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Heather A Ochmane-Learning Ecologies MOOC’s Updates
Essential Peer Reviewed Update #2 - Alternative Assessment
In my update I would like to suggest a closely related concept that didn't appear in the concept list: alternative assessment. Educational systems worldwide are attempting to move forward towards "21st Century Skills", many of which have been adressed in this week's videos: skills such as information seeking, problem solving, integration, and content creation. However, implementation of these concepts into the educational systems will not be complete until they become accompanied by compatible methods of assessment.
While traditional pen and paper exams assess traditional instruction outcomes, such as (supposed) incorporation of new knowledge into long term memory, alternative assessments try to evaluate acquired skills, and act as learning opportnities in thier own right. An example of an alternative assessment method was presented in the course video - writing the book chapter on volcanos rather than being tested on the content of a textook on volcanos.These forms of assessment would usually include some type of personal or group project, which is often on going (and not a one time instance such as a test). They involve the production of original content, expressing original thought and ideas. The project may be a presentation, the creation of an artifact such as a book or a model, and it can be a portfolio of work conducted during the semster. It could be a real world initiative: in a course I was once a TA in, which delt with issues of gender in organizations, a pair of students decided, as a final project, to form a soccer league for girls - something that is unfortunately pretty rare in my country. They did it folowing an interview they conducted with a female soccer player, as part of the course's assignments.
Alternative assessment is still a challenge for the educational systems. It usually requires more time, and it is much harder to create standartization. This is probably the reason while large scale assessment is still pretty much counfound to traditional testing. But as the need for 21st skilled graduates rises, the world of assessment will have to adapt.
Check out the the US National Alternte Assessment Center's page
I suggest having a look at the Middle Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate as it stresses just this kind of authentic assessment in which students create artifacts rather than simply being tested on content memorisation. Jasmin commented above about the benefit of rubrics in any kind of assessment, and the MYP is a curricular framework that is criterion-referenced, meaning it comes with rubrics against which student work is assessed. In addition, student work is to be assessed in four different domains: knowledge and understanding, investigation skills, communication skills, and critical thinking skills. This allows a wide range of assessment tasks to be created.
creating standardization: very helpful for assessment for projects are rubrics. Rubrics spell out the expectations and different areas of assessment.http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/project/