How Do We Know? Assessment + Documentation

I chose this chapter because I was curious as to what some ways of assessing students to determine if they’ve learned might be. I wanted ideas of what to look for as confirmation of students understanding and what criteria to assess students on.

This chapter discusses how to assess students in projects where work might take various different routes for each student. This relates to my prior experience of art education, as students’ work may have the same starting point/ objective but each student will have very different methods of reaching those goals, and the finished product will also be very different. It is also touched upon how art and making has broadened in accessibility, such as how even in lower-income areas with limited materials available can still make. This relates to my experience of art and art education in that it illustrates the diversity of the arts/making. Anything can constitute as materials, and you don’t need a lot. Even in this class it is discussed how as long as there’s internet access students have endless opportunity to create regardless of SES or location. It is also discussed how mistakes lead to discovery, and this is evident in any experience and knowledge with art (and is something I’d also like to stress in the classroom- failure is not fatal). Accidents will happen, it’s only natural in learning to use and developing skills with a medium. It’s what leads to improvement.

This article largely argues that inn assessing project and problem based programs, different forms of testing are needed than just a grade. This leans more towards qualitative assessment; “oral feedback from peers and adults, narratives, and self assessments” (Blikstein et. al., p. 29) are examples. This ties in ties into some ideas that were discussed that I intend to apply to my future classroom, including assessment through discussion and feedback. As described in this chapter, I think peer assessment is an important part of assessment, which can be done through critiques and group discussions. Self-assessment is also important, and can take the form of portfolios and modes of self-reflection, including documenting their processes (which we do in class, either through images/gifs or actual self-reflection). I want students to have the opportunity to evaluate their work and reflect on their process so as to really understand what they learned and how they achieved what they did. I would consider if they achieved their goals and are proud of the outcome when assessing students. I would also grade on quality of work, problem solving ability, and the student’s rational/ reasoning provided to back their decisions. This chapter stresses the importance of finding the balance between frustration and the zone of proximal development; you don’t want something to be so easy that it’s boring, but you also don’t want it to be so hard that it’s discouraging. I want to allow students to reflect on the actions that led to their success and failure so as to allow for experiential, student-driven learning. “College readiness has become synonymous with stressed out, competitive, over booked youth that struggle with autonomy and are more ‘at risk’ than their lower income counterparts” (Blikstein et. al., p. 31). This is incredibly worrisome, and from personal experience I think driven students end up burnt out before they even reach college. It is argued that test scores hold more weight, but the previously mentioned forms of assessment lead to an intrinsic motivation to learn as students focus on mastery rather than test scores. The life skills gained, like creative problem solving and entrepreneurialism, prepare students for the real world more than the ranking of test scores.