M5U2A2

M5U2A2 - Articulating outcomes: Thinking like an assessor

Economic trends and the training needed for the new workforce require that school systems shift from a fact-oriented curriculum to one that emphasizes problem-solving and innovation (Herman, 1992).
This approach is at odds with the current state of many education systems around the world.
There is also recognition for the importance of the kinds of assessments to evaluate student learning.

How can we assess our students for a future workforce?
The assessments of students will need to mostly be performance based so that students can show how well they can apply content knowledge to critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical tasks throughout their education.
Performance assessments can serve for both formative and summative assessments. When students receive multiple opportunities to learn and apply the skills measured, performance assessments can be used to build student's skills and inform teachers if students are learning or if given tasks need a different teaching approach.

Difference between summative and formative assessment
The summative assessment is measured against a standard or benchmark and tells teachers if students achieved the unit outcomes. Formative assessments provide teachers with ongoing feedback to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

Example of performance-based assessments in Physical Education

Standard
5.4.3 Describe the principles of training and the application to each of the components of health-related physical fitness.

Formative Assessment
Exit card: The lesson will stop 5-7 minutes before time, and each student will write the meaning of the acronym F.I.T.T. A student cannot leave before they have handed in their exit card.

Summative Assessment
Students will receive a template via Google classroom that they have to use to create a week long fitness plan that can develop one of the health-related components of fitness, for example, aerobic fitness. They have to indicate the number of training days (frequency), the intensity of training (low, medium or high), type of exercises (to develop aerobic exercises) and time (45- 60 minutes).

References

Lambert K.(2012). Tools for Formative Assessment. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzYfzjQoASL_bXVxYUg4SE1lSk0/vtaniew
School Ready Network. (2008). What is PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT? Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzYfzjQoASL_dnhuemt5LThzcVE/view