Week five - Alternative Assessment and Problem Based Learning

When teaching a language the learning outcomes, that we set in each lesson, are important factors that contribute to the final results that we aim to achieve at the end of a level or course. However, when tracking the students progress, testing if they can perform a specific task or produce a simple structure is not proof enough that they are able to use those structures in real life situations. Therefore, a continuous assessment should take place when evaluating the students’ progress. As John M. Norris points out in his article “Purposeful Language Assessment: Selecting The Right Alternative Test”, language assessment is a process which uses tests or other methods of evaluation to collect data on students performance and then use those data to take action within the classroom, course, program or curriculum.

Students are much more motivated when they are given various tools to work with, when they don’t know what to expect and when they can express themselves in different forms, either through writing, role-playing, giving speeches, reading or performing well in a test. Hence, in order to keep the students motivated and interested in our lessons, we as teachers need to provide them with dynamic lessons, tasks and expectations. The expectations for each assignment can be given through the use of rubrics which are important when it comes to informing students about the criteria. RubiStar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric) is a great online tool which can be used to create rubrics).

Problem Based Learning is a great tool which offers the students the possibility to work on topics that interest them, using an innovative approach in which students are required to gather, process and report information, come up with final products and are given the chance to be autonomous learners, whereas teachers act as facilitators guiding students through this process. This method engages students in collaborative learning, who in  groups, try to answer a driving question which as John Larmer and John R. Mergendoller put in their article (Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning) “should capture the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge”.

As PBL requires the students to complete a series of tasks it also requires the use of rubrics to set clear expectations and the use of alternative assessment to evaluate students’ various skills and their final products.

Best of all,

Krenare