Tagged: Formative assessment
Blog of the week | 7th June 2015
#BOTW this week goes to Dan Brinton for his wonderful insight and dissemination of some research into what makes great teaching. As Dan outlines in the beginning of the post:
This blog is a summary of a Practice Guide by Pashler et al. from 2007, which sets out to provide teachers with specific strategies for instruction and study.
I came across it in a roundabout way via this paper by Dunlosky et al cited in the “What makes great teaching? Review of the underpinning research” by Rob Coe et al.
The central tenet of this particular Practice Guide is that learning depends on memory, which can in turn be strengthened by concrete strategies. These strategies help students to master new knowledge and skills, without forgetting what they have learned.
#neverstoplearning
Blog of the week | 17th May 2015
This weeks blog of the week is great reflection on effective questioning and what the purpose of questioning is.
The blog post outlines the reasons for questioning and includes a range of different strategies that can be employed across all subjects. It finishes with a set of questions to reflect on your own questioning…
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‘Quick wins’ #10 – Formative feedback marginal gain.
Image by @gapingvoid – http://gapingvoid.com/
Why? Returning formative feedback often has a demotivating impact, despite any positive comments. This is a particular issue for Key stage 4 C/D borderline students who find the leap to the next grade quite daunting, and able students attempting to bridge the gap between A-A*.
Possible solution. To direct student focus to improving I have added an extra comment to assessment sheets. When students receive their assessments they now see not only their target grade and current grade but the marks required to get to the next grade,
Resources.
Here are a couple examples of this marginal gain being implemented…
Example from a KS5 Art progress booklet.
Example from a KS4 Computing class.
Outcome. The effect was immediate as students focused on the marks required to achieve the next grade rather than their current grade.A year 10 student commented on the fact that he was just 2 marks away from achieving a C grade, not that he had a D grade. In his previous assessment he had felt quite despondent. It is a simple yet, effective motivational tool that provides an instant snapshot of how close they are to the next step.
Post submitted by:
Rachel Taylor-Evans
Head of Art
#neverstoplearning
Feedback. Please let us know how ‘Formative feedback marginal gain’ worked for you. Leave a comment on this post or tweet us at @nslhub.
Never Stop Learning 