Understanding Assessment

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Understanding Assessment

• Dr Trish Glasby
• Assessment New Basics Branch
• Department of Education and the Arts

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curriculum organisers
STUDENT LEARNING
CLOs stop here.
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Curriculum Pedagogy Assessment

• Inseparable
• Inextricable

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• Understanding by Design
• Professional Development
• Workbook
• Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins
• Association of Supervision and Curriculum
  Development Alexandria, Virginia, USA 2004
• Assessment Reporting Website
• http//education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/assessment/
  framework/assessment-tasks.html

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Stage 1 Desired Results Stage 1 Desired Results
Established goals Established goals
Understandings Students will understand that Essential Questions
Students will know Students will be able to
Stage 2 Assessment Evidence Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks Other Evidence
Stage 3 Learning Plan Stage 3 Learning Plan
Learning Activities Learning Activities
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Stage 1 Desired Results Stage 1 Desired Results
Established goals What relevant goals (e.g., content standards, course or program objectives, learning outcomes) will this design address? Established goals What relevant goals (e.g., content standards, course or program objectives, learning outcomes) will this design address?
Understandings Students will understand that What are the big ideas? What specific understanding about them are desired? What misunderstandings are predictable? Essential Questions What provocative questions will foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer of learning?
Students will know Students will be able to Students will know Students will be able to
What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit? What should they eventually be able to do as a result of such knowledge and skill? What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit? What should they eventually be able to do as a result of such knowledge and skill?
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Stage 2 Assessment Evidence Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks Through what authentic performance tasks will students demonstrate the desired understandings? By what criteria will performance of understanding be judged? Other Evidence Through what other evidence (e.g., quizzes, tests, academic prompts, observations, homework, journals) will students demonstrate achievement of the desired results? How will students reflect upon and self-assess their learning?
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Stage 3 Learning Plan
Learning Activities What learning experience and instruction will enable students to achieve the desired results? How will the design
W Help the students know Where the unit is going and What is expected? Help the teacher know Where the students are coming from (prior knowledge, interests)? H Hook all students and Hold their interest? E Equip students, help them Experience the key ideas and Explore the issues? R Provide opportunities to Rethink and Revise their understandings and work? E Allow students to Evaluate their work and its implications? T Be Tailored (personalized) to the different needs, interests and abilities of learners? O Be Organised to maximize initial and sustained engagement as well as effective learning?
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Focus Questions
To what extend does the unit design focus on the big ideas of targeted content?
Are The targeted understandings, based on transferable, big ideas at the heart of the discipline and in need of uncoverage? The targeted understandings framed by questions that spark meaningful connections, provoke genuine inquiry and deep thought, and encourage transfer? The essential questions provocative, arguable, and likely to generate inquiry around the central ideas (rather than a pat answer)? Appropriate goals (e.g., outcomes, curriculum objectives) identified? Valid and unit-related knowledge and skills identified?
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Focus Questions
To what extent do the assessments provide fair, valid, reliable and sufficient measures of the desired results?
Are Students asked to exhibit their understanding through authentic performance tasks? Appropriate criterion-based scoring tools used to evaluate student products and performances? A variety of appropriate assessment formats used to provide additional evidence of learning? The assessments used as feedback for students and teachers, as well as for evaluation? Students encouraged to self-assess?

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Focus Questions
To what extent is the learning plan effective and engaging?
Will the students Know where theyre going (the learning goals), why the material is important (reason for learning the content) and what is required of them (unit goal, performance requirements and evaluative criteria)? Be hooked engaged in digging into the big ideas (e.g., through inquiry, research, problem solving, and experimentation)? Have adequate opportunities to explore and experience big ideas and receive instruction to equip them for the required performances? Have sufficient opportunities to rethink, rehearse, revise and refine their work based upon timely feedback? Have an opportunity to evaluate their work, reflect on their learning, and set goals??
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Focus Questions
To what extent is the learning plan effective and engaging?
Is the learning plan Tailored and flexible to address the interests and learning styles of all students? Organised and sequenced to maximize engagement and effectiveness?
To what extent is the entire unit coherent, with the elements of all three stages aligned?
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A Big Idea (description)
Provides a conceptual lens for prioritizing content.
A Big Idea refers to core concepts, principles, theories, and processes that should serve as the focal point of a curricula, instruction, and assessment.
Serves as an organizer for connecting important facts, skills, and actions.
Big Ideas function as the conceptual Velcro for a topic of study. They connect discrete knowledge and skills to a larger intellectual frame and provide a bridge for linking specific facts and skills.
Transfers to other contexts.
Big Ideas are powerful because they embody transferable ideas, applicable to other topics, inquiries, contexts, issues and problems. Big Ideas anchor a coherent curriculum.
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A Big Idea (description)
Manifests itself in various ways within disciplines.
Big Ideas are typically revealed through for example a core concept (e.g., adaptation), a focusing theme (e.g., mans inhumanity to man).
Requires uncoverage because it is an abstraction.
A Big Idea is inherently abstract. Its meaning is not always obvious to students, and simply covering it (i.e., the teacher or textbook defining it) will not ensure student understanding.
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Big Ideas Manifested Big Ideas typically manifest
themselves in one or more of the following forms.
Topic
Concepts Concepts
Equity Friend Function Genre Sample Scarcity
Themes
Good triumphs over evil Mans inhumanity to man Saving for a rainy day
Issues and Debates
Nature vs. nurture Liberty vs. license Majority always rules
Problems or Challenges
How to maximize power and control in golf or tennis Maximize shipping volume
Processes
Problem solving Scientific investigation Decision making
Theories
Natural selection The Atkins diet The Big Bang Theory
Paradoxes
Fighting for peach No force acting on a body moving at constant speed Less is more
Assumptions or Perspectives
Art conveys meaning Terrorist vs. freedom fighter Capitalism is the best economic system
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From topics to Big Ideas
Nutrition
Topic
Concepts
Food groups Overweight
Themes
A balanced diet You are what you eat
Issues and Debates
Value of synthetic vitamins Safety and effectiveness of various diets
Problems or Challenges
Balancing taste with good nutrition The lure of fast food
Processes
Research Scientific enquiry
Theories
Various diets that promise weight loss Diet affects longevity
Paradoxes
The prevalence of nutrition-related health problems despite all of the available information about healthful eating A healthy diet for one person may be unhealthy for another
Assumptions or Perspectives
The USDA Food Pyramid defines healthful eating Vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters
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The Six Aspects of Understanding
EXPLANATION
Sophisticated and apt explanations and theories that provide knowledgeable and justified accounts of events, actions, and ideas Why is that so? What explains such events? What accounts for such action? How can we prove it? To what is this connected? How does this work?
INTERPRETATION
Narratives, translations, metaphors, images, and artistry that provide meaning What does it mean? Why does it matter? What of it? What does it illustrate or illuminate in human experience? How does it relate to me? What makes sense?
APPLICATION
Ability to use knowledge effectively in new situations and diverse contexts How and where can we use this knowledge, skill, or process? How should my thinking and action be modified to meet the demands of this particular situation?
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The Six Aspects of Understanding
PERSPECTIVE
Critical and insightful points of view From whose point of view? From which vantage point? What is assumed or tacit that needs to be made explicit and considered? What is justified or warranted? Is there adequate evidence? Is it reasonable? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the idea? Is it plausible? What are its limits? So what? What is a novel way to look at this?
EMPATHY
The ability to get inside another persons feelings and world view How does it seem to you? What do they see that I dont? What do I need to experience if I am to understand? What was the author, artist, or performer feeling, seeing, and trying to make me feel and see?
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
The wisdom to know ones ignorance and how ones patterns of thought and action inform as well as prejudice understanding How does who I am shape my views? What are the limits of my understanding? What are my blind spots? What am I prone to misunderstand because of prejudice, habit or style? How do I learn best? What strategies work for me?
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Questioning for Understanding
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Explanation What is the key idea in
___________________ ? What are examples of
____________________ ? What are the
characteristics and parts ________? What caused
_____? What are the effects of___ ? How might we
prove, confirm, justify_________ ? How is
_________ connected to_____________ ? What might
happen_______________________ ? What are common
misconceptions about ______ ? How did this come
about? Why is this so?
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Interpretation What is the meaning of
____________________ ? What are the implications
of ________________ ? What does ________ reveal
about ___________ ? How is _________ like
_______ (analogy or metaphor)? How does
________________ relate to me or us? So What?
Why does it matter?
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Application How is _________applied in the
larger world? How might ______ help us
____________ ? How could we use _____ to
overcome ____ ? How and when can we use this
(knowledge or process)?
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Perspective What are different points of view
about _______ ? How might this look from
________s perspective? How is ______ similar
to or different from _____? What are other
possible reactions to __________? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of _____? What are the
limits of______________________? What is the
evidence for____________________? Is the
evidence reliable? Sufficient?
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Empathy What would it be like to walk in
_________ s shoes? How might _________ feel
about ________? How might we reach an
understanding about ________? What was
____________trying to make us feel and see?
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Self-Knowledge How do I know ____________________
___? What are the limits of my knowledge about
__________? What are my blind spots about
_________? How can I best show___________________
? How are my views ________ about shaped by
__________ (experiences, habits, prejudices,
style)? What are my strengths and weaknesses in
__________?
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Generating Assessment Ideas Using the Aspects of
Understanding
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 2
If the desired result is for learners to The, you need evidence of the students ability to So, the assessments need to include some things like
Understand that And thoughtfully consider the questions Explain
Understand that And thoughtfully consider the questions Interpret
Understand that And thoughtfully consider the questions Apply by
Understand that And thoughtfully consider the questions See from the points of view of
Empathize with
Overcome the naive or biased idea that
Reflect on
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Assessment Task Blueprint What understandings or
goals will be assessed through this task? What
criteria are implied in the standards and
understandings regardless of the task specifics?
What qualities must student work demonstrate to
signify that standards were met? Through what
authentic performance task will students
demonstrate understandings? What student
products and performances will provide evidence
of desired understandings? By what criteria
will student products and performances be
evaluated?
Task Overview
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Constricting a Performance Task Scenario Using
GRASPS

• Goal
• Your task is _______________________
• The goal is to _____________________
• The problem or challenge is __________
• The obstacles to overcome are ________
• Role
• You are __________________________
• You have been asked to _____________
• Your job is________________________
• Audience
• Your clients are ____________________
• The target audience is_______________
• You need to convince________________

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Constricting a Performance Task Scenario Using
GRASPS

• Situation
• The context you find yourself in is______
• The challenge involves dealing with_____
• Product, Performance, and Purpose
• You will create a ___________________
• in order to _________________________
• You need to develop ________________
• so that ____________________________
• Standards and Criteria for Success
• Your performance needs to ___________
• Your work will be judged by___________
• Your product must meet the following
  standards________________________
• A successful result will ______________

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What have we learned?

• syllabuses do not underpin planning
• lack of domain specific conceptual knowledge
• lack of curriculum coherence
• critique lacks confidence and skill

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What have we learned? (contd)

• teachers perception of competence is challenged
• development of the TGT products is difficult and
  demanding and requires time
• school-based social moderation is not occurring

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Is the task intellectually challenging? Does the
task draw in sufficient depth breadth upon the
targeted knowledges, concepts and skills of the
domains? Does the task require students to engage
in a range of thinking skills and to demonstrate
critical analysis? Does the task allow students
to demonstrate their thinking and
understanding? Does the task offer opportunities
for students to demonstrate valued attributes and
attitudes? The intended cognitive expectations of
the task must be clear to students.
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Is the task authentic? Is the context of the
task appropriate for the cognitive demands? Is
the context appropriate for the students? Do the
context and mode of the task entice and engage
students and target realistic audiences? Does the
task have a genuine and valued purpose? Do
students have opportunities to negotiate the
assessment? Students must recognise and be
motivated by the purpose and relevance of the
task.
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How trustworthy is the task for generating sound
evidence about student performances? Does the
task require performances that are relevant and
adequate for the targeted intentions? Does the
task have clear and explicit criteria for the
types of evidence students will be required to
provide? Have sufficient and clear standards been
developed to provide advice to students (and
other assessors) on the bases for making
judgments? Does the task provide sufficient
opportunity for students of all races, ethnicity,
gender or socio-economic background to
demonstrate their achievement? Does the task
contribute to students experiencing a balanced
and varied collection of tasks as part of the
school assessment plan? The connections to the
educational intentions must be clear to all
audiences. The consequences of assessment for
students and institutions must be considered.
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Does the task support all students in the
production of a performance of best quality? Does
the task have a complete set of guidelines
(including models) that allow students to reflect
on, rehearse and review their responses? Do your
choices relating to the layout, cues, visual
design, format and choice of words (including
technical language or jargon) facilitate
engagement with the task and reinforce student
understanding of what is valued in their
responses? Does the task have examples and
resources that are helpful to students? All
students must be confident that they understand
the intent and specific requirements of the task.
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