Module 1: Reflection

Assessment Readings

McLoughlin – “Technology has "the capacity of offer learners a broad array of activities, tasks, and forums for engaging in constructivist learning".

Black & Williams – “…improving formative assessment raises student achievement.”

My interest in alternative assessments, and my immediate need for my work is the area of formative assessment. My college has put assessment high on its priorities as it has recently gone through a Middle States evaluation. The Division of Education, where I teach, similarly has just finished an accreditation visit by New York State, and has hired a new director of assessment.

Consequently, I was most interested in the Black article. Black mentions good questioning as one of the ways to assess student learning. I was happy to see this since I stress questioning technique with my graduate students. They usually respond by saying they never realized how difficult it can be to construct a good question – nor how valuable. Like McLoughlin, he also stresses peer assessment and self-assessment-“Students can achieve a learning goal only if they understand that goal and can assess what they need to do to reach it.”

The McLoughlin article- this was an interesting discussion about how alternative assessment has been accelerated by technology, and how it learners can build their own knowledge. Mc Loughlin states that “In constructivist learning environments there is social interaction, communication, exchange of views, collaboration, and support for learners to take more responsibility for the learning process through learner-centered tasks.” This has been my experience in teaching online classes. I am often asked by students who may never have tried an online class or by dubious faculty if an online course can be truly worthwhile. I tell them that the format supports more interaction than in any f2f class. Additionally, it supports opportunity to learn new skills through real life activities.

I liked all three assessments, the interview, the survey, and the wiki. I think their usefulness depends on the purpose, as each has its drawbacks. However, they all require direct involvement by the learner.