This entry refers to chapter 1: Testing, Assessing and Teaching (Brown, 2000)
As far as I recall, in my childhood I used to be good at tests. I did not yearn to be tested every single while I learned a topic but whenever a test, a quiz or an exam was administered I was ready to take so. Yet I did not like them deep inside because I would get nervous and end up exhausted due to answering those summative memory cloze tests. At High School, the testing system was slightly different; just some new formats of testing were introduced such as multiple-choice, open questioned and formative tests . In the first years, I felt at ease with all of the tests teachers administered and with the grades I would get since I was an outstanding student who would want to get awarded for my endeavors in the bimestrial flag ceremony. The last two years of High School, I just did not want to keep in this state of paraphernalia and decided to refuse any acknowledgment since they were nonsensical acts that did not satisfy my intellect. It does not mean that I did bad on tests, but at the time, I was not keen on getting the first position anymore because I got disappointed and frustrated because of the unreliability, the invalidity and the inaccuracy of tests. Most of the times, the results did not show what I knew; they were whether so lame that insulted my critical thinking or were so difficult that screwed up my learning process. It means that this unfairness of tests generated a negative washback effect in my academic life.
At university I had the wrong perception that there would be a drastic change on tests. But surprisingly, there was a plethora of unreliable discourse on new ways of testing since professors gave information about the grade system and ornamented speech on learning teaching process at the beginning, but in the tests I could see that professors reproduced the same traditional patterns of evaluation and testing of Elementary and High School. Albeit, I cannot deny that there were some latent changes in testing, evaluating and assessing that modified my enhanced me to project a positive attitude towards assessment, such as presentations, conferences, talks, essays and some other ways in which I could develop my critical thinking and express my own ideas. With this positive washback, I did not feel an automaton anymore, and became enthusiastic with my learning process because of the sense readings, teachings and tests made in some cases.
But still my point is that at elementary school, at High school and even at university in Colombia, educators are still administering cloze tests in language classes and in other subjects. And the skepticism that I show against this kind of test is underpinned by the following statement in the Colombian National Guidelines: “Nadie en situación real de comunicación deja espacios en blanco, ni añade palabras extrañas para que el interlocutor las detecte y las elimine, ni habla en desorden para que el otro ordene las palabras en frases coherentes” (Smith, 1994). That is why I struggle with this kind of tests since they are nonsensical and non trascendental in real life. They are not genuine tests that can measure our language skills or can help us get by on our communicative daily life.
To wind up, it is ridiculous to still find literature professors implementing cloze tests about readings or books that students read, analize and criticize; I consider this act as disrespectful and inaccurate for people with great mental capacities that can think beyond the borders and who are not willing to face the same memory meaningless tests that were taken at High School.
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ResponderEliminarI just want to add that educators see formative assessment as a key an element in effective teaching. Formative assessment is making a better way teacher-relate to their pupils, and the way of pupils feels and see themselves as learners. The key feature is that the teacher finds ways of helping the student to be active in the classroom, helping the student to speak out their ideas. In formative assessment feedback is vital, the feedback will occur if the learning environment are appropriate for children to discuss their ideas, also good questioning, direct feedback, is an important part of the process. Teachers cannot forget self and peer assess because they start to gauge what quality means in a piece of work. All of these together help children learn and think better. For us formative assessment it is about getting children to be more independent learners, so trying to get them to realise what they need to do next to improve their knowledge. Effective questioning, self-esteem, respond to their comments, giving them time in class to start the process of responding their comments will lead them to the following level of education; also students can see the value of feedback. It is through assessment that students categorize their own work, teachers need to see work objectively. Of course, the teachers have to guide how the assessment it is going to work. Students who use peer-assessment are able to see themselves as someone who can make judgements, who can give advice on how to improve their work and if they can see themselves as to start to be able to do that more successfully own their work. Finally, teachers must use formative assessment as well as summative assessment although reconciling different practices between two while summative assessment are practicing to frequently. Now if they are for making a decision about a pupil's future that matters. Otherwise, what value can they have knowledge? They can have value if teachers use them in a formative way. Summative assessment can be seen as a review of learning to prepare that review can involve pupils in thinking through what they have achieved, which involves all the methods above mention.
ResponderEliminarI totally agree with you. Formative assessment is an extremely good way to provide students a meaningful learning environment since it is an alternative way of evaluating that focuses on the process, providing feedback to students, to the teaching-learnign processand bearing in mind all of the educational actors. I wish I had gone through this kind of assesment as a kid. But what we must do is to appropriate and internalize this new ways so that we can reproduce and materialize them into schools and fight against the traditional paradigms.
EliminarI am gonna always find interesting this topic, all related to assessment. First, I am going to remind you something; we as future teachers must make change that percepcion that students have about assessment; I mean, make students feel that the assessment moment is not the moment where they are going to be tested just to know if they can advance to the next level; we have to look somehow a strategy or a method or create a really good environment where confidence be around all the students in order that at the moment of assessment they take it as the moment to SHOW or PROVE how much they have learned. Sometimes it is not the teacher's fault. Teachers sometimes make their best efforts to make their students feel comfortable when facing assessment, BUT the design of the tests does not help to reach that. The format of tests nowadays just make students feel embarrased and shy. Current test formats does not allow students to show how much they know, it is just an intention to standarize knowledge, something that is impossible to do.
ResponderEliminarI agree with you.I hope this feeling of changing and struggling against the wrong perception and methodology on assessment can last when immersed in that educational system; as soon as people get adapted to the environment, they are used to giving up their crazy thoughts and begin reproducing the same traditional patterns as you expressed in class. Regarding tests, I know that they just prove a small chunk of knowledge, they are very narrow, but they are made for other purposes as mentioned in class: gatekeeping, profitable revenues and so on. I have been an ocular witness of the discreet national tests: ICFES, ECAES and, soon, clasification test for teaching public education. It becomes totally infair when testing our knowledge in few hours, with narrow questions and unthinkable topics to pounder our knowledge and to be classified in certain ranks. In all of the stages that can trigger negative effects for students willing to study an undergraduate program and for teachers wanting to get a job in public schools. And moreover, there are some colateral effects: public education will be affected by test takers who do well in tests but don't have a good grasp of teaching and pedagogy and don't domain subjects critically. That is why, we have to undertake this change and start affecting in some way our educational system.
EliminarAdditionally, I want to share a video that captivated my soul. Watch, enjoy and comment.
ResponderEliminarhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y