ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION
Student assessments are important for the success and improvement of student learning. As a teacher, I strive to provide in-depth and summative assessments to all my students for future improvement during and end-of-year. Without the help of a dedicated teacher, students will fail to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, which could help them in their academic and personal life.
Assessment Techniques I Use
Standardization, Checklists, Criterion Assessment
In order to be fair and consistent between students and lecture/laboratory sections, I often utilize standardization tools and criteria lists to maintain the same standards for all assignments/tests. This method has proved successful when grading, preparing feedback and compile documentation for future use. Students have appreciated this detailed means of feedback for personal growth and future improvement. Below is an example of a standardized checklist that I tend to generate for assignments to make sure that I mark fairly between students.
In order to be fair and consistent between students and lecture/laboratory sections, I often utilize standardization tools and criteria lists to maintain the same standards for all assignments/tests. This method has proved successful when grading, preparing feedback and compile documentation for future use. Students have appreciated this detailed means of feedback for personal growth and future improvement. Below is an example of a standardized checklist that I tend to generate for assignments to make sure that I mark fairly between students.
Formative & Summative Assessment
To measure the students success and comprehension of the course material, formative assessment needs to be done to calibrate the teaching for the students. However, after formative assessments are made and the students' course is coming to completion, summative assessments are provided to demonstrate the knowledge and success of each of the students. In a laboratory I taught called BIOL1010 (Biological Sciences), the students had a final semester laboratory report to submit. This report was treated as their summative assessment of the information they learned and could comprehend from the course. In this case, I gave feedback on their summative reports as a class. My students found the summary feedback from their summative report was very helpful for the future. These assessments give them insight into what others are struggling with as well as what they can improve on themselves. Below is an example of this summary I would generate:
To measure the students success and comprehension of the course material, formative assessment needs to be done to calibrate the teaching for the students. However, after formative assessments are made and the students' course is coming to completion, summative assessments are provided to demonstrate the knowledge and success of each of the students. In a laboratory I taught called BIOL1010 (Biological Sciences), the students had a final semester laboratory report to submit. This report was treated as their summative assessment of the information they learned and could comprehend from the course. In this case, I gave feedback on their summative reports as a class. My students found the summary feedback from their summative report was very helpful for the future. These assessments give them insight into what others are struggling with as well as what they can improve on themselves. Below is an example of this summary I would generate:
Cumulative projects can also be used as a end-of-term summative assignment to provide the teacher with an idea of how the students are comprehending the material. The following is a cumulative project given to a grade 9 applied science class to explore chemistry with the evaluation of the project:
Record Keeping
Record keeping is almost as important as marking and making grading schemes. Without the proper and organized records of the grades, the teacher will not be able to provide the student as well as the parents with the success of the student in the course. The following is one of the record keeping templates that I use when teaching:
Communication with Pupils & Parents
When any grades are available for a student (during or after the term), the student and parent should be notified about the students success. In my practice, once I have the grades for all students for the entire assignment/exercise/report/test, I will either disclose the grade with the student personally, over email or on paper. I have found that a paper grade is best when the student either forgets their grade, wants a record themselves or to have something to show their parents.
If I was concerned about a students grade on an assignment, I would give the student a warning about trying harder. If the grades remained low mid-term, I would contact the parents and discuss my concerns about the students success in the course. This may involve a parent-teacher meeting, email conversations or phone conversations.
If I was concerned about a students grade on an assignment, I would give the student a warning about trying harder. If the grades remained low mid-term, I would contact the parents and discuss my concerns about the students success in the course. This may involve a parent-teacher meeting, email conversations or phone conversations.
Modification of Assessment Tasks to Meet Students Needs
After realizing that a student may be having difficult with a subject, I take time to sit down with the student 1-on-1 to review the problems and how we tackle the issue. In university laboratories that I have taught, I get a sense of how a student is progressing through the course using their lab reports/exercises or watching them in the laboratory. When I realize a student needs academic assistance, I will overview the possible solutions for helping the student, such as, the guidance department, the resource centre, tutoring options or even setting aside time for the student and I to go over what the problems may be.