Assessments for me, Assessments by me…

A little bit of background again. You will not see selected response tests in Ireland to anything like the degree you do in the US. The state exams tend to have a section which consisting of short constructed response and then sections with larger constructed response based around individual units of content. Also you should be aware I am a Scientist and I respond better to objective types of testing. I was never happy to have an essay to write. I wanted there to be a correct or incorrect answer where I did not have to get to creative or personal about things. I knew going into a science exam that with my good knowledge of facts, understanding of the content and the competence with the required skills I was going to score well.

I was always very comfortable using labelled diagrams and flow charts enjoyed questions which allowed me to answer as such, as I used methods such as these in my own study. When I was asked to compose something entirely of my own such as essays or poems I was never able to get it to flow and would often become frustrated.

In reflection, these are skills, and types of questions I like would delight only a portion of the students in front of me. It is now widely accepted that people learn and assimilate in many different fashions as categorized by Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences for example (Snowman & McCown, 2015). While science might not lend itself to a very subjective assessment type such as portfolio assessment quite as well as Art or Language Arts, assessment should be open enough to allow people to express themselves and their learning in a differentiated manner. Mere recognition of content both in teaching and assessment is more beneficial to some groups and cultures than others (McMillan, 2008). Many of the skills required by scientists are useful in many areas. Assessment of students ability to tabulate information, read graphs, synopsize data in bullet points or write clear concise instructions are valuable skills that will benefit students even if they never pursue a scientific path. So while an appreciation of individuals is required it is important that these skills are commonly assessed in the science classroom.

In Curley our lower achievers are in the Anthony program and the Head of the department always made sure our test were deemed suitable in terms of numbers of answer and the differentiation of assessment types. I have adopted much of this throughout all my tests. Students will typically get a paper with selected response, short answer and some higher order constructed response questions with some Math or graphs when content allows. I have some experience with performance assessment for students who construct models or prepare and present material. I feel like I have had mixed levels of success with this but I would like to continue trying and improve how I implement them.

Thanks

References
Mc Millan, J. (2008). Assessment Essentials for Standards Based Education. (2^nd Ed.). Corwin Press

McCown, R. & Snowman, J. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching (14th ed.). Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.