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Tip of the Month Flyer 4 - assessment and revision
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Le
It has been shown that when we are allowed to think
for ourselves we often come up with just the right
answer. Even if we don’t, being allowed to think for
ourselves is a powerful way to get the brain cells working. So try it with your
students, to get them to imagine they are the person who is assessing them, be this
an examiner/teacher/assessor etc or just get them to ask questions
One way of doing it, is to ask your learners to get in pairs and spend 5 minutes asking
each other some or all of the following questions, which can be adapted for any type
of assessment…
ο If you were the examiner and had to ask the learner about one thing they’d learnt
since September, what might it be?
ο If I should remember one top nugget of information about the exam, what would it
be?
ο What’s your top tip?
ο What’s the one piece of revision you know, that you think I should know?
ο How are you going to revise?
Give it a go in your next revision class, Nicola.
A good way to help revision this! Ask your
learners to write 5 easy questions, 5 medium and
5 difficult questions, and provide answers (using
notes if required). Tear the questions and answers up so they are in pairs and pass on
to next learner once shuffled.
Fun can be introduced by putting in ‘red herring’ questions. Learners like this because
they get to do some nasty questions – very interactive, so what are you waiting for,
Andy!!!
Welcome once again to the ASP Tips of the Month flyer. This month we’ve been looking at tips for ASSESSING LEARNERS and helping them with their REVISION, etc.
Power of Thinking
ASP Tips of the Month... Issue 4
Easy, Medium, Difficult!
http://teachingandlearning.qia.org.uk/teachingandlearning/#
http://www.buzzin.net/revision_tips/revision/rv-00.htm
Here’s a couple of useful web-link for all sorts of Learning and
Teaching tips. Try them, and let us know how you get on...
Lesson Starts
• Stress the positive. Always give specific feedback on what a learner has done well,
• Remember to give ‘a medal and a mission’. Celebrate what’s been achieved and be clear
about exactly what needs to improve next and how,
• If writing is weak, select one or two particular areas to draw attention to. Don’t cover
work in red ink,
• Be specific. Indicate what action the learner should take in relation to weaknesses that
have been marked,
• Encourage the learner to make corrections. Don’t simply write in correct answers,
spellings and so on,
• Link comments to the learner’s personal targets on their individual learning plan (ILP),
• Seek learners’ views and value their contribution. This will help them to get better at
assessing their own work, which is vital to them becoming independent learners,
• Invite the learner to comment on what you do as well. Feedback isn’t a one-way process,
• Avoid generalisations such as ‘There are a lot of inaccuracies’. Instead focus on specific
areas for development which you can discuss with the learner,
• Focus on things that each learner can change, and avoid overloading them with too much
feedback at once,
• Agree what you will both do as a result. This could include agreeing new targets or
planning learning opportunities.
Finally, think about the last time you received feedback, and consider
whether (a) it was a positive or negative experience, and (b) what
specifically do you remember from it? If the answers are not what
you’d expected, think how learners feel when we feedback to them!
Now try it yourself, Simon.
Not all formative assessments have to be
carried out and marked by tutors: When set up
properly, peer and self-assessments can be
equally powerful and have been shown to dramatically improve learners grades, as well
as their study skills. To be valid, peer and self-assessments have to be carefully
written against specific criteria. One learner may be given a task (such as creating an
information leaflet) or skill (such as handling equipment) to complete, another learner
acts as the ‘expert’ and checks that the task or skills has been correctly completed
against the set criteria (e.g. a checklist of the stages involved in connecting a laptop
to a projector).
Creating the criteria or checklist could become an activity in itself, whereby the
learners agree what they need to include. Once the task or skills has been completed,
learners could work in small groups to identify targets for improvement if they had to
repeat the task again in the future. Try it, and see how you get on, Nicki.
Feedback to Learners
Peer Assessment
Your Tips Here???
We are still waiting
for tips from staff,
so get sharing and
send them to us!
���� Send your Tips to: simon.cohl@oaklands.ac.uk ����
Hopefully, we all help our learners use Mind
Maps and Spider Diagrams as a revision aid,
but here is an alternative way of using them. You will need to plan this activity in
advance because the learners will need 3 different colour pens / felt-tips etc, and a
resource they have used in class (textbook, internet, resources booklet etc.)
First, get your learners to make a quick 5 minute mind-map / spider-diagram without
their notes. Try to encourage the learners to write the first things that come into
their heads, without over analysing. This should be done using one colour pen / felt-
tip. Secondly, get your class to buddy up into a pair, and again try to add to their
mind-maps. This time, the learners can discuss the topics in more detail, and begin to
analyse and evaluate their points or notes. However, this time they need to use a
second colour pen / felt tip.
Finally, the learners can use their resources to “fill in the gaps”, using a third colour
pen / felt-tip. When they have completed the task, they should be left with a page of
revision notes in 3 colours. When they go to revise these notes, they should focus on
those colours that they used in the second and third stages, as those in the first
stage colour are the notes they already know.
Not only will this help them focus on learning what they don’t know, but it can be a
boost to confidence if there are lost of things that they did know from the start.
Now that we are in the middle of revision time, this might be helpful. Try it and see,
Simon.
A useful acronym to help with setting and
marking assessments… Jennifer!
• Validity – Do the answers meet the assessment criteria?
Have the learners answered the question set, or the one they
hoped it would be?
• Authenticity – Is the work all of their own, or have they
plagiarised? Even the simplest quotes from the internet need
to be referenced and evidenced.
• Currency – How recently was the assessment completed and
is it a current reflection of their progress?
• Sufficiency – Have they completed the assessment enough
times, or practiced enough of the skills demanded of the
criteria?
• Reliability – did the assessment work? Could you use this with
other classes? Is it an example of best practice, or do you
need to review and make changes?
Colour Coded Mind Maps
V.A.C.S.R. Have you got
any similar
ideas that you
want to
share?
Send your
tips to the
SASP Team,
and we’ll
include them
in the next
issue. Best
Tip each
month wins a
prize!!!
���� Send your Tips to: simon.cohl@oaklands.ac.uk ����
• Prompt and clear starts, with “buzzy” interactive activities straight
away,
• Punctual starts to the lessons with learners sitting at their tables and
viewing their folders within the first couple of minutes,
• Lateness being consistently challenged,
• Aims and objectives clearly stated and expanded on,
• Very effective Questions and Answers,
• Good pace and excellent rapport with the learners,
• Clear recaps and update of work to be completed,
• Effective challenging of learners who arrived late causing disruption
to peers,
• Sessions differentiated to get course work completed by deadlines,
• Using learner's work as exemplar to peers,
• Quizzes to encourage group work and peer discussion,
• Learners were reminded of appropriate behaviour in class (e.g. not
wearing hats / hoods) and this was given vocational context,
• Activities or tasks to completed during lesson were clearly expressed
(including timings),
• Aspects of health and safety were considered (which was essential
due to nature of lesson that involved setting up massage tables / ar-
eas),
• The welcome back activity was active and allowed the whole group to
get involved,
• The task was contextualised by reference to sportsmen, and referred
to the textbook as a guide for the learners to check their understand-
ing,
• Good classroom management by asking learners to put their mobile
phones on the table as they came in,
• Many learners had access to a laptop,
• The learners were clear about what was expected of them,
• Good use of team teaching to deliver sports massage observations,
• Peer feedback and assistance from more able learners.
Things We’ve Noticed This Month from the Sport Team...
���� Send your Tips to: simon.cohl@oaklands.ac.uk ����
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