When I think about assessments, I think about pre-tests and post tests. Progress monitoring and Formative assessments. In each of these scenarios, there is a defined structure involved that plans to test knowledge before and after. What I enjoyed from the article "Rubrics, Portfolios, and Tests, Oh My!" is the notion of assessing the students along the way, or during the project based assignment. McGrath discusses the importance of getting feedback along the way, which is very similar to most of the Graduate classes I have taken at UGA. Many of our projects have been created in a way that each step is associated with a particular idea or lesson, and once we create a section we give feedback of our knowledge through our assignments. In Kopcha's Instructional Design class in particular, we create various Instructional Design Activities that allow us to show our understanding of the various ideas being taught in the class. I believe this to be a great way to assess along the way, as McGrath discusses. I also really enjoyed the IIP-Webpages with Examples project in Edit7500 because I had to evaluate my own work. I believe this to be a great example of how to assess students knowledge because I knew what was expected and was allowed to assess myself.
McGrath's article "Artifacts and Understanding" really helped tie in the purpose of our blogs that we have been creating in Edit7500. In a sense, we are creating our own artifacts based on our understanding and thoughts of the content. As McGrath states, "the artifact must involve constructing their own knowledge... and transformation of that knowledge." There is also relevance in reviewing our peers blogs because this allows us to observe others work and discuss together.
As it relates to the classroom, I believe students will enjoy not only knowing what is expected of them in a project, but also having the ability to understand the rubric so they can grade themselves. This will allow students to work hard to get the grade they would like to make. A concern in this area, is perhaps some students will work for the minimum grade if they know what is expected for an A, B, or C. If a student is only concerned with getting a passing grade instead of mastering a skill, they may only do the bare minimum.
Another concern I have with assessments in Project Based Learning is not all are equal in a group setting. I know Sara Armstrong discusses this concern in "Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning" by stating that students are able to separate their individual worth from the group, but I have found that often times in a group, a few do a lot while others do a little. I believe having individual assessments as well as group assessments will help with this issue.
It’s nice to get feedback on projects/ assignments as you go along like you mentioned happens in our Grad classes. That gives us the opportunity to revise and improve our project, instead of just getting a grade when we complete the project. This format of turning in parts of the project a little at a time also helps students who procrastinate stay on track.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view on assessing group projects. This has been difficult for me to do, especially if the groups are larger than 2 students. When the group sizes get large, it makes it easier for 1 student to sit back while 1 or 2 do the bulk of the work. Some suggestions for teachers are to assign a certain job to each student to do for the project. However, I’ve noticed that the students stick to this in the beginning, and then abandon it to get the project/ assignment completed.
It’s nice to get feedback on projects/ assignments as you go along like you mentioned happens in our Grad classes. That gives us the opportunity to revise and improve our project, instead of just getting a grade when we complete the project. This format of turning in parts of the project a little at a time also helps students who procrastinate stay on track.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view on assessing group projects. This has been difficult for me to do, especially if the groups are larger than 2 students. When the group sizes get large, it makes it easier for 1 student to sit back while 1 or 2 do the bulk of the work. Some suggestions for teachers are to assign a certain job to each student to do for the project. However, I’ve noticed that the students stick to this in the beginning, and then abandon it to get the project/ assignment completed.
I agree with your comments about the difficulty in assessing group work. I can relate to this from both perspectives: as a student and a teacher. As a student, it is always true that one or two people carry more weight during any given assignment. Sometimes it is due to a lack of effort from the other group members, or sometimes it is because the nature of the project does not allow for tasks to be shared equally. Then by the time you have completed the project and turn in your group ratings, etc. it just seems like it is too late for the rating to matter, because the work/learning/experience has already ended.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, this can also be a struggle. For this reason, I try to incorporate some sort of individual assignment that correlates with the steps of the project, so that all students have to at least be accountable for keeping up and reporting what other students in the group are working on. Also, in an elementary classroom where most of the work takes place in class, I feel that I have the responsibility to keep close tabs on my students and step in to offer guidance or suggestions when it seems that a student is not pulling their weight in the group.