EDTECH 542 Week 4 Reflection

In the Project Based Learning classroom, students can, along with their instructor, develop relevant and meaningful assessments, and play an active role in developing criteria and setting standards of performance for high quality work. Assessments have more meaning for the learner when he/she can take an active part in the formation of the assessment. This concept of assessment-as-learning focuses on what learners achieve--not what teachers provide. Read more about the Key Principles of Effective Assessment.

Discuss how your planned assessments meet the key requirements for effective assessments. Reflect on how you might adjust your teaching during this project to allow more student input in the evaluation process.

Two of my three planned assessments are extremely student initiated. The first form of assessment, "reporter's notes," calls on students to reflect on their writing process and make notes and observation on the highlights and lowlights of their work. The reporter's notes are also designed to help frame the type of feedback students receive from their peers and the instructor. If students are looking for help with particular part of the assignment, they're able to articulate their desires in the reporter's notes, upon which a peer or teacher can then respond.

In my second assessment, students make observations on both the content and style of their writing. A peer or teacher then makes observations, and finally the student records any edits or revisions made. This way, when the final document is assessed, there is a record of feedback and specific actions taken to improve the quality of the piece.

The third assessment is a rubric which the instructor completes, evaluating the final product. One way to make this more student-centered would be for the writer to self-assess the final product. This information would likely be beneficial to the teacher/evaluator.