WordPress.com€¦ · Web viewIn my year and a half at Fairview International School I have taught CiE Year 10 English Language for two months, while teaching MYP 7 and MYP 8 Humanities

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMA FOR

TEACHERS AND TRAINERS

MODULE 5293

ASSESSMENT: ASSESSING PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE FOR EXAMINATION IN 2010

By completing this form and submitting the assignment for assessment by CIE I confirm that the assignment is all my own work. I have appropriately referenced and acknowledged any work taken from

another source.

Date of Submission

2 8 0 2 1 2

CIE Unique Candidate IdentifierCentre number Year Candidate number Check digit

Candidate Name

JOHN HARVEY

© CIE 2010

Assignment template for 5293 Assessment: assessing progress and achievementFor examination 2010

Your context

(approximately 300 words)

Please give brief information about your context:

Your professional background

Before arriving at Fairview International School in August 2009, I read Law at Durham University and completed by Legal Practitioners Course at Nottingham Trent University in 2009. I have been teaching with Fairview International School for a year and a half.

Your role and responsibilities

In my year and a half at Fairview International School I have taught CiE Year 10 English Language for two months, while teaching MYP 7 and MYP 8 Humanities. I was then given MYP 9 and MYP 10 Humanities and couldn’t take CiE English Language. I was Class Teacher for MYP 7 2009-2010. I was made Coordinator for Community and Service Program. I was part of the team that worked to achieve authorisation of the MYP program by the IBO. In the academic year 2010-2011, I taught Humanities MYP 11 in one campus and Humanities MYP 7-9 in another campus. Currently I am with the Subang Jaya Campus, Class Teacher for MYP 9F and Humanities teacher for MYP 9F and PE Teacher for PYP and MYP.

Your institution

In my year and a half at Fairview International School I have taught CiE Year 10 English Language for two months, while teaching MYP 7 and MYP 8 Humanities. I was then given MYP 9 and MYP 10 Humanities and couldn’t take CiE English Language. I was Class Teacher for MYP 7 2009-2010. I was made Coordinator for Community and Service Program. I was part of the team that worked to achieve authorisation of the MYP program by the IBO. In the academic year 2010-2011, I taught Humanities MYP 11 in one campus and Humanities MYP 7-9 in another campus. Currently I am with the Subang Jaya Campus, Class Teacher for MYP 9F and Humanities teacher for MYP 9F and PE Teacher for PYP and MYP.

Your learners

My learners have ranged from ten year old students to fifteen year old students, male and female. Currently within the MYP 9 my students range from twelve to fourteen. They span a range of nationalities, including Malay, Chinese, Indian and Korean. To have such a cosmopolitan and diverse range of students has been a wonderful experience for me.

Your professional development during the Diploma


What do you expect to learn from this Module about assessment which will help you in the next Module, which focuses on evaluation?

I expect to be able to assess my learners, content knowledge taught in class, learning aims and objectives achieved in the earlier modules. I hope to estimate the level of understanding in units that has been covered in class, and identify the areas of improvement needed in my next classes, to further scaffold those that require it to complete the summative assessment. By knowing the level of understanding, I would be able to evaluate the impact on learning taken place in class. I will reflect further through discussions with my colleagues on how I can help my learners to become better learners in future.

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PART A: ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

3.1.1 Preparing formative assessments


For one of the methods of formative assessment you have used in your programme plan for Module 1, how was the assessment material linked to the content of your programme plan?

Formative Assessment Formative assessment is a continuous assessment, at the same time, learning process takes place.The objective of formative assessments is to scaffold our students so they can be sufficiently prepared to complete the Summative Assessment.

The Formative Assessment was conducted under class supervision, and it was a range off five questions covering the Enlightenment Period, with the aim that students could understand the interactions of individuals, societies and environments in different contexts.

Students were allowed to use a resource that I had created ‘Enlightenment Thinkers’ which is a 20 page document detailing the concepts, roles and opinions of Enlightenment Thinkers. They demonstrated an understanding of the critical facts, and were to develop their critical thinking skills, which was connected to the content of the programme of study.

Through completion of the Formative Assessment my students developed their understanding, and importantly their communication of their understanding of the fundamental concepts of the Enlightenment Period and extending their understanding to current events, to make it relevant to their lives.

For the formative assessment you have devised, how have you designed the tasks and the marking scheme?

Fairview International School runs the International Baccalaureate programme, therefore, I have to cover a certain criterion so that I can mark. Students were given a set of modified rubrics a day before to familiarise themselves with the requirements, and a question sheet to answer. I also gave my student a copy of the MYP Command Terms to assist with their answers. The criterion given to students was Criterion C, which focuses on skills. I could have chosen Criterion A, which is Knowledge, but my focus was to see them develop their critical skills.

The task was designed with the Cognitive Blooms Taxonomy Learning Domain in mind.

Cognitive Domain Comprehension: Students had to explain the meaning of the three fundamentals of the Enlightenment Period and whether the philosophers political theory matched them

Analysis: Students had to analyse the information in the resource, and distinguish between the facts and inferences, and focus on how Enlightenment Philosophy impacts us today.

Application: Students had to apply their knowledge of enlightenment philosophy to modern day examples.

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How have you ensured that the formative assessment you have designed is valid, realistic and workable?

A policy brief from the OECD in 2005 asserts that formative assessments have been shown to be ‘highly effective in raising the level of attainment, increasing equity of student outcomes and improving students ability to learn’, and ‘high gains in underachieving students’.

The Unit Summative Assessment is a 3500 word essay where students have to answer whether Freedom of Thought is a benefit or hindrance to society. The word limit is high, but the justification is that students in MYP need to complete a 3500 word essay for their Personal Project. My co-ordinator and I believe it is imperative that our students gain experience in writing a long essay in an academic subject, where inevitable mistakes can be corrected.

With this in mind, then the Formative Assessment was devised to enable myself as a teacher to see how students understood the content and critical facts, to then apply them to questions given. It would also allow me to see the development of the students thought process so that when they come to do the Summative Assessment, I can use the evidence from their formative assessment to give them feedback, and a reminder when they start the summative assessment.

The time given for students to answer the questions was 80 minutes. Students were told at the beginning of the week that we’d have a formative assessment. Had I announced it on the day, students would not have been in the right frame of mind to complete the task, and may not have done as well as they could have.

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3.1.2 Interpreting and using formative assessment data

(approx 500 words)

How have you interpreted the data from the formative assessment task you have discussed in 3.1.1?

Higher Level PerformersHigher level performers are able to explain and analyse the information that is before them, and show critical analysis skills and can apply the critical facts to a question connected to the world now. They can provide their own opinion and critique the views and opinions of philosophers with justification. This tells me that they are making good progress, and my task is to ensure that they further extend their competencies. I realise that these students are the students with the strongest English language ability in the class, orally and written. I would say that out of 22 students, I would have 5 who are my high level performers. These learners consistently show passion and dedication to the subject.

Middle Level PerformersMiddle level performers are able to answer the question through explanation of the key critical facts. However when the question requires them to then apply those critical facts to a modern day context, then some students can’t do this, and simply write the facts which they think answers the question. My task is to give more guidance in lessons of the concepts and more sample questions so that they gain more practice and experience, and hopefully more confidence. I would say that I have 10 students who are my mid level performers.

Low Level Performers.Low level performers are able to state the main points, but do not think about the question itself in any depth. Some students did not even attempt the higher level question. This tells me that they are more audio, visual or kinaesthetic learners, rather than literacy learners. They are still to develop the higher level thinking skills too. I do notice that the 7 students have lack of self confidence and struggle with their command of the English language, orally and written. These students do not show the consistent commitment required, but perform well with watching and commenting on videos.

From the feedback given to me by students, they feel that some lessons require more video’s to help with their understanding of the content and concepts, and this is what I need to address before they start the summative assessment.

How have you provided feedback about the formative assessment results to the learners and other interested parties?

I provide feedback in two ways, orally and written. I spend time with students, particularly my low level performers, and ask them how they felt about the assessment first, and then I give them my judgement of their work, and explain my rationale of what was expected of them, and what they need to focus on in future lessons. As facilitator I have to look for positives that students have made, and make them understand that they have made progress, supported with the evidence of their work, and advise them on what they require to reach the next achievement level.

The written feedback is typed, because I admit my handwriting is difficult to understand. If it is typed they can read the feedback easily, and so too their parents, so that I know I am communicating clearly with students, who can then relay the information to their parents. How did the outcomes of formative assessment enable you to help learners develop their learning?

Improving Higher Level Performers

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I was able to group my higher level students together and go through their answers, and then provide guidance on what they needed to do to reach the highest level. I told them to reflect on where they were at the end of term one, and to see the improvements that they had made. I stressed the importance of utilising the Command Terms, and advised them to read around the subject and to bring any connections from modern day issues to the lesson. My message is for them not to rest on their laurels and continue to improve.

Improving Medium Level Performers.I told my medium level performers that they demonstrated knowledge of the facts and could explain them, but did not always apply them too well, and this is an area of improvement. The iB hopes to see students demonstrate a development, and so that is the message I gave to students, a general this is what you have done well, but this is what you can do to improve, and how you can improve.

Improving Low Level Performers.The main issue is that students ability to explain their understanding is limited. I advised them to show more commitment and take Humanities more seriously. This means that when they do not understand what is covered in class they should let me know, as when I ask whether they understand they all say yes, but some I know do not. I feel what holds them back is the ‘asian perspective’ that it is shameful and embarrassing to be wrong, so better not ask. I did explain to students what they could do to improve, and this starts with their approaches to learning and their planning strategies.

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Sample formative assessment task and marking scheme Insert samples

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Examples of work in response to this formative assessment task, which you have assessed and which show your feedback to the learners.

Insert examples (of high, mid and low performance)

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HIGH LEVEL PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK:

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MEDIUM LEVEL PERFORMANCE:

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MEDIUM LEVEL FEEDBACK

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LOW LEVEL PERFORMANCE

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3.2.1 Preparing and using summative assessments


How have you designed the summative assessment tasks and marking scheme, and why?

Summative Assessment:The Summative Assessment is the culminating evaluation of the students learning for the unit, ‘Politics,

Economics and Philosophy in 16th-18th Century’. As mentioned above the requirement is for students to type a 3500 word essay answering whether ‘Freedom of Thought is a benefit or hindrance to society’. Freedom of Thought is the significant concept of the unit. This was an individual piece of work.

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Students were given a task sheet which had the command terms explained and a guide for what was to be included in their work.

ContentIn their essay students are expected to include the following critical facts:

1. Scientific Revolution including key people, issues facing their society and how they were solved.2. Absolutism including key people, issues facing their society and how they were solved.3. Enlightenment Thinkers including key people, issues facing their society and how they were

solved.4. American Revolution including key people, issues facing their society and how they were

solved.

SkillsIn their essay students are expected to use their critical thinking skills to explain the connection between the four content areas, and to explain with examples what events can be connected to the concept of ‘freedom of thought’, and whether at each stage the freedom of thought was a benefit or hindrance, and then connect this to modern day examples, then using all the information give an informed conclusion as to whether Freedom of Thought is a benefit or hindrance to society. References had to be included according to MLA format.

ApprovalThe documents were sent to my Humanities Head of Department for approval. As part of the planning process my two colleagues in my campus were consulted. Ms Susan taught the students in the previous year, and Ms Alice my coordinator teachers the 9A class, so we teach the same level.

Assessment environmentThe environment was the class, where the majority of the work was finished. Students were able to continue at home, but because I had seen their plans, I had an understanding and gave guidance at the planning stage. Essays were then uploaded onto managebac.

Assessment TimeStudents were given notice the week before, and had three 80 minute periods in class.

Marking SchemeThe marking scheme covered three of the four criterions in Humanities, Criterion A Knowledge, Criterion C Skills and Criterion D Organisation and Presentation.

How have you ensured that these summative assessment tasks are valid, realistic and workable?

To ensure my learners achieve the requirements in the summative assessment, I have taken a few steps to reflect and evaluate the tasks.

Humanities Collaboration: Each week I meet with the other two M7-M9 teachers and we evaluate the progress in our classes from the past week. When I speak with Ms Alice, who teaches the MYP 9A class (I take MYP 9F), we make sure that both classes are at the same place in the Unit Plans, and we reflect on the difficulties and challenges students have faced, and put strategies in place to further scaffold those that need it. My immediate priority are the 7 Low Level Performers mentioned above. Strategies have included adding more explanatory video’s in the lessons and matrixes on excel to set out the key information in

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table format, so that the information is easier for all students to understand, but importantly gives the Lower and Mid Level Performers a stronger foundation to build upon. This collaboration also helps with the differentiation of the lessons. Myself and Ms Alice ask ourselves the question can our lower level students perform well with the lessons planned, and ultimately for the task. This collaboration helps with my understanding of whether the task is valid, realistic and workable in terms of it has been agreed in earlier planning, now its to evaluate as professionals if I am scaffolding the students correctly.

Lesson Evaluation: During my lessons, I evaluate and reflect on students performance, and critique myself against my own learning strategy put in place after the formative assessment, and I then see how far my students have progressed in their level of understanding, and also how far they need to go.

How are the tasks related to the aims and objectives of the programme plan?

The aims and objectives of the programme plan are the following:

For the Summative Assessment, the focus is Criterion A, C and D. Criterion B although covered in class, is not assessed in this assessment.

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3.2.2 Interpreting and using summative assessment data

(approx 500 words)

How have you analysed and interpreted the data gathered from the summative assessment in 3.2.1?

My analysis differs from my analysis of the Formative Assessment, because more than one criterion was assessed in the Summative Assessment. Thus I separate it according to criterion and then holistically. This helps me to focus on particular students.

Higher Level Performers: 7-10 on Knowledge or Skills. Max is 10 6-8 on Organisation & Presentation. Max is 8

Medium Level Performers: 4-6 on Knowledge or Skills. Max is 10 3-5 on Organisation & Presentation. Max is 8

Low Level Performers: 0-3 on Knowledge or Skills. Max is 10 0-2 on Organisation & Presentation. Max is 8

Criterion A Knowledge High Level: 7 out of 22 students Medium Level: 14 out of 22 students Low Level: 1 out of 22 students.

Based on my analysis students showed that they could use and explain humanities terminology, the key points in history and the key people and facts connected with them. The student that received the low level, was because he plagiarised the majority of the work handed in. I can justify giving him a one instead of a zero.

Criterion C Skills High Level: 5 out of 22 students Medium Level: 15 out of 22 students Low Level: 2 out of 22 students.

Based on my analysis, with particular reference to the formative assessment, my higher level students have not improved, as it is the same five students. This does demonstrate to me that they have continued their high performance, and can think critically and from different perspectives on whether freedom of thought is a benefit or hindrance to society.My Medium Level performer band has increased, and they have demonstrated that they have improved their critical thinking skills, and have begun to apply the facts to the situation and begun to consider different perspectives.

Criterion D Organisation & Presentation. High Level: 5 out of 22 students Medium Level: 8 out of 22 students Low Level: 9 out of 22 students.

Based on my analysis, it is the same five students who achieved a high level in criterion C, in criterion D. They are able to organise their work effectively and chronologically and reference according to MLA standard, with one or two mistake. My Medium Level students can organise their essay to a point, but miss out critical elements of an essay, which interrupts the flow. My Low Level Students do not have the ability to reference according to MLA standard, and provided no in text referencing or bibliography.

Holistic Analysis

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Looking at the assessment as whole, the majority of my students can explain the knowledge, but do not have the requisite skills to analyse it in detail and to view from different perspectives. While they may mention ‘this needs to be considered from different perspectives’ they need to follow through and do the required analysis. Work needs to be done on organisation and referencing their work.

How have you provided feedback about the results to the learners and other interested parties?

I provide feedback in two ways, orally and written. I spend time with students, particularly my low level performers, and ask them how they felt about the assessment first, and then I give them my judgement of their work, and explain my rationale of what was expected of them, and what they need to focus on in future lessons. As facilitator I have to look for positives that students have made, and make them understand that they have made progress, supported with the evidence of their work, and advise them on what they require to reach the next achievement level.

The written feedback is typed, because I admit my handwriting is difficult to understand. If it is typed they can read the feedback easily, and so too their parents, so that I know I am communicating clearly with students, who can then relay the information to their parents.

What issues did you experience in communicating this information, and how did you deal with them?

When marking assessments I standardise with my 9A teacher, Ms Alice, so that across both classes what I feel (as an example) is a Level 7 for any criterion is the same as what Alice believes. We pick a sample of two high, medium and lower level students work from both our classes and we mark and then discuss. We look at the criterion objectives and evaluate our marking and come to an agreement.

I had two issues which I had to resolve.Issue 1I awarded Sabheena 3,3 and 1 for Criterion A, C and D respectively, and she was upset about her low mark and asked why she had achieved so low. This was not a student that I’d selected as my low achiever so I spoke with Ms Alice about it, and we revised the grade to 4,4,3 (ACD respectively). Alice advised me that when interpreting Criterion D, that I should not focus solely on whether there was referencing, but also the overall organisation, and in comparison to Alice’s Grade 1 for Criterion D, Sabheena had shown more organisation, even if all the information was not included as required by the assessment task sheet. I then spoke with Sabheena on a one to one and then explained the rationale for decisions taken, and I also wrote a note to her parents in the school planner to explain actions taken, so that both parent and student could have a better understanding.

Issue 2: Academic HonestyThis is always an issue when students copy and paste, which can be easy to notice. However accusations were made that certain students had obtained parental help. I spoke with the class as a whole and asked that if they thought parental help had given them an unfair advantage then they should be principled towards themselves and speak with me at the end of the day, but also show respect to their classmates in doing so. The students who came to me at the end of the day stated that parents had read the essay, but not told them what to type. One student had spoken with her father about the conclusion, but disagreed with his perspective. I was able to refer to classwork to demonstrate the level of writing in the summative assessment had been witnessed in class by me, in the activities where there had been no parental involvement. It was useful to be able to refer to students own work in class to help justify my marks.

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PART B: REFLECTIVE REPORT

In your report you should reflect on your overall experience of assessment learners’ progress and achievement. Among your reflections on this stage of the teaching and learning cycle and your Diploma project, you should include the following themes:

a. the steps you have taken to research and develop the methods of formative assessment you have chosen to use in your programme plan.

b. The highlights of your formative assessment which you think have particularly motivated and encouraged your learners.

c. Given the feedback from your learners to the formative assessment, how are you going to approach designing your formative assessments in the future?


I referred to my MYP Humanities Guidebook for the section under Assessment, but the focus is more on moderation requirements, but directed me to the Principles to Practice.

As stated in the iBO Principles to Practice 2008, there must be a ‘balance’ between formative and summative assessments, ‘to allow students to practice and demonstrate a full range of skills’. Formative Assessments are a means of supporting students learning. As prescribed by the Principles to Practice, assessments whether formative or summative should:

Support the learning process by being integral to it; Be aligned with subjects objectives and placed in context as provided by areas of

interaction; Gather information from a variety of perspectives, using a range of tasks according

to the need of the subject and nature of what is being assessed; Be appropriate to the age group and reflect the development of the students within

the subject.

It is with this guidance that I created the formative assessment. Having already planned the summative assessment to be a 3500 word essay to help prepare them for the Personal Project in MYP 10, I realised that I needed to give students practice in writing essay type answers and to be able to take their understanding of the knowledge covered and apply it to the questions and extend it to the concepts. The design approach was this is the best fit assessment for our students, and there must be scaffolding in the lesson for them to practice and develop the skills required to perform well for the summative assessment.

Since the AOI focus is Health & Social Education, focusing on a knowledge and understanding of the issues facing society, and how those issues are solved, the questions were structured with that in mind, culminating with the critical evaluation of the quote from Jean Jacques Rousseau.

The resource created for students gathered information from various textbooks and online resources and gave different perspectives and opinions on the subject matter at hand.

I gave my students notification of the formative assessment a week in advance and let them know when it was going to be, so it wasn’t a surprise for them, and informed them it would take place in class, under my observation. I gave students the rubric which is given above a day before the lesson so that they could familiarise themselves with the requirements.

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excited to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding and to work under the timed conditions.

The majority of the class were apprehensive about this, but I explained to them the rationale behind it. I asked them imagine I expect you to do a 3500 word essay at the end of the term, and I give you no practice during the lessons. I asked them how they would feel receiving feedback from the formative assessment then having time to improve before the summative assessment. Once this was explained, then they majority of the class seemed more at ease with the task.

The motivation to do well was that this was a stepping stone for them, to prepare them for the summative assessment and they could see the logic behind the formative assessment. In short the task itself may not have motivated them, but the rationale for it may have.

I was able to observe the class as a whole when they did the assessment. What shocked me was how they just jumped straight into the question. No-one actually did any sort of plan before they answered. This told me that I needed to spend some time later stressing the importance of a good plan. I understood that some of the skills learned in English were not being transferred in Humanities. I made a point to speak with their English teacher to ask next time they plan an essay or question in her class, that the same skills are transferrable across all subjects.

The feedback from my students that there were too many questions to answer in the time limit, and that the questions were all difficult. Other students did comment that they enjoyed writing the answers as it helped them to put down their views and begin to analyse, but they were the minority.

If I was to do a similar assessment, which required essay writing skills, I think I would modify the questions using Blooms Taxonomy and the MYP Command Terms, and reduce the questions given.

The process was as useful for my students as it was for me, as it enabled me to really gauge their capabilities and with the summative assessment in mind gave me about three weeks to let them practice and refine their ability to answer and analyse and evaluate through various homework tasks given based on the lesson of the day.

While the formative assessment may not have been a success for the students, through scaffolding and focusing on my graphic organisers, students were able to perform better during the Summative and improved and showed development from their Term 1 Essay.

In the future, I can obviously create different forms of assessment, more active ones where there is more of a hands on connection. At this point in time I felt I had a responsibility to develop their essay writing skills and critical evaluation skills.

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WordPress.com€¦ · Web viewIn my year and a half at Fairview International School I have taught CiE Year 10 English Language for two months, while teaching MYP 7 and MYP 8 Humanities