Assessing students and beyond!

Assessment is a great tool for teachers, it is beneficial in everyway. Assessment does not just evaluate the knowledge students have gained, but it assesses how the knowledge students already have, the knowledge they are gaining throughout, and importantly how the teacher is doing. It is crucial for the teacher to get an understanding throughout the lesson, if they are teaching in the best way possible. By assessing, the teacher answers the questions:

Do the students understand what I am teaching?

Do I need to make this more interesting because the students are not engaged?

How can I make this better next time?

Do I need to make adjustments within my teaching method?

All of this adds to the pedological knowledge of the teacher. It allows for the teacher to make the best decisions within their lessons, so that the students can gain the most knowledge from it.

During my lessons, my peers and I decided there were a few ways that we were going to assess our students, we started off with a range of diagnostic assessment tools, such as a pre-test, then we asked a range of questions to see the knowledge that they previously had along with the knowledge that they retained from the last class.

Pre-Test Student Work:

As you can see the range within the students work is great. Some students were able to complete the pre-test without any problems whereas others struggled to complete it with the tie given. Some students seemed overwhelmed and did not even seem to give the test a chance, where others new the answers and flew through it. Throughout the diagnostic assessment I asked myself:

     What do my students already know about the topic?
     Do my students understand the concepts relating to this topic?
     Do i need to refresh my students on the topic
     What alternative conceptions do my students have on the subject?



For the formative assessment we asked students to complete a vortex smart board activity. They were asked to categorize words or statments that fall within either "an expedition" or "a tour". The students did not stuggle with this at all infact they flew right through the actvity.

For the summative assessment the students were asked to complete a jeapordy game to see the knowledge that they gained throughout the process. Along with this we had a summative assessment handout where the students were asked to simple reflect and write three things that they gained from the lesson. Here is their work:

Along with this the students were asked to complete a Newspaper article based on the hints and their prior knowledge. This gave us the ability to see how much the students gained from the direct instruction lesson and the knowledge that they previously acquired. This was a fun and exciting activity for the students that they enjoyed and excelled at. Here is there work: