Is Assessment of or for learning?

Assessment is a very versatile tool in any classroom. Many people assume that assessment is just the teacher giving a pen and paper exam, the students regurgitating information onto it, the teacher grading it, giving it back and moving on no matter what the scores are. 

This cycle is false. Assessment is used in many ways in the classroom. Assessment can be diagnostic. This form of assessment is used to see where students knowledge of a topic lies. Then there is formative assessment. This assessment happens on a daily basis in all of the activities that students participate in. This kind of assessment can be check for understanding questions, questions at the end of an experiment, or progress made on daily class work. The third type of assessment is summative assessment. This assessment is more formal. It measures students progress of learning from diagnostic learning on a topic. It could be an essay, a presentation, a poster, or any other kind of assessment that will summarize students learning of a topic. 

Then there is also Assessment Of learning and Assessment For learning. The table above explains the difference between Assessment of and for learning. All in all, assessment of learning is a more formal type of assessment. It would be considered summative assessment. It measures students learning growth over time. Assessment for learning is used to measure students knowledge of a topic and is used as a diagnostic form of assessment. It will help a teacher decide where he or she should go next with their lessons. Assessment for learning is much less formal than Assessment of learning. The table below compares and contrasts assessment for learning and assessment of learning. 

I definitely plan to use all three types of lessons in my future classes. Diagnostic, formative and summative assessment are all very important. They all serve their own purpose and are all equally important. I also plan to make some assessment for learning and some assessment of learning. Not every type of assessment necessarily needs a grade. Some of the assessments are just used to measure the students knowledge. 

With Inquiry, Now Everyone Can Solve Problems With E's!

What is Inquiry?

Inquiry is a 5 phase instructional cycle that forces students to use a "hands on-minds on" approach to learning. The instructional cycle is based off of the 5 e's.

The 5 E's are:
1. Engage
2. Explore
3. Explain
4. Elaborate
5. Evaluate

In the Engage stage, students' prior knowledge is activated. This is also where they make connection to things they have learned in the past and to experiences they have had in the past with the topic at hand. Having them make those past connections will allow them to make newer, deeper connections to the material throughout the process of inquiry. The goal of this stage is to spark their interest in the topic at hand.

In the Explore stage, students hands and minds are put to the test. This is where they begin to literally explore ideas and take part in tactile, "hands on-minds on" experiences. The idea behind this is to generate many hypotheses focusing on the topic at hand. This is where learners begin to share and compare their ideas, comments and questions.

In the Explain stage, this is where students finalize their questions and ideas and focus on analyzing the data and ideas that they have collected. The students may share their findings and contribute to someone else's ideas. This may make ideas seem more real to some students.

In the Elaborate stage, students will use the information and learning they have gained in the previous stages to make inferences and deductions about the topic at hand. Students also could begin to make connections to the material at hand in this stage because this is where they will begin to compare real life situations to the hypotheses they have made.

Last is the Evaluate stage. What is great about this stage is that this stage is built into the other 4 stages. This is basically the check for understanding. Ways this could be administered are through rubrics, checklists, interviews, or any other type of formative assessment. This is also the stage where another cycle can be started if the student is really interested in the topic at hand.

As a teacher, I do like the inquiry process because it provides my future students with the "hands on-minds on" experience that I really want to stress to them. I love that it provides ways for me to assess them at any point in time. I also love that it provides more than ample time for the students to work together and share the ideas that they are coming up with. I can't wait to bring inquiry and the 5e's into my future classroom.