Assessment Reflections

(Module 4 - EDS 113) Looking back on my younger years, assessments consisted of quizzes, long tests or periodical exams. I remember staying up late to memorize notes that I have written in my notebook or binder. I would wonder if the test would be true or false, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks, or maybe an essay about the topic. All these assessments were scored and added to our number grade at the end of the quarter. There was an in internal pressure within me to do good. We were ranked based on how well we did on the assessments. Reflecting on it now, I wish assessments were more formative. Had the assessments been there to guide me and advance my learning, I would have seen them not as a threat to judge my capabilities, but a tool which could help me understand the lessons more. Instead of focusing on absorbing the lesson, there was a fear of failing and not getting the right grade. I had an innate desire to learn, but most of the time I ended up memorizing concepts for the tests and forgetting about them later on.

Now that I am a teacher, I emphasize to my students that the activities are there to practice their knowledge and skills. I am grateful that my subject is Art, hence the students are more willing to do the tasks compared to other subjects. At this time of online learning though, I am not sure if they are the ones doing the activities, since I assign them as asynchronous work through our learning management system. The students just post the product of their labor once they are done. During synchronous sessions, I stress the importance of their doing the activities themselves. 

Lately, I have been rereading this book that I bought before I started teaching. The title is Creative Schools, The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education by Ken Robinson, Phd. I would like to apply his ideas in my classes, he stresses the importance of education and its core purpose to prepare students for life after school. Our goal is to help them build the mental, emotional, and strategic resources to enjoy challenge and cope well with uncertainty and complexity. The assessments therefore should be designed in such a way that it inspires critical thinking, problem solving, and creative thought.  Instead of dreading assessments, we should thrive in them. I guess, this should be explained to the students, so that they know that tests are there to help them in their learning and not to judge them. This way, their view of assessments will change to being friends than foes. Assessments are friends that will prepare them in the future.