Assessments ARE More Than Exams

In a previous post I mentioned that we as a society and educational collective need to reassess assessments: how they are given, the content they cover, the format they take—the whole nine yards. I believe the framework of Understanding by Design (UbD), which has a main expressed goal of teaching for understanding and transfer and using assessments to demonstrate those skills, is the excellent starting point for creating more purposeful and creative assessments.

Educators can not begin to consider assessments without first considering the overall curriculum design. UbD is focused on designing for diverse and individual needs. It highlights that form follows function. They cannot design the form (the lessons, the activities, etc.) effectively until they are clear on the function (the ultimate purpose; the destination) (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).

In the past, I have experienced my fair share of assessment that were given purely as "busy work." One major assessment that I recall vividly was a vocabulary project our class had to complete for AP Government. It was a 200-term assessment that covered random terms from throughout the semester. Everyone had the same list of terms, but we were not able to work with one another. The teacher told us to start early and not wait until the last minute, of course no one listened. The project needed to be formatted and organized in a specific way, and it had to be handwritten (neatly), use dividers and compiled in a way where each term was on its own individual page. If you asked me today what any of those terms were, I would not be able to tell you. In fact, I am sure that if you had asked me two days after completing the assessment, I still would not have been able to recall any of the terms. However, I could tell you that I lost points not on content, but on neatness. She graded over 60 students' projects in one day, and the terms we had to write were not included on any other exams or quizzes, nor were they used in any meaningful way—but this project still made up a major portion of our grade. For what reason? If you had asked me then, I would have said it was because she hated us and wanted to see us suffer. If you ask me now, it was probably because she thought that by going through the terms, the students would learn them well enough for it to have a lasting impact. If you asked Wiggins and McTighe (2005), they would say she threw some content and activities against the wall in the hope that something would stick. Unfortunately, nothing stuck.

There are plenty of examples from my high school where well-meaning teachers tried different methods to structure and improve our learning, but they did not lead to great results. I believe they wanted to assess us in a way that was not just a test or exam which in theory can be good but without proper execution it can lead to ineffective results.

However, now that I understand UbD and backward design as a method for creating thoughtful and meaningful assessments, my goal is to incorporate those principles into more of my curriculum designing moving forward. For my most recent assignment, we were tasked with creating a mini assessments using a specific technique and structure. I was given a Venn diagram as my technique and used a standards-based structure (see Fig. 1). Venn diagrams are primarily used for comparing and contrasting. Starting with my desired result or learning objective, ensuring that learners understand the main differences between Edit Template and Edit Template for a Single Day and when it is appropriate to use each, I was able to create a visual assessment that highlights both similarities and differences. From there, I can design the overall experience and supporting activities in a way that reinforces those concepts through context driven learning and helps solidify understanding.

Figure 1.

The beauty of the visual is that it can be used as a way to test mastery, and also as a resource for later use. Creating creative assessments can be made easier if we know the ultimate goal we are trying to achieve.

"Without clarifying the desired results of our teaching, how will we ever know whether our designs are appropriate or arbitrary?" (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, pg. 14)

While UbD and backward design are not the only methods that can be used, over the past few weeks I have learned that they are a really good method that takes time to master, but in the long run can be beneficial for learners.

References:

Carroll, L. (2008). The Lewis Carroll – Sir John Tenniel 110th Anniversary 'Nursery Alice' Collection [Illustration]. Printed by Graphicke Anstalt J. E. Wolfensberger AG, Birmensdorf-Zurich, Switzerland. White Rabbit Press, Amsterdam.

Hawker Brownlow Education. (2013, July 17). What is Understanding by Design? Author Jay McTighe explains [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8F1SnWaIfE&t=1s.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design, (2nd Ed.). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.