Evaluation Exemplar

Assessment AS Learning — Using an assessment to learn about myself as an educator and as a learner. Below I will share a math assessment I have used in the past and consider ways to re-design in order to reach more of my students.

Here it goes! Assessing an assessment…

If I had to categorize the educreations homework, I would describe it as a math strategy assignment. Students select an open-ended question to answer independently. After they have interpreted the question, they access their educreations account where audio recording and visual representation are used to help them share their thinking and selected strategy.

When I initially used the math strategy homework, it was assigned toward the end of the year. I was assessing the set of strategies that each student used to approach math problems. I wanted to know if they were successfully applying the various strategies that had been introduced, practiced, and continued to discuss throughout the school year. Additionally, I wanted students to have more practice with reasoning and explanation – math discussions are a core part of our math class, and this assignment provides students with another outlet to express their understanding.

The standards for mathematical practice state that students should be able to “make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, and model with mathematics” (http://www.corestandards.org/). The open-ended problems allow for students to make sense of the content in a variety of ways, which opens up conversation about each other’s arguments.

The math strategy assignment provides information about strategies that each student feels adept at applying independently. Depending on the number of times it is assigned, I may have a limited scope of strategies within each math student’s reasoning “toolbox.” Provided that students are given the opportunity to view and respond to their peers’ explanations, I am also given information about their ability to critique and discuss.

I used this information to plan future instruction for math strategies and math discussion techniques. The student discussions about their peers’ explanations provided me with information about areas of discussion and possible problem-solving strategies that had yet to be introduced within the classroom. For example, after listening to a student discussion about a particular open-ended question, we would “categorize” parts of the question, and if a potential strategy had not been discussed or considered, I would lead the discussion in this direction, providing direct instruction if a student did not make the connection. Or I may explain a discussion technique that would help critiques, such as repeating what the previous speaker had stated in their own words.

My initial presentation of this assignment to my students was very limited. I do not know if I intended to have this become a recurring assignment, so I feel that my assumption was that I would have a greater sense of each student’s reasoning ability when really, if the assignment was only given one time, I would gain a limited amount of information on each individual, possibly a greater sense of the class at large. Additionally, I was not as specific as necessary if I wanted to know whether students could apply the strategies we had been practicing in class. In other words, I assumed they would automatically think or refer to the strategies introduced in class when that is not the case. Some students used strategies from earlier grades (such as guess and check) while others used more advanced strategies (such as setting up an equation).

The skills I assumed students would have to enable them to complete the assignment were 1) accessing a new website via computer or tablet, 2) running through the process of setting up an account, 3) a comfort level with the educreations software or the ability level to “explore” the site (note: The site features were explained in class, and they had seen numerous examples I’d made. But I was short-sited in the fact that I should have provided students with more in-class “exploration” time before sending it as a homework assignment), 4) applying the problem-solving strategies we had instructed and practiced in our math class, 5) and I also assumed they would feel comfortable sharing their video explanations with others.

This assessment was difficult for 1) students that did not have access to a computer or tablet at home because they needed a particular software to explain their reasoning (these students ended up using school computers and/or tablets), 2) students that did not feel comfortable having others watch their videos (I asked for volunteers rather than making students share their videos because there were several who wanted to share their video and several who preferred that their explanation not be shown), 3) students without a touch screen or stylus because even though they could use their track pad, it wasn’t the most convenient to draw or write with.

Reflected Re-design

With a new set of fresh eyes and based on this week’s readings I would re-design the math strategy assignment in a few ways…

I would first begin by giving the math strategy assignment a new name, such as a “Math Chat.” The reason for this more user- and student-friendly title is because I would also assign the Math Chats on a more regular basis. Sheppard urges the use of formative assessments before, during, and after instruction and various learning opportunities, to incorporate the assessment so regularly within the daily routine that they become tools that do not simply signal the “end of learning,” but rather the process of continuing to grow and develop as a learner and teacher.

I would use the assessment at the beginning of the year to gather information about where the class as a whole is in terms of organizing and presenting their thinking, not using it solely as an end-of-the-year assignment.

Dann stresses the importance of assessment opportunities where learners are guided to understand their own learning process and allowed to self-reflect. As a re-design, I would ask students to either identify on their own, or with the support of peer recommendations, one or two improvements they intend to focus on for their next Math Chat with reasons about why these re-designs will help them develop as a mathematician.

Sheppard explains that explicit criteria, worked examples, and specific instructions on measurement of understanding allow students to play a more significant role in their learning—they provide students with a better understanding of what they are being asked to achieve and allow them to self-reflect. Re-design decisions based on this information include 1) providing a few video recording examples prior to the assignment for discussion of the criteria of a quality explanation and to help establish guidelines within the classroom when critiquing peer Math Chats, 2) a video tutorial of how to set up an account for the various software programs and how to then use them, 3) providing an evolving list of strategies that we’ve covered within the class.

Additionally, I would also like to incorporate an online survey to gather information about 1) whether students have used any particular recording software prior (opening up the assignment to recording software other than educreations for ease of access/comfort and further discussion pieces), 2) what strategies they are currently familiar with, and 3) whether they would feel comfortable sharing their video with a partner, small group, or the whole class. I made this re-design decision as I reflected on the initial surveys for my graduate courses and the value of learning about your students.

Note: The open-ended questions were selected from the following document:

https://www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/ARSI/www.uky.edu/pub/arsi/openresponsequestions/grade4orq.pdf