Design Based Assessments Blog 2
Design-Based Assessments in our Culture
In 1967 McCluhan, Fiore and Agel (1996) wrote: “Our ‘Age of Anxiety’ is, in great part the result of trying to do today’s job with yesterday’s tools-with yesterday’s concepts” (p. 8-9). McCluhan and Fiore continue to speak of the educational process as being associated with the glum, and serious student, and that “our time presents a unique opportunity for learning by means of humor - a perceptive or incisive joke can be more meaningful than platitudes lying between two covers” (p. 10). It seems like much would have changed since the first publication of this book yet, our educational system still values many of the traditional ways of teaching, learning, and assessing our students. |
| Figure 1. Cover page for the 1996 edition of: The Medium is the Massage, (Fiore, McLuhan, & Agel, 1996) |
Thomas and Seely Brown (2011) speak of the modern learning culture stating that when a classroom moves from a teaching-based approach to a learning-based approach it becomes a learning environment where the culture emerges from that environment. In this approach rather than students having to prove that they “get it,” becomes a culture where we embrace what our students don’t know and continue to ask questions until we know more (p. 38).
The 'how' of this approach can seem daunting but is entirely possible even in the space of a traditional classroom. Shepard addresses assessment stating that “our aim should be to change our cultural practices so that students and teachers look to assessment as a source of insight and help instead of an occasion for meting out rewards and punishments” (p. 101). What small changes can teachers make in their daily work to create these cultural shifts. If teachers begin small then share and spread their ideas the culture can grow.
The strategies suggested by Shepard (2000) “dynamic assessment, assessment of prior knowledge, the use of feedback, teaching for transfer, explicit criteria, student self-assessment, and evaluation of teaching” (p. 101), can help guide educators in creating effective design based assessments.
The strategies suggested by Shepard (2000) “dynamic assessment, assessment of prior knowledge, the use of feedback, teaching for transfer, explicit criteria, student self-assessment, and evaluation of teaching” (p. 101), can help guide educators in creating effective design based assessments.
Fiore Q., McLuhan, M., & Agel, J. (1996). The Medium is the Massage, An Inventory of Effects. Berkley, CA: Ginko Press.
Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/doi/abs/10.1177/0022057409189001-207
Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/doi/abs/10.1177/0022057409189001-207
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Seattle, WA: Create Space.
I absolutely agree that we are in a world of new modern educational problems, relying on historic tools and strategies. How we manage students dwindling focus and providing authentic assessment is difficult when affixed to the traditional rubric. Although much of our reading talks about remaking the classroom, I wonder how much progress can be made through simply making the small changes and spreading the change in culture throughout the learning community.
ReplyDeleteGreat discourse here! Purpose is key to engaging students. They need to understand the purpose of what they are to learn and how they are to do this. It is important for educators to experience the learning that they want their students to experience.
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