by: Mery Tellez
Formative assessments are a key component of a well thought lesson plan, as they are the fundamental pieces that provides teachers with the information we should use to guide our teaching. Formative assessment refers to the on the moment small assessments we provide in order for us to be able to tell if the students are acquiring the knowledge, skills and understandings we intended for them to acquire.
For this blog post, I will be presenting 3 different formative assessments that I will use as part of my IBDP Computer Science class for my 11th grade students. These assignments will be designed with a clear objective in mind.
The objective: Students understand that every process in a computing system needs to be broken down to fundamental tasks that can be executed on a fetch-execute cycle.
In order for me to collect data related to my students’ understanding of this objective, I will ask them to complete the following formative assessment:
1. New Clothes:
a. Description: This technique, consists of taking a given topic and asking student to describe how it can be used in a different way than the one taught. For this objective, students will be asked to think of a small program that can be broken down to fundamental tasks that can be executed on a fetch-execute cycle. P.E: Adding 2 numbers: Students will need to specify the steps needed to be completed in each fetch-execute cycle in order to complete the complex task of adding two numbers: Read the first number, Read the second number, Add the number, Store the result.
b. Rationale: Measuring understanding is a difficult task. Applying the knowledge, they have acquired and having to provide an specific example is a task simple enough that can be done as an exit ticket, yet complex enough that can present evidence of the students understanding of the concept. According to Dyer (2012), this should be the first objective behind formative assessments; to facilitate the evidence of student learning so as teachers we are able to adjust our plan and to better teach our students, while at the same time involving them in their own learning.
2. I used to think / Now I think:
a. Description: Students will create a chart with a pre-defined formatting. Two columns: one entitled “I used to think” and another one entitled “Now I think”. Students will use this chart right after the teacher presents the lesson on the topic, as a way to specify their previous beliefs about how computers executed their tasks contrasted to what they know now after learning about the fetch-execute cycle. This will be shared in a short discussion, as a way to both; check for understanding, and at the same time to clarify misconceptions and to enrich the teacher explanation with the students’ insights. Students will be asked to read their: “I used to think” and peers will be asked to try to predict what their classmate wrote for the “now I think” part. After a couple of guesses and opinions the first students is asked to share his/her “now I think”.
b. Rationale: This activity allows for individual reflection on the knowledge acquired and for students to summarize the ideas they were exposed to. Additionally, the sharing opportunity create democratic spaces for students to participate, and for the teacher, an opportunity to clarify misunderstanding which is a crucial component of the learning experience. As students participate both providing their “I used to think” and/or predicting “I now think” pieces, they are provided with various opportunities to be assessed in the understanding of the objective. As stated by Heick (2013), an important characteristic of formative assessment is precisely that, it should be frequent, it should provide an opportunity for students to retry, to be exposed to multiple opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge or to build it. In this way, rather than re-teaching, you will be providing opportunities for testing again and allowing students to build their knowledge.
3. Draw it:
a. Description: Students create their own visual representation of the fetch-execute cycle, containing descriptions of the components involved and the actions involved on each stage. Students will be encouraged to use a web 2.0 tool to create their diagrams, to allow for online feedback from peers and teachers. Some suggestions will be made, but at the end students will be free to use any web 2.0 that facilitates for them to either directly draw on it, or to upload a drawing and then allowing for a space for feedback.
b. Rationale: Wormeli (2010), states the importance of feedback, and more specifically; of descriptive feedback. And it emphasises on how the best formative assessments should include descriptive feedback in order to make it more effective for the students, as it is this kind of feedback the one that clearly helps the student to revise, correct and ultimately motivates to even retry when needed. This activity will allow for the teacher to identify concepts that require to be re-taught and at the same time permits for students to receive a meaningful descriptive feedback on their work, not only from their teacher but even from others as well.
These activities will help me as a teacher to draw a clear picture of the status of the understanding of the objective of each student and of the class as a whole. In this way, I will be able to plan my next lesson based on the needs identified with these activities.
References:
Dyer, K. (2012). Formative Assessment Strategies – Teacher Learning Communities for Educational Collaboration | KLT Blog. Retrieved December 18, 2016, from https://www-cms.nwea.org/blog/2012/formative-assessment-strategies-teacher-learning-communities-for-educational-collaboration/
Heick, T. (2015). 10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds. Retrieved December 18, 2016, from http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/assessment/10-assessments-you-can-perform-in-90-seconds/
Wormeli, R. (2010). Rick Wormeli: Formative and Summative Assessment - YouTube. Stenhouse Publishers . Retrieved December 18, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4
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