While I am sold on the concept that a midterm formative assessment is a GREAT idea, I am puzzled at my resistance to the notion that I may need to change course procedures or expectations in response to students’ feedback. I suppose I believe I have such a thorough and cohesive approach that any alterations might mess with the carefully constructed (expected) end results… In any case, with full intentions of being open to learning something I don’t know I don’t know – here is my (draft) formative midterm assessment:
This midterm assessment will take place at about the 7th week of class during the twenty minutes just prior to a break. Classes are held for 2 hours and 50 minutes once per week so one or two breaks are planned for each session depending on activities/need. Students will congregate in their working groups (small groups designed for heterogeneity of age/education – sophomore, junior, etc. level and educational field – music, PE, Middle or Elementary grades, etc.). I will provide an overview to the whole class and written instructions for the group facilitator (a rotating responsibility built into the working group structure) and will leave the room to encourage more candid responses. They will first spend five minutes briefly addressing each of the following questions individually, then ten minutes discussing within the working groups, with the final five minutes for documenting working group consensus on the final narrative item. The summary/consensus reports, as well as the individual responses, will be turned in to me. At the beginning of the following class period I will summarize the responses and hold a discussion regarding my responses to their feedback and any changes that may be appropriate. The assessment will include both Likert scale items and narrative items.
Thank you for providing this feedback. I appreciate your input and we will discuss results of this Midterm Formative Assessment at our next class meeting.
Please circle the number that represents your response to the following:
Overall, how interested are you in the course topics?
1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
Overall, how engaged are you by the following class activities and formats:
``Whole class discussions 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
``Working group activities 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
``Movies/videos 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
``Whole class activities/simulations 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
``Outside class activities
(attendance at cultural events, etc.) 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
Preparation for class
(readings, journaling, etc.) 1 = Not at all, 2, 3, 4 Neutral, 5, 6, 7 = Very much
Please respond briefly in writing to the following:
What is helping you learn?
What is hindering your learning?
What might we do differently for the remainder of the semester?
Cali,
ReplyDeleteI like that you plan the do a midterm, in addition to, an end-of the year assessment and that it will be done during class. In my experience, teacher evaluations completed during the last 10 minutes of class are often rushed through in order to leave class a little early. I think I would even go a step further and schedule the review after the students come back from a break. That way, they are not rushing to get a few more minutes of break time. I also like that you plan to allow a little more time (20 minutes) for students to reflect individually and then communicate their thoughts with a group of piers. This format would work really well with small groups, but how could you alter it to accommodate larger groups?
Perhaps your puzzledness comes from you experience in education. I, for one, want to get feedback after every class so that I can change then and there, probably because I do not have college teaching experience. I taught imprisoned felons. That was easy. Of course, getting daily feedback is not feasible, so I am definitely going to go with a mid-semester evaluation. However, I do fear the criticisms or being told to alter my methods, because, like you said, I should have carefully constructed my method. On the other hand, what I am really afraid of is that my soul will be crushed when I realize that students don’t like what I had just poured my heart into (hyperbole?).
ReplyDeleteAs for you rating system, I like the idea of the group discussions, but I also feel like that could back fire. First, Davis suggests anonymous reviews. I know she was probably referring to anonymous to the teacher, but I also think it should be anonymous to the other students. I feel like students may be reluctant to share issues they are having with comprehension, or the like. Another issue with that relates to your second open-ended question. When I was an undergrad I had a class where I would have responded that a group of students in the class were hindering my learning. I definitely wouldn’t want to reveal that in a group setting.
I understand that you will have them hand in individual and a group one, but I also fear the group rating, because if you struggled or the students find something unfair, they could bring out the pitchforks and torches. Maybe I’m not framing this right. A more clear description is that the ratings may end up on the extreme end from some sort of mob mentality.
Both the authors mention being very clear in your questions and as a recent (sometimes current) student, the question of “how engaged” one is in an activity and format seems hard to answer. They may have been engaged, but still didn’t like it. Or they may not remember how engaged they were etc. I really like you last open-ended question though.