Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Week 1 Thoughts on YouTube Video watched

It seems that we’re not alone in Malaysia in the debate of traditional standardized assessment versus alternative assessment. Even in U.S.A this subject is hotly debated, and more and more parties see the necessity for a more productive and holistic assessment system that also evaluates students’ ‘intangible’ soft-skills besides knowledge, and better equips them for real-world scenarios and challenges. I like what Ms. Eeva Reeder (Teacher at Mountlake Terrace High School) has done as regards performance based assessment. She made scoring guides for different aspects of a project she oversaw and invited relevant professionals or experts in the field to give feedback and comments to her students. Granted, alternative assessments take time to plan and implement, but as said in the video, it is time well-spent (time= teaching + learning). It is important to note that although students are allowed to choose learning projects; high standards, objectives and criteria on the quality of the projects can be set by teachers and administrators so that effective learning is achieved. In my opinion, fair as well as judicious standardized test and high-quality local assessment can contribute to in-depth learning and learning how to learn for life.

No comments:

Post a Comment