About this course: The Foundations of Teaching for Learning programme is designed for teachers and educators of all abilities and backgrounds; from those who are new to the classroom and looking for development, to experienced teachers ready to reboot their skills for modern education. With dynamic lessons taught by established and respected professionals from across the Commonwealth, this eight course programme will see you develop and strengthen your skills in teaching, professionalism, assessment, and more. As you carry on through the programme, you will find yourself strengthening not only your professional skills, but your connection with colleagues across the globe. A professional development opportunity not to be missed. There are various techniques which help to assess student learning. This course helps teacher to acquire the skills to develop and use appropriate assessment procedures. Enhance your course by joining the Commonwealth teaching community on our website, Facebook and Twitter.
Created by: Commonwealth Education Trust
Taught by: Dr Peter Keegan, Senior Lecturer, Te Puna Wānanga, Faculty of Education
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Taught by: Associate Professor Gavin Brown, Director, Faculty of Education Quantitative Data Analysis and Research Unit
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Taught by: Professor John MacBeath, Professor Emeritus
University of Cambridge, UK
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
An Introduction to Assessment Theory and Practice
What is the purpose of assessment? Research has shown that opinions on this differ around the world. In this week’s general introduction to assessment theory and practice, you can compare your own experience of assessment with some contrasting experiences from different parts of the world. We will take a clear look at how educational assessment integrates and links curriculum, teaching, and learning. We will then look at cultural factors that may influence the teaching practices of your workplace.
5 videos, 4 readings
- Reading: General Overview
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: Grading and Logistics
- Reading: Outline for Week One
- Video: Formative & Summative: Understanding the impact of timing on assessment decisions
- Video: The Curriculum-Teaching-Assessment cycle: A framework for integrating assessment with instruction
- Video: Cultural Concern: Perspectives of minorities on educational assessment
- Video: Discussion 1
Graded: Quiz 1
WEEK 2
The nature of feedback in improving teaching and learning
Feedback can vary greatly in its effectiveness. In the lectures this week we will identify the key characteristics of good (and bad) feedback. We will explore the practice of incorporating feedback into teaching. Teachers and students have their own views on what constitutes effective feedback. Understanding these views can help you to decide how you should give feedback to your own students. We will ask you to consider how you can best provide feedback to minority students. By the end of the week you should be able to generate your own examples of effective feedback for students.
5 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Outline for Week Two
- Video: Building Feedback into Teaching: Goals/Intentions; Strengths & Weaknesses
- Video: Teacher & Student perceptions of feedback
- Video: Cultural Concern: Perspectives of minorities on appropriate feedback mechanisms
- Video: Interview 1
Graded: Quiz 2
Graded: Peer Assessment One
WEEK 3
Reporting student achievement
Welcome back to our third week of exploring ideas connected to assessment. In the lectures this week, we explore current approaches to reporting and raise important questions about their validity. We will consider the strengths and weaknesses of standardized test scores and point you to effective techniques for writing reports and giving feedback that will actually help students and pupils improve their learning. We will give you tools for use in your own practice and encourage you how reporting practices used with majority groups might need to be modified for use with parents from minority groups.
5 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Outline for Week Three
- Video: Grades, ranks, and scores: Problems with using these approaches
- Video: Reporting against objectives, not test questions or items
- Video: Cultural Concern: Perspectives of minorities on appropriate reporting mechanisms
- Video: Discussion 2
Graded: Quiz 3
WEEK 4
Guidelines for developing and using objectively answered question procedures
This week we describe specific techniques for designing assessment tools. The assessment tool that we will focus on is multiple-choice questions (MCQs), however we will present a number of different formats. You will be given practical advice and tools for creating a variety of good test questions. The key point to note is that unless such objectively-scored questions are written well, getting them right will not be an indicator of knowledge or skill in the domain being assessed. Test-wiseness (i.e., knowing how to answer such questions) increases test scores but this is no guarantee students actually understand more. Hence, care and attention needs to be paid to how test questions are written. Stay active – and enjoy the learning this week.
5 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Outline for Week Four
- Video: Anatomy of a good MCQ: The Wrong Answers
- Video: Valid alternatives to bad MCQ: Binary choice; Matching
- Video: Valid alternatives to bad MCQ: Sequencing; Sorting
- Video: Interview two
Graded: Quiz 4
Graded: Peer Assessment Two
WEEK 5
Guidelines for developing and using human judgement scoring procedures
Last week we focused on assessments that could be scored against agreed correct answers. We will now look at judgement-based assessments. The main assessment method used in teaching has changed from objective-style to using judgement-based assessment. This change has brought forward some new issues for us to consider. We will introduce you to challenges that are inherent in designing and evaluating student performance in open-ended formats in the first lecture. In the next two lectures we will focus on two assessment tools that are often used under judgement-based conditions: the rubric and the essay. In the last lecture, we will explore the concepts of moderation and inter-rater reliability. The topics for this week require you to grapple with notions of accuracy, quality, reliability, validity, and error. By the end of the week you should be able to design a valid and reliable assessment task and corresponding marking scheme (rubric).
5 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Outline for Week Five
- Video: Guiding judgements: Analytic & Holistic Rubric design and use
- Video: Essay marking: Working towards more reliable and valid scoring
- Video: Moderation: A key to ensuring reliable and valid scoring
- Video: Discussion 3
Graded: Quiz 5
WEEK 6
Guidelines for developing and using procedures that involve students in assessment
In this final week we will define two assessment practices that involve student participation: self-assessment and peer assessment. We will provide you with exemplars of both kinds of assessment for your own personal use, and point you to important issues that you will need to consider when preparing your own assessments. By the end of this week you should be able to create peer and self-assessment tasks that facilitate learning for children you teach.
5 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Outline for Week Six
- Video: Good Peer Assessment practices
- Video: Good Self-Assessment practices
- Video: Concerns with peer and self-assessment: Keeping in mind validity
- Video: Interview 3
Graded: Quiz 6
FAQs
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Commonwealth Education Trust
The Commonwealth Education Trust invests in primary and secondary education and the professional development of teachers throughout their careers. Through education it seeks to enhance the opportunities for children from all walks of life to contribute to the sustainable development of their communities.
Ratings and Reviews
Wonderful piece of knowledge
I really learned a lot from this course. I hope they can make a follow up course dealing more extensively on the different formats of tests and how to analyze validity and reliability of test items.
thank you!! I really enjoyed this course, and now understand the assessment process better.
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