assessment and special education article review

Assessment Methods, Assessment Activity, Special Education, Gifted Pupils

Excerpt via Article Assessment:

Unique Education

Examination Options

There are a number of eminent points and observations about the methodology of assessment employed within Maryellen Weimer’s content, “Making tests more about learning, inches which primarily appeared inside the Teaching Teacher in 2011. This post essentially capabilities as a case study in which a great undergraduate instructor, Thomas Cruz, employed several unusual ways to assist his students with all the process of evaluation. Among the measures that Smith adopted was grading the examinations students took individually with every student, and also allowing them access to prior examinations about the same topic. Whilst analyzing Smith’s methodology, the author makes take note of both positive and negative items that can help additional trainers who want to incorporate some of Smith’s techniques in the future. The overall impact is that visitors and pedagogues are able to get an affordable, compressive review of alternate analysis methods that could easily always be incorporated in virtually any class room setting – even for assessing particular education students.

The theory thematic aspect that Weimer’s article will be based upon is the fact that traditionally, the assessment method involves learners concerning themselves with the resultant grade, and whatever measures they must decide to use earn these kinds of a level. However , the obtaining of your particular grade is not always the objective of learning – which is more commonly connected with edification reasons. The author creates that “the process of finding your way through, taking, and achieving feedback about an exam can also be a learning experience” (Weimer, 2011). There is apparently a good amount of relevance and precision in this statement – specially the part of it that recommendations the opinions incurred once an analysis is given. Together with the answers presented to learners in this environment (after they have already given a considerable amount of reflection to them during the process of studying and taking the assessment), “teachers can design activities associated with test events that may result in better content learning and heightened student knowing of the learning skills associated with demonstrating knowledge” (Weimer, 2011). In respect to this perspective, assessments are only the demonstration of knowledge. Choice stands to reason, quite logically, that these demonstrations of knowledge can in order to facilitate even more learning, which usually appears to be a quite valid point as the following offer from Julia Osborn’s “Assessing gifted children” implies. “in assessment, anyone doing the assessment does have a major influence on the final effect.. assessing kids is part science and part fine art. ” (1998, p. 9).

One of the most salient aspects of the assessment method detailed inside the case study of Weimer’s document is the fact that students were required to present justification because of their answers on exams, and it was the justification – not some of the answer by itself – that was graded and that learners received credit for. By a pedagogical perspective, this approach actually helps you to enhance learning by allowing for students to concentrate less within the correct response and more in why this answer is actually correct. The examination used in the case examine was multiple-choice. Students could actually obtain some credit for completely wrong answers in the event that there was an absolute logic evinced within their justification that linked to their answers, while learners who may have unintentionally guessed properly and could not really justify their responses will not receive credit rating. The focus of this method is really conducive to the didactic procedure because it enables an instructor to get a broader understanding of what students have got actually learned all about a subject. Some students may have realized a concept nevertheless merely miscalculated or misinterpreted a question – and consequently are still deserving of some acceptance for that that they can do know.

Probably the most useful areas of Smith’s example pertains to how a pedagogue could systematically decrease the negative symptoms often associated with assessment. Sometimes, “For college students, assessment often is regarded as a means of competing with classmates pertaining to the highest grade” (The Centre, 2008). Testing anxiety, nervousness, and a host