Unit 1 Reflection

 Unit 1 Reflection

Learning about the different types of assessments made us reflect on our previous educational experiences. We thought about the different assessment types that were used with us, which ones were more or less effective and which ones we liked (or thought were more appealing to us). Based on our opinions and experiences, we think the implementation of multiple assessments types can enhance student experience in language learning. These can also prove insightful on the observable and unobservable performance of the students. Various assessment strategies provide multiple input methods on the students’ progress. 

The different types of assessments are intertwined and should not be excluded from one another. Instead of using a certain type of assessment exclusively, they should be used in conjunction with one another. This ensures a more complete evaluation of the students’ progress and past assignments. This gives the students multiple views or opinions on their progress and not trust solely on one result, one person, or their own opinion on their progress. This can lead to confidence boosts that can lead to more motivation, more practice and more effort put into the language learning.

Relying on solely one type of assessment can prove counter-intuitive. Such is the case of relying solely on the results on an exam for the student evaluation. If one type of assessment or assignment is worth a substantial amount of the final grade, this can cause adverse effects in the students. Instead of the students being able to perform optimally, they are stressed out by the pressure of having to perform to a certain standard or else they will fail or believe they are not learning well. This can cause a demoralization and a drop in confidence which will lower motivation and decrease the enthusiasm for learning and in turn make them perform worse. The implementation of multiple assessment strategies can enhance; not only the teacher’s perception of the overall performance of the group, but also the individual progress of the students themselves. 

 Goal 1.3 To explain the use of a portfolio in language teaching     

What is a portfolio in Language learning? 

A portfolio for language learning is used to keep track of the students’ progress during the course. It can be used to observe the students’ improvement without them needing to take a test (also because tests tend to focus more on memorization and recall than their actual skill, not including the stress involved). The portfolio can be used to separate and organize the items and subjects seen over the duration of the course as well as it can include a glossary of terms or vocabulary that can be useful to the students.

It can be seen as a better alternative to assessment in comparison with the stress inducing one time evaluations. By using the portfolio we encourage the students to review and practice on what they have learned. Since it was It can also be used to have the students assess their peers’ work, but the teacher needs to make sure what is asked of them is clear and concise. There needs to be order for the portfolio to be as effective as it can be, and the teacher must consistently check what is introduced in the portfolio to ensure that the students don’t slack and leave everything for the end of the course.  

 

How does a portfolio contribute to the learning or a language?

A portfolio will act as both a facilitating instrument for assessment and a learning device. Since a portfolio’s primary function is to compile the class related work, both the student and the teacher can find it useful. Aside from the teacher being able to use it for assessment, the portfolio’s collection of relevant work will give the students a place to look back on to find a listing of the competencies they have worked to acquire over the course of the class. Therefore, a student can always consult it when necessary, be it before a test or simply as a reminder of the competencies for their level. Sharing their portfolio is another feature that the students can find useful, for they can compare notes and enrich their knowledge through team efforts. Overall, a portfolio is the evidence listing that one can go back on to study, supervise, assess, and share our progress.

 

 

How do we assess a portfolio?

Portfolios provide a picture of student achievement better than tests alone, and can include a great deal of information that shows what students know and can do on a variety of measures. 

Portfolio assessment allows students to reflect on their actual performance, showing their weak and strong points and observing the student's progression during the learning process, and encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning. 

In evaluating a portfolio the teacher should provide a rubric for the student so they know what they are to be working on. Portfolio can also be used for the teacher to self-assess themselves and just like the students seeing their own learning and growth, leading to a stronger self-directed and reflective teacher.

            In the end a portfolio is just a data collector and the teacher along with the student will choose what they will do with said data. 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Arroway, R. (n.d.). The Guide to Using Portfolio Assessment in Language Teaching: 6 Tips for Success. Retrieved October 07, 1996, from  https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator/assessment-in-language-teaching-2/

 

Cicmanec, K.M. & Viecknicki, K.J. (1994). Assessing Mathematics Skills through

      Portfolios: Validating the Claims from Existing Literature. Educational Assessment,

      2(2), 167-178.

 

Demirel, M., & Duman, H. (2015). The Use of Portfolio in English Language Teaching and Its Effects on Achievement and Attitude. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191,       2634-2640.

 Goal 1.2 Assessment in Teaching

Summative Assessment is used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement, while at the same time keeping a record of how they are doing. This type of assessment is a major component of the grading process in most districts, schools, and courses. (Aka: The normal school grading system).  Formative Assessment is more focused on collecting detailed information of a student that can then be used to improve the students learning while it’s happening. In other words, it is to inform in-process teaching and learning modifications. This method can be used to help guide a student when he or she is having trouble with a language simply by noticing their problems and addressing them to the person. This can be used to motivate students while learning a language by asking the learners to decide which assignments and tasks they will be assessed during the course.

Continuous Assessment: Similar to summative assessment, continuous assessment assesses the learner at the end of the course. The only difference is that continuous assessment provides more accurate and complete information on the learner’s level and has a more positive impact on their learning.

Alternative Assessment is composed of the most innovative and progressive grading techniques. By using these in language teaching, we can keep track and reward students’ achievements in a friendly environment. It encourages more than anything a constructive relation with learning and grading.

Formal Assessment implies a direct method of evaluating the students through assessing  their skills in various areas by using tests. While the methods in formal assessment can be viewed as a trigger for stress and pressure, it also gives feedback to the students on how well they are doing in certain areas or which ones they need to invest more time in(assuming the results of the test are broken down to them). Informal Assessment suggests a more passive way of evaluating the students’ competency by continuously assessing their skills through the duration of the course with mere observation. By using this method the teacher can covertly implement practices on what the students are lacking in and focus less on what the teacher feels like the students have a firm understanding of.

Testing is implicit in formal assessment; the former uses tests so the students can physically view their progress, strengths and shortcomings.  For some students the use of formal tests can be stressful and negatively affect them once they have to do the test or it can become a sort of motivation to help the students perform better. Tests may not be the best way to have the students learn but an effective way to allow the students to view their progress.

Peer Assessment will have the students give feedback to each other on their work, sometimes even assigning an actual grade. Moreover, it makes the students pay more attention to the grading aspects and quality of their own work. In language teaching, this can be included as part of the overall communicative process they practice.

Self-assessment: Alludes to a way in which the assessment process can be hastened by inquiring about the students’ proficiency directly, through the use of questionnaires, self-reports and teacher inquiry. This can be useful when you get a new group of students, when you have to substitute for someone or you expect a certain level and don’t see that reflected in the students.

 

 

 

Goal 1.1 Type of Assessment

Type of Assessment	Explanation	APA Reference
Summative Assessment	Summative assessment: aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically at the end of a course or unit of instruction. (Brown, 2018).   Examples: final exams in a course and general proficiency exams are examples of summative assessment, final projects count as well.	Brown, D. H. (2018). Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices (3rd ed. ed.). San Francisco, California: Pearson Education ESL.
Formative Assessment	Formative Assessment: evaluating in the process of “forming” their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. (Brown, 2018).   Examples: Help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work. Help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately.	Brown, D. H. (2018). Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices (3rd ed. ed.). San Francisco, California: Pearson Education ESL.
Continuous Assessment	Continuous Assessment: is the periodic and systematic method of assessing and evaluating a Person’s attributes. Continuous Assessment of learners’ progress could also be defined as    a  mechanism  whereby  the  final  grading  of  learners  in  the  cognitive; affective  and  psychomotor domains of learning   systematically  takes account   of   all  their  performances  during   a  given period    of    schooling (Faleyalo,    1986). It is often used as an alternative to the final examination system.   Examples: can be used in two ways; summative assessment on activities contributing to the final grade or formative assessment on activities not contributing to the final grade. In both cases, feedback to the lecturer and students is part of the process.	Faleyalo, A. (1986). Classroom based Evaluation in second language education. Cambridge University press
Alternative Assessment	Achievement tests are more easily able to be innovative, and to reflect progressive aspects of the curriculum, and are associated with some of the most interesting new developments in language assessment in the movement known as alternative assessment. This approach stresses the need for assessment to be integrated with the goals of the curriculum and to have a constructive relationship with teaching and learning. Standardized tests are seen as too often having a negative, restricting influence on progressive teaching.	Leung, Constant. (2008). Language Testing: The Social Dimension– by Tim McNamara and Carsten Roever. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 18. 218 - 221. 10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00187.x.
Formal Assessment	This is mostly composed of “tests”. The different types of test are used for diverse areas. There is the entry / placement test which is similar to the diagnostic test, which is used to evaluate someone’s proficiency in something. The progress test, which is used to evaluate the progress during a course, and the summative test evaluates the progress at the end of a course.There is also a proficiency test that is usually utilized by foregin entities on a language or skill. These are useful to break down a particular student’s strengths and weaknesses that may not be obvious at a glance.	Harris, M., & McCann, P. (1994). Assessment [E-book]. Macmillan Publishers. https://saidnazulfiqar.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/assessment.pdf
Informal Assessment	This is a no test, less stress strategy,. Where the assessment is done continuously as opposed to formal assessment.The criteria to assess is picked and the teacher intuitively assesses the students performance in a passive and continuous way.  This should not be used to replace any other form of assessment but compliment them by adding information to them.	Harris, M., & McCann, P. (1994). Assessment [E-book]. Macmillan Publishers. https://saidnazulfiqar.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/assessment.pdf
Testing	Usually used in formal assessment. This can be a great way to get an overview on the students' skills, encompassing their strong suits and weak points. While some may think of the test as a waste of time (saying things such as: I can be teaching or I know how they are doing, usually by the utilization of informal assessment) there are benefits to this type of assessment, which provide us insight on not so obvious facts about the students’ performance. Although this type of assessment may be viewed as stress inducing and it may apply to much pressure for the students, it can also be a reason for the students to try harder to learn and retain the information given to them during a course.	Harris, M., & McCann, P. (1994). Assessment [E-book]. Macmillan Publishers. https://saidnazulfiqar.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/assessment.pdf
Peer Assessment	It involves students providing feedback to other students on the quality of their work. In some instances, the practice of peer feedback will include the assigning of a grade.	Tharwatel-Sakran Peer and Self-Assessment in a Professional     Communication Course: Does Task Type Make a Difference? Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes, [s. l.], v. 1, n. 7, p. 25–41, 2020.            Disponível em: http://libcon.rec.uabc.mx:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.38ffe011e7492e8f54897d1a0305d5&lang=es&site=eds-live. Acesso em: 24 set. 2020.
Self-assessment	This can be a quick and easy way to get an overview on what the student feels like he is lacking in or has a good grasp on. By asking the students what they expect to achieve and together with other forms of assessment, formal and informal, we can confirm their progress to them. You can ask the students to write reports on their progress, ask them directly or have them fill out a questionnaire with pertinent information on how they feel they are doing. This can be employed at any stage during the course.	Harris, M., & McCann, P. (1994). Assessment [E-book]. Macmillan Publishers. https://saidnazulfiqar.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/assessment.pdf