Three teachers walk into a bar...
Well sort of...Three Math 10 classes are taught by the same teacher. For test and assignment feedback, one class receives only numeric feedback, one class receives only written anecdotal commentary and one class receives both numeric and anecdotal feedback.
“Which class do you think made the most gains in demonstrating learning and understanding by the end of the year?
Most common response by teachers: Class with both anecdotal and numeric feedback.
Read on to find out if we're right!
I am struggling to get back into the “grading game.” Previously, my assessment was allowed to be focused on student improvement, often informally discussed but on occasion, formerly reported to parents by a combination of rubrics, verbal and written anecdotal commentary and evidence of student work. Back in the throes of mainstream programming, assigning grades for learning seems devolving. Why is it that I think this way? Does research support my hunches?
I think right from the time I was an elementary aged student, I sensed that the “rewards” focused on product achievement (Gold Stars, Names on the Board, Treats for Grades, Seating Plan Preferences based on Quiz scores) did more to stall many than motivate the masses. The stronghold of my current philosophy on assessment and reporting, can be traced back to some research I reviewed over 10 years ago, just when Assessment for Learning began trending. This one study sticks out in my mind in particular, is an Israeli study (damn if I can find it now) that followed three Math 10 classes taught by the same teacher. One class received only numerical feedback, one class received only written anecdotal commentary and one class received both numeric and anecdotal feedback on all “marked” tests and assignments. Almost every teacher I heard asked the question “Which class do you think made the most gains in demonstrating learning and understanding by the end of the year?” answered "the class that received BOTH the numerical grade and the anecdotal remarks." Reasonable: varied data would contribute to a broader understanding of performance, leading to a greater ability for students to understand what is known and unknown. More information = greater ability to succeed. Except that the data didn’t bear out (nor did it bear out in subsequent studies). The class that did the best in the end was the one that did NOT receive any form of numerical data… just written anecdotal feedback!
The power of the words in anecdotal reporting it seems, comes from the focus on process as opposed to product. Words to help students know that their thoughts are recognized and hold value. Words that help students to understand where their logic is weak or that show them how they hold conceptual error in understanding the material. I can see how using words can help students place more meaning on improving their performance and perhaps more importantly, how commentary properly stated, communicates the expectation that the students are capable of this improvement. Of course the Assessment for Learning movement has long promoted the very idea that assessment needs to be used in ways that inform learning, not simply to report on what has been learned up to a point especially with a numeric marker.
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck (formerly at Yale, Columbia and Harvard) would agree. She has been working for decades on achievement and success, with her most recent focus on the Growth Mindset - the idea that intellectual strength is dynamically grown and not static in existence. Framing learning as intellectual growth can help students create stronger qualities of persistence, resilience and determination which in turn leads to increased intellectual prowess, further impacting achievement and success (see link to TedTalk below). So on goes the paradoxical behaviour: educators are mandated to report numerical grades for students in grades 10 - 12 but have research-backed hunches suggesting otherwise.
So now my biggest assessment dilemma yet... how do I create online courses in an LMS that equips me with the ability to track student progress in a "grade book," while providing students with little to no numeric data but highlights meaningful feedback?
Answer:
http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en
Well sort of...Three Math 10 classes are taught by the same teacher. For test and assignment feedback, one class receives only numeric feedback, one class receives only written anecdotal commentary and one class receives both numeric and anecdotal feedback.
“Which class do you think made the most gains in demonstrating learning and understanding by the end of the year?
Most common response by teachers: Class with both anecdotal and numeric feedback.
Read on to find out if we're right!
I am struggling to get back into the “grading game.” Previously, my assessment was allowed to be focused on student improvement, often informally discussed but on occasion, formerly reported to parents by a combination of rubrics, verbal and written anecdotal commentary and evidence of student work. Back in the throes of mainstream programming, assigning grades for learning seems devolving. Why is it that I think this way? Does research support my hunches?
I think right from the time I was an elementary aged student, I sensed that the “rewards” focused on product achievement (Gold Stars, Names on the Board, Treats for Grades, Seating Plan Preferences based on Quiz scores) did more to stall many than motivate the masses. The stronghold of my current philosophy on assessment and reporting, can be traced back to some research I reviewed over 10 years ago, just when Assessment for Learning began trending. This one study sticks out in my mind in particular, is an Israeli study (damn if I can find it now) that followed three Math 10 classes taught by the same teacher. One class received only numerical feedback, one class received only written anecdotal commentary and one class received both numeric and anecdotal feedback on all “marked” tests and assignments. Almost every teacher I heard asked the question “Which class do you think made the most gains in demonstrating learning and understanding by the end of the year?” answered "the class that received BOTH the numerical grade and the anecdotal remarks." Reasonable: varied data would contribute to a broader understanding of performance, leading to a greater ability for students to understand what is known and unknown. More information = greater ability to succeed. Except that the data didn’t bear out (nor did it bear out in subsequent studies). The class that did the best in the end was the one that did NOT receive any form of numerical data… just written anecdotal feedback!
The power of the words in anecdotal reporting it seems, comes from the focus on process as opposed to product. Words to help students know that their thoughts are recognized and hold value. Words that help students to understand where their logic is weak or that show them how they hold conceptual error in understanding the material. I can see how using words can help students place more meaning on improving their performance and perhaps more importantly, how commentary properly stated, communicates the expectation that the students are capable of this improvement. Of course the Assessment for Learning movement has long promoted the very idea that assessment needs to be used in ways that inform learning, not simply to report on what has been learned up to a point especially with a numeric marker.
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck (formerly at Yale, Columbia and Harvard) would agree. She has been working for decades on achievement and success, with her most recent focus on the Growth Mindset - the idea that intellectual strength is dynamically grown and not static in existence. Framing learning as intellectual growth can help students create stronger qualities of persistence, resilience and determination which in turn leads to increased intellectual prowess, further impacting achievement and success (see link to TedTalk below). So on goes the paradoxical behaviour: educators are mandated to report numerical grades for students in grades 10 - 12 but have research-backed hunches suggesting otherwise.
So now my biggest assessment dilemma yet... how do I create online courses in an LMS that equips me with the ability to track student progress in a "grade book," while providing students with little to no numeric data but highlights meaningful feedback?
Answer:
- Learn how to manipulate the "Comments" section with or without the use of a Rubric.
- Figure out how to use the points function as a means to track the number of assignments completed as opposed to providing any information about the quality of the work submitted.
http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en