).