Article: Assessment in a Situated Learning Environment (ETEC 530)

Assessment in a Situated Learning Environment: A Conceptual Framework

teens

Assessing creative group work

Written for: EDUC 530, Diane Janes, UBC, 2008

Excerpt

The challenges of constructivist assessment

Planning assessment in a cooperative setting presents interesting challenges for instructors. To implement effective evaluation strategies, teachers must be clear on what tasks will be assessed, what procedures will be used, and how the tasks and assessment procedures will correspond. Three types of assessment are typically used (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1998):

  1. Diagnostic assessment (pre-testing): refers to student’s actual level of knowledge and skills
  2. Formative assessment: monitors students’ progress toward learning goals
  3. Summative assessment: provides data to judge the final level of students’ learning

This table is an example (taken from my own situated learning assessment experimentation) of the relationships between the three main assessment types and tasks designed to create a public service announcement (PSA) in a digital film communication Grade 10 class. 

Table 1: Relationship between tasks and assessment types

Task

Assessment Type

Activity

 

PSA  diagnostic formative summative Students work in crews
Brainstorming     Accessing previous knowledge
Initial presentationof concept to class     Integrating feedback throughcollaboration
Research     Analysing data: widening cognitive references
Script writing     Reconstructing andconsolidating concepts
Story board development     Presenting concepts visually
Filming      Applying technology to construct evidence of knowledge
Editing      Applying technology to construct evidence of knowledge
Written pitch     Synthesising knowledge
Oral pitch / Public Screening     Pitching film to audience &articulating concepts
Final productPSA (1 min)     Screening & presenting finished film

(Drolet, C., Digital Film Communication Program, C.H.S., 2008)

This type of production can be conducted in the spirit of a situated learning philosophy. The students are exposed to other student films as an introduction to the project (Tomas, 2000). They become part of a community of practice by participating in film festivals and sending their films as entries.

(To read the complete paper, click: ETEC530-cdrolet-A1)

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