Feeling like things are a bit more under control for now. Glad to get a chance to make comments on Clark’s blog on Black & Wiliam.
Quote: “William claims that this [feedback] is the sweet spot in improving productivity in schools…”
Reflection: From my experience in teaching, I would have to say that timely, specific feedback is very important for effective teaching & learning.
Quote: “Most educational policies focus on ‘summative assessment’ yet this is an end-point, when it is often too late to influence the learner.“
Reflection: The claim is that ‘formative assessment’ is more important than ‘summative assessment.’ This is the problem with education & society today; we’re more interested in the bottom line than learning. Students need a chance to view & interact with material & one another in order to learn.
Quote: “Marking as formative assessment may do more damage than most educators realise.“
Reflection: Making assessment high stakes before it needs to be is a formula for disaster. Who would do this if they had to deal with the repercussions of the practice? Only those who are looking at cost.
Quote: “Too many students ‘get by’ and seek tactics that lead to good marks not good learning.“
Reflection: This is gaming the system. Unfortunately, the system is set up to be gamed too easily. What are we trying to accomplish? Teaching & learning or setting up barrier that need to overcome by specific individuals so that they can join the club?
Quote: “‘Never praise a child, praise what they did‘ says Professor Black, and by this he meant praise the work of the learner and not the learner.”
Reflection: The idea is that if you think you have arrived that you lose motivation & stop improving.
Quote: “They are critical of teachers that rely on ‘hands up’ techniques, as it encourages the extroverts and achievers but discourages the rest.“
Reflection: Investigative environments are the best to allow for this. Having large group time is often counterproductive to educational effectiveness.
Quote: “You have to steer between being too dominant and too open, but steering students in the right direction is the real art of feedback.“
Reflection: It makes sense to me to establish a personal learning environment to most effectively produce this end.
Quote: “Be specific about errors and recommend a specific positive action.“
Reflection: Timely & specific feedback…
Quote: “They recommend high quality, small, frequent tests that require good feedback. It is the feedback on what they don’t know, not that which the student got right, that leads to learning.“
Reflection: It makes sense that when we point to actions not personal assessment that it is easier to be critical. Actions are outside of the individual.
Quote: “The message is clear – hold back on marking in formative assessment.“
Reflection: This is something to consider when teaching 230. Individual work needs not be marked because there will be plenty of time for that. If more is focused on work that leads to learning, students will remain motivated and do better.
Quote: “Self and peer assessment also raises the quality of formative assessment while taking pressure off the teacher.“
Reflection: I found this to be true in the gamification MOOC that I took. I’m hoping this helps with the 240 course in Fall ’13. I need to think about how this works for 230 in Fall ’13.
What a powerful entry by Clark! Definitely good and timely information for me. I’m hoping to keep this in mind when I teach 230 in Fall ’13.