Integrating Student Assessment Practices: the significance of collaborative partnerships for curriculum and professional development in a university department

1997 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Smith ◽  
Ingrid Scholten ◽  
Alison Russell ◽  
Paul McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Collaborative Partnerships ◽  
University Department

Chemistry instructors’ intentions toward developing, teaching, and assessing student representational competence skills

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maia Popova ◽  
Tamera Jones
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Coding Theory ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Information Processing Model ◽  
Representational Competence ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Us

Representational competence is one's ability to use disciplinary representations for learning, communicating, and problem-solving. These skills are at the heart of engagement in scientific practices and were recognized by the ACS Examinations Institute as one of ten anchoring concepts. Despite the important role that representational competence plays in student success in chemistry and the considerable number of investigations into students’ ability to reason with representations, very few studies have examined chemistry instructors’ approaches toward developing student representational competence. This study interviewed thirteen chemistry instructors from eleven different universities across the US about their intentions to develop, teach, and assess student representational competence skills. We found that most instructors do not aim to help students develop any representational competence skills. At the same time, participants’ descriptions of their instructional and assessment practices revealed that, without realizing it, most are likely to teach and assess several representational competence skills in their courses. A closer examination of these skills revealed a focus on lower-level representational competence skills (e.g., the ability to interpret and generate representations) and a lack of a focus on higher-level meta-representational competence skills (e.g., the ability to describe affordances and limitations of representations). Finally, some instructors reported self-awareness about their lack of knowledge about effective teaching about representations and the majority expressed a desire for professional development opportunities to learn about differences in how experts and novices conceptualize representations, about evidence-based practices for teaching about representations, and about how to assess student mastery of representational competence skills. This study holds clear implications for informing chemistry instructors’ professional development initiatives. Such training needs to help instructors take cognizance of relevant theories of learning (e.g., constructivism, dual-coding theory, information processing model, Johnstone's triangle), and the key factors affecting students’ ability to reason with representations, as well as foster awareness of representational competence skills and how to support students in learning with representations.

What Makes Mathematics Teacher Coaching Effective? A Call for a Justice-Oriented Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 002248712110190
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Marshall ◽  
Patricia M. Buenrostro
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Educational Justice ◽  
Support Design ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Teacher Coaching ◽  
Future Work

Mathematics teacher coaching is a promising but largely overlooked form of professional development (PD) for supporting mathematics teachers’ learning of justice-oriented teaching. In this article, we critically review the literature to illuminate what we currently know about mathematics teacher coaching and to highlight studies’ contributions and limitations to inform future work. Broadly, we find that four programs of research have developed, investigating: (a) coaches’ activities and relationships, (b) the effects of coaching on student assessment scores, (c) the effects of coaching on teachers’ practices or behaviors, and (d) the effects of coaching on teachers’ knowledge or beliefs. From this analysis, we argue that justice-oriented perspectives of teaching, in tandem with sociocultural theories of teachers’ learning, could allow for more nuanced investigations of coaching and could support design of learning experiences for teachers that bring us closer to educational justice.

Ten Key Qualities of Asessment Online

2005 ◽  
pp. 86-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Morgan ◽  
Meg O’Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Quality Enhancement ◽  
Online Assessment ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Online Educators

Student assessment belongs in the centre of our teaching and learning considerations—it is the engine that drives and shapes student learning. In online contexts, it is argued that although teaching and learning has been dramatically reconceptualised, assessment practices are lagging, and more likely to imitate conventional practices such as end of term exams that encourage rote learning and the dissemination of fixed content. The authors argue that it is essential for online educators to bring the same innovation to their assessment practices that they have to their other online teaching practices. Ten key qualities of good online assessment are offered for consideration and discussion, namely: 1. A clear rationale and consistent pedagogical approach 2. Explicit values, aims, criteria, and standards 3. Relevant authentic and holistic tasks 4. Awareness of students’ learning contexts and perceptions 5. Sufficient and timely formative feedback 6. A facilitative degree of structure 7. Appropriate volume of assessment 8. Valid and reliable 9. Certifiable as students’ own work 10. Subject to continuous improvement via evaluation and quality enhancement

Does Training Predict Second-Grade Teachers’ Use of Student Data for Decision-Making in Reading and Mathematics?

2020 ◽  
pp. 153450842090252
Author(s):  
Marissa J. Filderman ◽  
Jessica R. Toste ◽  
North Cooc
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Math Instruction ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Reading And Math ◽  
Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey ◽  
And Mathematics

Although national legislation and policy call for the use of student assessment data to support instruction, evidence suggests that teachers lack the knowledge and skills required to effectively use data. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of training for increasing immediate teacher outcomes (i.e., knowledge, skills, and beliefs), yet research is still needed that investigates whether these immediate learning outcomes correspond to improved practices in reading and math instruction. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey: Kindergarten (2011), the present study sought to investigate whether data-focused training predicted teacher use of data for four prevalent decision-making outcomes: monitor progress on specific skills, identify skill deficits, monitor overall progress of students performing below benchmark, and determine placement in instructional tiers. Results indicate that professional development to use data to identify struggling learners and coursework focused on the use of assessment to select interventions and supports significantly predicted teachers’ frequent use of data across key decision-making dimensions in reading instruction. Results for math instruction differ in that more frequent data use was not consistent across outcomes, more training sessions were needed, and professional development to use data to guide instruction significantly predicted use of data to monitor students who performed below benchmark.

Effects of Assessment on Collegiate Recreation Programs

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95
Author(s):  
Dallin George Young ◽  
Laura A. Dean ◽  
Douglas Franklin ◽  
William Kyle Tschepikow
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Institution Type ◽  
Current Assessment ◽  
Recreation Programs ◽  
Recreation Professionals ◽  
Collegiate Recreation

Collegiate recreation professionals were surveyed to determine whether, how regularly, and by what means they were conducting assessment. This descriptive study explored current assessment practices; surveyed resources used in assessment, including specific attention to CAS materials; and reported outcomes of assessment activities. Results indicated that more than 90% of respondents were engaged in assessment, regardless of institution type. Professional literature, professional development activities, and assessment teams were the most frequently used resources; approximately 40% reported using CAS materials. Most frequently reported outcomes of assessment were generally related to student staffing. Respondents also indicated that mission statements and professional staffing changed less frequently as a result of assessment efforts. Implications for the practice of assessment in collegiate recreation programs are discussed.

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