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One of the shortcomings of assessment
is that
we did not always assess in ways that suited the abilities of all learners.
Other than in practical subjects which have practical exams,
assessment has largely tested memory, some understanding and
less application and it has done so almost exclusively in
test or exam situations where the learners have had to write
answers. This has been very limiting and discriminating against
learners with learning disabilities and learners with poorly
developed writing skills. Yet, we often see these same learners
shining in other aspects of school life where these limitations
are not imposed on them.
In more recent years we, as teachers, have
become more aware of factors of diversity such as multiple
intelligence (as proposed by Gardner, amongst others), brain
theory and learning styles. We have also become more aware
of types of thinking as proposed by Bloom, amongst others.
Although all of these serve to heighten our awareness of diversity
we should guard against unnecessarily classifying learners
according to the categories to which these theories refer.
However they do cause us to pause and think about our assessment
practice and to what extent not only our assessment, but also
our teaching, caters for the diversity of learning needs.
Multiple intelligences
As we look at a brief overview of multiple
intelligence consider how knowledge of these intelligences
can influence your assessment practice. Consult the list of
what you assess that you compiled in Activity 2.
Click
here for a brief overview of Gardner's Multiple Intelligence
Theory.
What we know about learning
When looking at this brief overview of some
learning theory and how these could affect our teaching and
assessment practice remember that this is just a brief overview
and that the purpose in this instance is to focus on new possiblities
for assessment, and not to critique the actual learning theory.
For this reason we assume that the theories are suitably accepted
in educational circles.
Click
here to read about how some learning theories can affect our
assessment practice.
Learning styles are perhaps a bit more contentious.
Remember that you should guard against classifying learners
strictly according to these categories. Consider how knowledge
about such diversity can affect the way in which we introduce
diversity in teaching and assessment practice.
Click
here to read about the learning styles.
Taxonomy of thinking skills
Click
here to read through Bloom's Taxonomy. For specific examples
of how Bloom's taxonomy influences the way in which we ask
questions, we refer you to James Burton's questions on Ecology,
Food
Advertising and Nutrition.
Let us look at how use can be made of Bloom'
s categories of thinking skills to influence the way in which
we assess. We will use
the example on food advertising. The assessment is given in
the form of questions. The questions would give the educator
the opportunity to make use of formative assessment and provide
feedback about the development of skills and understanding.
Click
here to see another example of how we link Bloom's categories
to specific assessment activities
In summary
Consider these examples of questions that
one could pose to learners and the related diversity of activities
that could result. Analyse how each example makes allowances
for learning styles, multiple intelligence and types of thinking. Click
here to read and analyse the examples of questions and activities.
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Module Outline
