![]() When I think about designing for student-centered assessment, I think about offering multiple means of demonstrating understanding of the material. I think about providing students with alternative options than traditional means in order to accurately measure learned content in ways that remove test anxiety and are set-up for all students to “put their best foot forward”. Student weakness in one area, such as test-taking should not affect student grading on a completely unrelated student assessment. For example if a student has a hard time understanding multiple choice questions due to wording or format, that student may be disadvantaged during a multiple choice test even though the material being assessed is completely unrelated to the assessment format. Additionally, many students have problems with test anxiety that might affect performance, which is unrelated to the material that needs to be assessed. ![]() In an online lesson project, I designed an assessment that incorporated student-centered assessment design features by incorporating student choice in the format their project would be submitted. The assessment is designed to gauge student understanding on general principles of stories: having a beginning, middle, and end, as well as to gauge student learning related to the differences between fiction and non-fiction. The assessment was for students to create a story whether fiction or non-fiction and present it in whatever format the student was interested in. Students were given explicit instructions on the elements required: a beginning, middle, end, character(s), and setting. Students were told that they were to determine whether the story was fiction or non-fiction, and what elements of the story led them to that decision. In this way, students were given explicit direction on the required elements of the project assessment, while also being given the student choice to determine how they would present their story. Students were given the freedom for creative expression in their storytelling as well as their means of delivery of the storytelling. Students were also given explicit instructions on required elements, so that students would know what was expected in their projects. ![]() Another element that I believe is important to student-centered assessment is the design of environments in which students are prompted to think through material learned and think through their learning process. In my online lesson project, part of the student requirements is for the student to demonstrate the reasoning behind why they classify a book as fiction or non-fiction. This gives students and opportunity to think through their mental processes and have a deeper understanding of why they think the way they do about a specific book. After the assessment students, are then asked to think about their favorite book and to categorize that as fiction or non-fiction and share that with others. The main concern of student-centered assessment is the growth of the student. Assessment can be used to encourage student learning and not be seen as a valuation of the student or the student’s intelligence, but rather an indicator of areas that the student can look for more growth opportunities in. Student-centered assessment is about rethinking what assessment’s purpose is for, and recognizing assessment should be constructed in such a way that it is a benefit to the learner and the learning environment as a whole.
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This week, I have explored many resources related to the importance of equity and Universal Design for all Learners. While watching a video on the importance of viewing student Funds of Knowledge as assets in the classroom, I learned that the graduation rates among migrant students are very low, about half. This information struck me as a testament to the lack of support students from different cultural backgrounds must experience. It is clear that supporting learners from diverse backgrounds is critical in the educational environment. Online and Blended Learning brings with it potential for great good to be done in providing equitable access to education for all learners through Open Education Resources such as the OER Commons website, OER Commons . However, this structure for learning also brings with it a number of challenges that must be addressed. The largest challenge for learners and educators is access to content in a Blended & Online format. Learners can be provided with tools that enhance their learning and exciting opportunities to explore content in new ways impossible without technology, but if learners cannot access that content due to lack of resources, existing inequality is greatly exacerbated. Lack of access could be caused due to lack of the tools needed to interact with the content: reliable technology devices- computers or tablets, internet, community resources-library device access. Another challenge that can limit learner access is the technology history of the learner. With each device or resource, there is a learning curve for a user to familiarize themselves with how to use it. If learners are expected to use technology resources that they are unfamiliar with in order to learn content, what is required to participate for that student is unequal to what is required for a student already familiar with the tech. As this is the most critical component to providing a learning environment for all students, these needs must be addressed before the first lesson begins in the online learning environment. For myself, learning about individual student needs is of the highest importance. Students from every cultural background with diverse experiences and individual strengths should be supported and afforded the greatest opportunity to learn and grow as possible. Diverse learners have vast cultural resources that will enrich the classroom as a welcoming classroom environment opens up to them. Therefore, identifying diverse individual learner needs and providing necessary supports in order to provide student-centered teaching to support all learners is my personal goal. Other Resources
Teaching in online and blended environments allow for personalization of a student learning path that optimizes the time spent by both the teacher and the learner. Despite its many benefits, utilizing blended and online environments for learning also requires understanding differences from the in-class structure, in order to navigate possible pitfalls and provide learners with an environment in which they can connect with content, the teacher, and their peers.
Another important aspect that differs between online and blended environments and the face-to-face classroom is the way in which discussions and collaborations take place. While in a face-to-face classroom these activities can flow very easily with little direction from the teacher, in an online or blended environment, learners may require specific prompts, clear expectations delineated, and time frames for responses to be made explicit for students. Discussions and collaborative activities in an online and blended environment create the opportunity for participation from all students, not just vocal ones, and allow students time to reflect before posting comments. These aspects of such discussions and collaborations can be an asset for learners provided that activities are designed appropriately by the teacher.
As a pre-service teacher, I look forward to utilizing the benefits of online and blended learning that allow for greater student personalization in learning paths, flexibility that allows for competency-based learning, and the benefits of utilizing online discussion and collaboration aspects of online and blended learning. I have already been able to see individualized learning path activities being used in a 3rd grade classroom for math enrichment that is geared towards students individualized needs. I have also been able to create technology tutorials for use when creating my online lesson project. Tutorials such as these could support students with using technology that they aren’t comfortable with yet, as well as demonstrating to student’s parents how to use different technologies to support their child. I find the flexibility that is demonstrated through student individualized learning paths to be exciting for student competency-based learning. My professional development goals are to explore the ways in which utilizing online and blended learning experiences can enrich student learning through personalization, collaborative activities, flexibility, increased time for one-on-one teacher/student interaction, and improved accessibility for the student to the teacher. Other resources
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AuthorHello, I am Katrina Stancombe, a senior at Indiana University finishing up an Elementary Education Degree with an additional license in Blended and Online Learning. Archives
December 2022
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