0.2 A-reef: assessment

Overview

We started this course with the image of a reef (and the acronym A-REEF) because a reef is a place teeming with life and possibility,as is this process.

The first letter of the acronymn A -REEF stands for A ssessment.

Assessment is the process of gathering information about what students know and can do. (Evaluating - the third letter in theacronym - is the process of interpreting and making judgements about that assessment information.)

There are numerous assessment models. The three most often used are:

• Observations, or information , gathered mainly through a student's daily work via assignments, etc.
• Performance samples, or tangible products that serve as evidence of student achievement.
• Tests and test-like procedures, or measures of student's achievement at a particular time and place.

Examples of assessment

Asking What do I know? What do I want to know? What have I learned? is an informal way to assess students' knowledge and learning.

Here are some ways to approach the answers to those questions:

Student journal entries (pre and post) can be compared. If a focus question is used in the journal, the post-unit question should havethe same form, but reflect time that has passed (i.e. "What do I know about [this topic]... now?")

Interpreting a picture (drawing or photograph) of a scene before and after a unit of study can be a tool of assessment. For example, students see a picture of a woodland scene and are asked, "How would thisscene change if humans settled here?" Then students are asked the same question after studying ecosystems and humans impacts on them. Thestudents' interpretations can be very revealing.

Document science attitudes and skills using a checklist system before a unit and after it. In the same way, compare student data tables or lab reports from the beginning of the year and the end.

A teacher or a student can perform the same simple task at the beginning and at the end of a unit and the class can use the same worksheet to explain or describe the task. The responses and explanations can be compared.

Have students create a concept map as a class and then compare it to the map students make at the end of a unit. Accept both correct and incorrect information for the first map. When the second map is created, tryto reflect all information gleaned from a unit of study and ferret out all inaccurate information (without exposing students who provide incorrectinformation to censure). Pose this as a process of discovery, not a search for an error-free first document.

Student self-evaluations encourage self-reflection and better learning for students. They can encompass a variety of formats. The content of self-evaluations should never be graded. However, there is a kind of evaluation that can be graded for depth of analysis - i.e., how seriously did you take this task? Did you attempt to understand you own thinking and writingprocesses? Were you able to contextualize your own acts as a writer and thinker within course themes? The grade is for the application of insightand course themes to his/her own practice.