What type of data do you use to make decisions in your classroom?
I tend to use formative assessments daily/weekly and summative assessments at the end of a unit only. I begin each class with the "Question of the Day" and end with a "Journal Question". The former is a review question on the previous day's work and acts as an opening activity to focus the students on the lesson to come. In addition, it provides me with immediate feedback if I should review the previous material again or continue. The latter is an assessment question on new learning. The latter is collected frequently with no warning and is done as a closing activity the last ten minutes of class. In addition, I give frequent quizzes on small "chunks" of instructional material to aid in determining understanding of all aspects of the unit. We do project based learning interlaced into traditional lecture - based physics. The project product is another summative assessment which incorporates a product, testing of the product, and an oral PPT class presentation. This is in addition to the unit written exam. The project also has milestones that are defined steps that the students must accomplish for the successful completion of the product; self -reflection through an engineering log is also incorporated. In addition, in lab based science courses, we have the priviledge of labs that allows us to monitor students working in small groups. Understanding the applied new concept accurately is key. It is immediately apparent if the student understands the concept taught.
Also, Kagin practices are incorporated depending on the content for small group interactions. For reinforcement of new concepts through problem-solving, we work in our small project teams rather than in a large classroom setting.
All these approaches generate data that offers both immediate and long term understanding of students' individual performance.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
1/28 - Week 2: What type of data do you use to make decisions in your classroom?
What type of data do you use to make decisions in your classroom?
Since in 2001 NCLB was introduced to the education world it appears that often standarized testing or summative assessment drives rather than facilitates instruction. Although the data offered by such testing is informative, standarized testing is only one type of data and can be somewhat limited. Other forms of data can be more relevant and informative to the classroom setting and for the individual student. Such data collection, although not numerical in nature, is just as effective, if not moreso. Science and math teachers generally and traditionally see only numerical data as valid and significant. "In teaching, relationships and perceptions matter as much as curriculum and practice (Morrison, J. (2008). Why Teachers Must Be Data Experts. Educational Leadership, 66(4), . My practice of formative assessment - an ongoing alternative, incorporates all three approaches namely; "on the fly" which I call teachable moments, planned for interaction, and formal or embedded in the curriculum, techniques. My assessment strategy then is to use assessment on a continual basis to allow it to become an integral part of the teaching-learning process.
Since in 2001 NCLB was introduced to the education world it appears that often standarized testing or summative assessment drives rather than facilitates instruction. Although the data offered by such testing is informative, standarized testing is only one type of data and can be somewhat limited. Other forms of data can be more relevant and informative to the classroom setting and for the individual student. Such data collection, although not numerical in nature, is just as effective, if not moreso. Science and math teachers generally and traditionally see only numerical data as valid and significant. "In teaching, relationships and perceptions matter as much as curriculum and practice (Morrison, J. (2008). Why Teachers Must Be Data Experts. Educational Leadership, 66(4), . My practice of formative assessment - an ongoing alternative, incorporates all three approaches namely; "on the fly" which I call teachable moments, planned for interaction, and formal or embedded in the curriculum, techniques. My assessment strategy then is to use assessment on a continual basis to allow it to become an integral part of the teaching-learning process.
Friday, January 23, 2009
1/21/09 - Week 1 - How have particular assessments or tests infleunced your life?
How have particular assessments or tests influenced your life?
I suspect every stage of my professional life has been influenced by assessments or tests starting from my elementary school education, high school SATs, exams in college, the GMAT, through my graduate doctoral thesis and my post doctoral experience. During my course in industry, assessments took a different personna - namely, deadlines, progress reports, adherence to milestones, and performance reviews. When I moved into the consulting world my assessment was based on number and type of large biotech and pharma accounts I brought to our firm - growth of this business. My entry to the world of education brought new forms of assessment such as the Praxis exams for certification, BEST in CT, curricular pacing and completion, performance reviews through observations and PIPs, to name afew. Each assessment opened the door to the next stage in my life. For example, my assessments in the pharma industry led to an internal position to review new technologies as a lead in to developing joint ventures. As the position matured further assessments such as the growth of this business made me attactive to a separate consulting firm that brought new technologies to the foreground for all pharma/biotech companies through such joint research ventures. Each new position and promotion was based on an assessment of my previous performance.
I suspect every stage of my professional life has been influenced by assessments or tests starting from my elementary school education, high school SATs, exams in college, the GMAT, through my graduate doctoral thesis and my post doctoral experience. During my course in industry, assessments took a different personna - namely, deadlines, progress reports, adherence to milestones, and performance reviews. When I moved into the consulting world my assessment was based on number and type of large biotech and pharma accounts I brought to our firm - growth of this business. My entry to the world of education brought new forms of assessment such as the Praxis exams for certification, BEST in CT, curricular pacing and completion, performance reviews through observations and PIPs, to name afew. Each assessment opened the door to the next stage in my life. For example, my assessments in the pharma industry led to an internal position to review new technologies as a lead in to developing joint ventures. As the position matured further assessments such as the growth of this business made me attactive to a separate consulting firm that brought new technologies to the foreground for all pharma/biotech companies through such joint research ventures. Each new position and promotion was based on an assessment of my previous performance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)