Assessment Ideas

           In our history class this semester we were introduced to the idea of evaluating students based on one-on-one interviews instead of formal written exams and we explored how this practice is put to use. Basically, the idea is that the students are more relaxed; they receive the questions in advance and can bring a sheet of paper with them with jot notes to refresh their memories. Because of this more relaxed approach, they are able to express their ideas and explain concepts to the teacher in a less stressful setting while they are under less pressure. They are given 10-20 minutes (depending on the grade level) to explain their answers and go over what they want to talk about.


            The other really important bonus to this approach is this is a real life, practical skill they can put to use. Not every high school student will go on to University or College, and not all of them will need to learn to write proper essays or complete exams, but nearly all of them WILL need interview skills and they will need to be able to think and respond to questions in a face-to-face situation.


           I may not be completely sold on the notion of replacing formal exams with face-to-face interviews, but I think this alternate for of assessment has some merit and is certainly worth exploring further.





Another assessment idea I was really taken with that I've learned this semester is the notion of student-guided research projects. What this entails is in any given week the students get one period of the teacher playing the talking head, two periods of library research time, one period of computer lab access, and one period of presentations or peer editing. In this set-up the students get to pursue an area of the course content, find research on it, summarize the information, and then present it. The students are leading their own discovery and the theory is that they will get far more out of what they discover than if a teacher at the front of the room spoon-fed them information when they were only half-listening. I think that for my next practicum placement, I would like to try and implement this in at least one of my weeks of instruction.





             One final observation I have made about assessment relates to the types of rubrics used in evaluating your students. I have seen teachers design rubrics where the text is literally copied verbatim out of the curriculum expectations, and I find this is often lost on the students. Yes, they know what the curriculum is asking of them, but wouldn't it be far easier if we were to break those expectations down into easily comprehendible language that all of our students can make connections to? Alternately, I have seen teachers put together rubrics that are broken down into simpler language, with a touch of humour added in. Why not try to create a rubric that speaks to the students while still clearly indicating the curriculum expectations? Below I have attached one of my own rubrics used in a research/writing assignment. Students were divided into groups and each one assigned a different major philosophical tradition - Confucianism, Platonism, rationalism, empiricism, idealism, or materialism - which they had to research and present to the class. The students were then asked to each submit a 1-2 page paper outlining their findings and what they had learned about their chosen tradition.

Marking Rubric

Criteria	Re-Do	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
A2.2 did you locate and select relevant information to your topic/investigation?	None/insufficient	I found some interesting things on Wikipedia and made the rest up	I mainly used Wikipedia and had some relevant information	I made good use of research sources and had a good amount of relevant info in my paper	I did a thorough job researching lots of reliable sources and including interesting and relevant info.
A4.3/4.4 did you clearly communicate the findings of your research and demonstrate an understanding of the research process?	None/insufficient	Maybe only a little bit	Some of my findings were clearly expressed, but it was mostly unclear	I did a pretty good job expressing my findings. Some of my details were randomly added in and a few main points were missing.	I did a thorough job of expressing my findings and I understand how to conduct useful research.
Did I spell-check and proof-read my work before submitting it?	Nope	I read over it, but there were still a lot of errors	I read over it and only had 3-5 mistakes.	I read over it, had a friend read over it, and we missed 1 or 2 mistakes.	I had no spelling, grammar, or sentence structure errors.
B2.1 did you clearly describe the basic thinking of your chosen major philosophical tradition?	None/insufficient	I had 1 or 2 points, but I left a lot out	I got some of the main points and used a couple of quotes to back up what I was saying.	I got most of the main points and used a fair number of quotes to support my work.	I completely understood the main points and was able to clearly put them in my own words.
B2.2 did you clearly explain how your chosen philosopher contributed to our understanding of the Big Questions?	None/insufficient	Maybe only a little bit	I had some of his key contributions, but I was still missing a lot	I got most of his key contributions and explained a good deal of his ideas.	I understood his thinking so well that I could even consider being a follower.