AEE 412 - Methods of Teaching Agriculture: Assessment

Showing posts with label Assessment. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

The Asset of Assessment

Assessment: something that can either be an asset to teachers and learners or something they detest. When many people hear the word assessment, they automatically think of tests. But, assessment is so much more than that and can come in many forms that cater to a variety of learning styles. It can be used in many different ways, and for many different purposes.

When choosing the type of assessment to use, it is helpful to keep the learning audience in mind. Some things to consider are the ages, maturity level, learning styles, class size, and prior knowledge of material of the learners. Another thing to keep in mind is the purpose of the assessment, and what it's results will indicate or be used for. Access to technology can also be a contributing factor, as there are many new and exciting types of assessment that incorporate videos, smart phones, iPads, and computers.

Many teachers will choose to design their own assessment, which comes with an additional set of challenges. Besides just choosing the type of assessment to create, they also need to think about how it will relate to the goals and objectives of the content being assessed. The best types of assessments are authentic in the fact that students are able to acquire and use content on the same level of Bloom's taxonomy that they will be assessed on it. A common mistake is to teach material at a lower level of Bloom's and then assess students on a higher level, which leads to frustration on the part of both the teacher and the learner.

The videos below give some great insight into how to effectively use, choose, and design assessment.

Overview of Assessment

Introduction to Assessment

A key to keeping assessment as an asset is to use variability, and to use it often. Through incorporating various types of assessment on a frequent basis, learners are able to show what they know in many different ways. This also keeps assessment stress down, and give the teachers more options and opportunities to check for student understanding.

The term assessment does not have to bring a feeling a dread to teachers and learners. By keeping it constantly used, varied, and authentic, assessment can become a positive term. Let's make assessment a true asset to your classroom!

Friday, November 13, 2015

Guest Blogger: Standard wha? - a sojourn into Standards Based Grading

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of guest contributors from the national school-based agricultural education family. Mr. Matthew Eddy is a 17 year teacher at Southeast Polk High School in Iowa. He is a CASE Certified Master Teacher and holds certifications in AFNR, Animal Science, Plant Science and Biotechnology. He authored the Governor’s STEM Scale-Up grants -- securing funding of over $3 Million dollars for Iowa Agriculture programs to participate in adopting the CASE model. Matthew is involved in his professional organizations thru the “Teach Ag” campaign helping to recruit and retain agriculture teachers: blogging about “A Day in the Life of an Ag Teacher” on the NAAE Communities of Practice site and building awareness of his profession with his interactions on twitter - @AgEd4ME. His wife Carol is a principal with the Ankeny school district and his four children, Owen (9), Olivia (5) and Isaac (4) and Evelyn (6mo) seem to keep him busy at home in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

SE Polk students are almost ready
to embark on the fetal pig dissection lab.

First and foremost - let me capitulate by stating that I have, in no conceivable way, a handle on this thing. But I'm trying.

While you (PSU Ag Ed student) have probably the greatest Ag Educator in the Nation at your helm and have probably discussed Standards Based Grading- and grading in general extensively - the rest of the educational world is likely to not have been so lucky.

My grading experiences started with a red standard gradebook and a No 2 yellow pencil. Go forth and evaluate young man... and don't screw it up.

As I look back on my grading experiences, I can put them into two categories -- 1 - how I was graded in high school and #2 - how I graded during my student teaching experience. Neither of which was anything to write home about and both were inherently flawed… at least when it comes to measuring learning.

And isn't that what grades are for? Measuring a student’s learning?

I always believed that my gradebook was flawed... anyone who likes numbers can probably see some of the ways that it was... but I never really gave it much thought until about five years ago when I saw some youtube videos of Rick Wormeli.

Mind. Blown.

“The grade is NOT the reward, nor can it ever be considered such. Once a grade becomes a bartering tool, its power to inform stake-holders and be used to make instructional decisions or document progress accurately is impugned.” (Wormeli)

IF we are truly assessing students for what they know - our traditional system has so many inherent flaws that keep our grades from being that true assessment and make them into more of a compliance report. Points deducted for late work, zeros, no chances for re-assessment, extra credit (much of which doesn’t even relate to the learning goals- i.e. bring a box of Kleenex )… the list is endless.

SE Polk Students extracting DNA from a piece of fruit.

“The two essential questions that all educators should ask about their grades are, ‘How confident am I that the grades students get in my classroom/school/district are accurate, meaningful, and consistent, and that they support learning’ and ‘How confident am I that the grades I assign students accurately reflect my school’s/district’s published content standards and desired learning outcomes?’” (O’Conner, p2)

Grading has become a high stakes affair and in my opinion almost opposite of what it was intended to communicate. “Grading should be a by-product of learning – not the reason for it” (Eddy)

As you embark upon your journey into Agriculture Education – remember that those two words might not be listed in order of importance. Be a good educator first, use agriculture as your canvas. Create a world view that prizes learning over schooling. Grade your students to reflect their mastery of a subject, not their ability to complete worksheets on time.

Give Standards Based Grading a try – read, think, implement, evaluate – rinse and repeat.

If you really want to consider this further - I recommend Rick Wormeli and Ken O'Connor -- who can speak much more eloquently and have done far more with this subject area. THEY have a handle on it. As for me, I just keep trying again tomorrow...

Bibliography

Rick Wormeli, “Fair isn’t always Equal”

Ken O’Conner, “A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades”

Matthew Eddy, “My Kid got a What??”

http://communities.naae.org/blogs/dayinthelife/2013/10/10/my-kid-got-a-what

Submitted by:

Matthew Eddy

@AgEd4ME

Southeast Polk Agriculture Instructor

Friday, October 16, 2015

Student-Created Assessment: How would that work in secondary school-based agricultural education?

We are discussing "assessment" in our AEE 412 Methods class.

Today, we shared a neat article written by Dr. Maryellen Weimer of Faculty Focus on October 8, 2015 entitled: Student-Written Exams Increase Student Involvement
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/student-written-exams-increase-student-involvement/

The #psuaged16 teacher candidates were asked to read the article and respond to:

What did you think?
How could you use this in a secondary school-based agriculture program?

Here are some sampling of their responses/comments/questions:

I think this method really gets students involved in their learning process. Instead of just absorbing and spitting out information, they have to be aware of the objectives and what they need to take away from their classes. I would implement this after some discussion objectives and questions that are appropriate for the content. Students could be given a list of objectives ahead of time and evidence what objective their submitted question addresses.
I see a challenge of grading. Maybe students could grade each others exams which would continue their learning experience and critique other types/styles of exam questions.
Instead of just giving students a study guide, they are using that guide to create their own exam. This individualization could be helpful for differentiation with learners. Examples:

Students write exam questions for a review game
Students write their own exam essay questions

I would have students create their own exams with demonstration as a graded component.
Having students write their own assessments is beneficial because the students learn what make a good question and the process forces them to think about materials presented and study more.
Ask students to review their notes and any other materials used during that unit, bringing back possible test questions. one can also use their own materials if students do not have "quality" questions.
How would i ensure that this methods assesses my students at a deeper level of thinking.
What if this was a unit long endeavor? Starting with the student creating the unit plan, and finishing with the creation of the summative assessment.
This could give a good perspective to the testing styles that students do best with.
I could use this in the Ag Business management course I am teaching to implement higher order thinking and motivating students to study!
You could use something like this with my freshman animal science class on their "breed" projects where each student creates two questions abased on their assigned animal breed. Could require student to listen closer to all presentations
I think this is a good idea. It provides a way for the teacher to evaluate themselves. What students write as questions indicates what "stuck" and is a way to determine what was taught well!
Could "Lower the Stakes" for high school students going through a lot...
Could eliminate "Cheating" as a problem in HS
Could alleviate common teacher compliant of too much grading.
Where do you find the time to sit for an hour with one student when you have 20/30 students?