Bhu wrote: I thought the group that worked on conflict did a great job in getting the class enthused and willing to participate in their dramatic activity. However, I still find myself questioning the reasoning and theory behind assessment. Please note I am not "picking" on this group but, in fact, I am trying to gain a better understanding of how assessment can be used accurately. I realize the word accurate may be subjective but, for this purpose, I will not dwell on a specific issue.
The question I raised during Brian's groups' presentation was how do you decide what value to give for each criterion? I find myself feeling the method for assessment was based on more of a holistic ideology rather than a summative approach. I find it difficult to evaluate something that cannot be evaluated. For example, the criterion "originality" came up in class discussion; well, how do you assign a value to originality? Should something that cannot be assessed with a value (a numeric) be even part of criteria expectations? A few people in class spoke of making something like originality a given. I found this to be interesting because a teacher may not be explicitly assessing originality, he/she is assessing this factor implicitly. If a student is told to make his/her work original he/she may ask "will I be marked on originality?". How can the teacher respond to this question? Similarly, if a teacher does not require, or make it a criteria, to ask students to colour their drawings but after marking the assignments tells students they failed to colour their assignments, students will question their teacher's sense of fairness (this is one example of a feature they may question amongst others). Personally, I believe marks should be given to those criterions that can be evaluated (numerically) because this is the way the education system works (teachers need to get marks and students, parents, and communities need to see marks). If something cannot be evaluated using a numeric, then it should not/cannot be evaluated.
Overall, I enjoyed this presentation and it allowed for critical analysis of the way we, as future educators, need to examine the importance and value of assessment/evaluation in the classroom and in schools.
I thought the group presentation on “Writing Conflict” had an interesting slant on viewing conflict in literature. It was good that they integrated media resources in order to hook their students in. I think that the progression of the movies with teacher-led feedback (with man vs. man conflict) to teacher and student feedback (with man vs. self conflict) to student-led feedback (with man vs environment conflict) was a good progression that would benefit the students. The method of scaffolding I find is very useful in guiding the students through an experiential learning experience where the onus is placed more on them to analyze the information instead of the teacher front-loading them with the information.
For the assessment, I do believe that holistic marking is beneficial in some areas of your class. There does need to be a time where one’s students are not concerned with the grade that is going to be attached to their assignment. Without the overbearing shadow of marks, students are able to work freely and provide quality work. Students are not left completing their assignment with what they believe that the teacher will like in order to acquire the marks they desire. In creative writing, I do think that holistic assessment is better than summative because of the element of creativity and originality. I do not believe that you can grade originality. In this group assignment, will you let students select their own groups or will you put them in pairs? I am thinking about the ESL students in the class that may have trouble completing the assignment quickly.
I thought your lesson was very clearly presented and engaging. I enjoyed how you implemented various movie clips into the lesson. The examples you mentioned were relevant and would definitely "hook" the students in. Further, using movie clips as a way to illustrate different types of conflict would create discussion amongst students. The creation of a comic strip would appeal to so many students! I create comic strips with the ESL students I tutor and they absolutely love it. This encourages students to be creative, original and demonstrate what they have learned in a fun and appealing way. Great presentation. I will definitely use this idea in the future!
I enjoyed your presentation on conflict in fiction. I think that anytime you can use movie clips in effective ways, you are almost always guaranteeing student engagement. I liked the idea for the comic strip, but I was unclear about the system of grouping. From what I understand, students work in partners and create a comic strip demonstrating their assigned type of conflict. I was unsure about the second level of grouping, in which six students were working together. What further development would they be working on in the group of six? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention...maybe I'm just confused! anyways, I would be interested to know =)
In terms of assessment, I can understand where Bhu is coming from. I don't believe that she is examining this group assignment specifically but just the notion of assessing originality/ creativity in general. I think this is a topic that leads to quite a bit of controversy and I too, don't feel that a number value should be placed on subjective criteria. The problem then becomes, how can we get around this? In today's world, students are so hung-up on receiving a number value and obtaining high marks, that they place immense focus on delivering what they think the teacher wants. As a teacher, I expect quality and thoughtful work from my students at all times, with attention to detail and creativity, but I don't feel that I can place a specific number value on this type of criteria. At best I can simply have a discussion about what constitutues quality and what is expected in terms of effort and creativity. Rather than simply asking for colour in illustration for example, or originality in work, we have to make it clear to students WHY this is important criteria for any aspect of life (both in school, work, and personal life) and why it is highly valued. We should teach our students that the quality of work they hand in is a direct reflection of themselves as people. We could explain to them that anything we offer in the world, whether it be an assignment at school, a document at work, or an opinion or comment to other people in their personal lives, directly reflects their own values and beliefs. Anytime you creat something, you are sharing a piece of yourself with others. How do you want your work to be percieved? What does this say about you as a person? These are some of the questions I would pose to students as a pre-amble to any work they might hand in to me in my classroom.
I like the use of media in this lesson. Students get easily hooked with the use of movie clips and I think it’s a great idea to move onto another form of media for the student work with the comic strips. I, too, was a little confused about the movement of the groups, though that may be a symptom of where I’m at in the semester. As to the idea of including originality for assessment, I think it appropriate, and while it is not easy or ideal to apply a numerical value to something that calls to personal preference, if a teacher does not ask for originality in a student’s work, then students may never think about it. I think we can all agree that some works done by students have an extra ‘wow’ factor that is hard to describe but falls into the category of originality.
Overall I thought the lesson was well thought out and with some fine tuning could be used for many different themes other than conflict. The class seemed to get on your group's case for assessing originality but if you used a rubric that identified what you would be marking and the students were aware of what is expected of them, I think you may solve this problem. Instead of assessing originality, assess effort.
I really loved the holistic approach this group took. Using holistic assessment is really valuable for students at the middle school age and it gives them the freedom to be more creative and feel like they are 'different'. Awesome. I also think that by starting your class with a discussion on conflict is something that would hook students. These students can relate to conflict at this age and have personal experiences to contribute to the conversation. I especially loved your idea to incorporate media into your lesson - the simpsons was my favourite example. Sweet.
Conflict I think is quite tricky to teach and I think you guys developed a great lesson plan that will work to meet all of the student's needs. I really liked the idea of showing the students the different types of conflict through film, and I am wondering if instead of showing the "obvious" forms of conflict, would it be more useful to show the "inobvious"? It might depend on your class, but that is something I might consider.
As far as assessment goes, I agree with Darcy that in the case of this assignment it might be best to use a rubric. Normally I am not a big fan of them, but I think in this case you might need to clearly your define your expectations at each level. When I give a mark for something like originality, I want to make clear that I don't just want it to be "pretty" and "colourful". I also want equal importance stressed on the content of the assignment. Thanks for the great ideas, and I can't wait to implement them in my class.
I enjoyed this presentation as well. I thought you had many good ideas of how to go about discussing conflict in the classroom. The movie clips would really get the students interested in the topic and knowing they would be able to create a comic strip would most likely hold the interest. There have been many comments about how to assess the comic strip, and I must admit I don't have any new suggestions to add. This was the only part of the presentation that I felt could have been a bit more thought out. However, overall, I really enjoyed this presentation and will use the ideas presented!! Great job!
I really liked that you addressed the issue of assessment in your lesson. While I share other's concerns about assessing something like orginality, I also wonder if there is even such a thing. There is the line of thought that there are really only about 10 stories in the world, and we just tell them over and over again in different ways. I mean, so they retold the confict of Romeo and Juliet, who hasnt? That said, I think that the discussion of whether we can ever assess the subjective is somewhat fruitless. ALL assessment (and evaluation) is subjectivity dressed up as objectivity as a prof of mine once said. While originality does seem particularly untangible, it is no different than other things, once you start to pick them apart.
I liked lesson focus conflict in literature. I just would like to say that we got into a bit of a discussion in class and on the blog about how to adequately assess things like originality. This is really a problem of assessment itself and not your lesson in particular. But, it is very useful when these type of topics come up in class, we all have a lot to think about in this regard. There are alot of things, not just originality, that are highly qualitative in nature and, therefore, inherently problematic to quantify in grades. My only question for your group would be, are there literally only three possibilities for types of conflict in texts? I cannot think of any others but three types for all of literature seems a little small.
I enjoyed your ideas on how to teach conflict. I only have one cautionary note. A lot of high school students I have worked with know the different kinds of conflict off by heart and they will happily tell you what they are, but they don't seem to have any sense of what is so fascinating or powerful about conflict. It is the driving force behind our interest in stories and makes them move forward. How can we impart a sense of the significance that conflict has as well?
I thought that this group came up with a wonderful way to introduce conflict to a class. Using contemporary media to help illustrate a point to students is very beneficial, in that arguably most students will be able to navigate and investigate a movie easier than a piece of literature simply based on their exposure to movies and media in their everyday lives.
I really liked the idea of creating a storyboard. I believe these sort of activities that are open ended and require a higher order of thinking are crucial to every teachers curriculum. I believe these tasks (although perhaps more difficult to mark) are actually the assignments that both the students and teacher enjoys most. Providing students with the opportunity to be creative is so important. Therefore, I believe that the sort of open ended rubric chosen for assessment is quite appropriate.
I’ve been reading the comments back and forth in regards to appropriate assessment and wanted to add in my two cents. Yes it’s hard to judge originality but I also agree with the groups reasoning behind it. You don’t want students to hand in t assignments that are generic and show a lack of effort on the part of the student, especially if you are going to be showing them examples. In my experience many students will take the easy road out and stick closely to the examples shown in class, which really defeats the whole purpose of the activity and lesson. My understanding was that the group simply put together a rubric of what could have been included in the assessment and it is up to us as teachers to define terms such as originality with our individual classrooms. It was not a blanket mark but rather an area that the group felt could be included in the assessment. And yes I believe it can be assessed if (and here is the big if) the definition and expectations of ‘originality’ is discussed and agreed upon as a class. It could be as simple as asking the students: what do you think a 5/5 on originality would look like? What would a 3/5 look like? That way the students know and have collaborate on the expectations. We can’t take something out of the assessment because it’s difficult or controversial; rather we work with our students to come up with an appropriate measure.
I thought this group constructed a very engaging and student-centered lesson. I agree with Bhu (and feel that she articulates her concerns and alternative solutions very well), however, that assessment is a key aspect to an activity that needs to be considered. I tend to be of the school of thought that assessment (especially of creative material that would need subjective evaluation) should be done in conjunction with students themselves. For example, a rubric could be created with your students once the activity has been explained. This would make the activity even more student-centered by empowering them with input for their own evaluations. Self-evaluations work well also – if students are very aware of what and why they are marking their work (which, again, can be done with a rubric that the students, with a teacher’s guidance, can create).
I liked this lesson, especially because of the inclusion of multimedia like movie clips and comic strips. That kind of stuff would have hooked me as a student, and I wished I had more of that. Comic strips in particular can be fun, and I think that using both comics and movies gives students a strong introduction to how important conflict is to a story.
Unlike some comments by other posters, I'm not overly concerned by including creativity/originality in the assessment. I think that creativity and originality are sorely missing from assessment for the most part, and so including them in the mark is a great idea. I personally don't think assigning it a number value is really an issue, or rather it's a wider issue with assessment in general.
17 comments:
Bhu wrote:
I thought the group that worked on conflict did a great job in getting the class enthused and willing to participate in their dramatic activity. However, I still find myself questioning the reasoning and theory behind assessment. Please note I am not "picking" on this group but, in fact, I am trying to gain a better understanding of how assessment can be used accurately. I realize the word accurate may be subjective but, for this purpose, I will not dwell on a specific issue.
The question I raised during Brian's groups' presentation was how do you decide what value to give for each criterion? I find myself feeling the method for assessment was based on more of a holistic ideology rather than a summative approach. I find it difficult to evaluate something that cannot be evaluated. For example, the criterion "originality" came up in class discussion; well, how do you assign a value to originality? Should something that cannot be assessed with a value (a numeric) be even part of criteria expectations? A few people in class spoke of making something like originality a given. I found this to be interesting because a teacher may not be explicitly assessing originality, he/she is assessing this factor implicitly. If a student is told to make his/her work original he/she may ask "will I be marked on originality?". How can the teacher respond to this question? Similarly, if a teacher does not require, or make it a criteria, to ask students to colour their drawings but after marking the assignments tells students they failed to colour their assignments, students will question their teacher's sense of fairness (this is one example of a feature they may question amongst others). Personally, I believe marks should be given to those criterions that can be evaluated (numerically) because this is the way the education system works (teachers need to get marks and students, parents, and communities need to see marks). If something cannot be evaluated using a numeric, then it should not/cannot be evaluated.
Overall, I enjoyed this presentation and it allowed for critical analysis of the way we, as future educators, need to examine the importance and value of assessment/evaluation in the classroom and in schools.
Bhu =)
I thought the group presentation on “Writing Conflict” had an interesting slant on viewing conflict in literature. It was good that they integrated media resources in order to hook their students in. I think that the progression of the movies with teacher-led feedback (with man vs. man conflict) to teacher and student feedback (with man vs. self conflict) to student-led feedback (with man vs environment conflict) was a good progression that would benefit the students. The method of scaffolding I find is very useful in guiding the students through an experiential learning experience where the onus is placed more on them to analyze the information instead of the teacher front-loading them with the information.
For the assessment, I do believe that holistic marking is beneficial in some areas of your class. There does need to be a time where one’s students are not concerned with the grade that is going to be attached to their assignment. Without the overbearing shadow of marks, students are able to work freely and provide quality work. Students are not left completing their assignment with what they believe that the teacher will like in order to acquire the marks they desire. In creative writing, I do think that holistic assessment is better than summative because of the element of creativity and originality. I do not believe that you can grade originality.
In this group assignment, will you let students select their own groups or will you put them in pairs? I am thinking about the ESL students in the class that may have trouble completing the assignment quickly.
Overall, unique ideas!
I thought your lesson was very clearly presented and engaging. I enjoyed how you implemented various movie clips into the lesson. The examples you mentioned were relevant and would definitely "hook" the students in. Further, using movie clips as a way to illustrate different types of conflict would create discussion amongst students.
The creation of a comic strip would appeal to so many students! I create comic strips with the ESL students I tutor and they absolutely love it. This encourages students to be creative, original and demonstrate what they have learned in a fun and appealing way.
Great presentation. I will definitely use this idea in the future!
I enjoyed your presentation on conflict in fiction. I think that anytime you can use movie clips in effective ways, you are almost always guaranteeing student engagement. I liked the idea for the comic strip, but I was unclear about the system of grouping. From what I understand, students work in partners and create a comic strip demonstrating their assigned type of conflict. I was unsure about the second level of grouping, in which six students were working together. What further development would they be working on in the group of six? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention...maybe I'm just confused! anyways, I would be interested to know =)
In terms of assessment, I can understand where Bhu is coming from. I don't believe that she is examining this group assignment specifically but just the notion of assessing originality/ creativity in general. I think this is a topic that leads to quite a bit of controversy and I too, don't feel that a number value should be placed on subjective criteria. The problem then becomes, how can we get around this? In today's world, students are so hung-up on receiving a number value and obtaining high marks, that they place immense focus on delivering what they think the teacher wants. As a teacher, I expect quality and thoughtful work from my students at all times, with attention to detail and creativity, but I don't feel that I can place a specific number value on this type of criteria. At best I can simply have a discussion about what constitutues quality and what is expected in terms of effort and creativity. Rather than simply asking for colour in illustration for example, or originality in work, we have to make it clear to students WHY this is important criteria for any aspect of life (both in school, work, and personal life) and why it is highly valued. We should teach our students that the quality of work they hand in is a direct reflection of themselves as people. We could explain to them that anything we offer in the world, whether it be an assignment at school, a document at work, or an opinion or comment to other people in their personal lives, directly reflects their own values and beliefs. Anytime you creat something, you are sharing a piece of yourself with others. How do you want your work to be percieved? What does this say about you as a person? These are some of the questions I would pose to students as a pre-amble to any work they might hand in to me in my classroom.
I like the use of media in this lesson. Students get easily hooked with the use of movie clips and I think it’s a great idea to move onto another form of media for the student work with the comic strips. I, too, was a little confused about the movement of the groups, though that may be a symptom of where I’m at in the semester.
As to the idea of including originality for assessment, I think it appropriate, and while it is not easy or ideal to apply a numerical value to something that calls to personal preference, if a teacher does not ask for originality in a student’s work, then students may never think about it. I think we can all agree that some works done by students have an extra ‘wow’ factor that is hard to describe but falls into the category of originality.
Overall I thought the lesson was well thought out and with some fine tuning could be used for many different themes other than conflict. The class seemed to get on your group's case for assessing originality but if you used a rubric that identified what you would be marking and the students were aware of what is expected of them, I think you may solve this problem. Instead of assessing originality, assess effort.
I really loved the holistic approach this group took. Using holistic assessment is really valuable for students at the middle school age and it gives them the freedom to be more creative and feel like they are 'different'. Awesome. I also think that by starting your class with a discussion on conflict is something that would hook students. These students can relate to conflict at this age and have personal experiences to contribute to the conversation. I especially loved your idea to incorporate media into your lesson - the simpsons was my favourite example. Sweet.
Conflict I think is quite tricky to teach and I think you guys developed a great lesson plan that will work to meet all of the student's needs. I really liked the idea of showing the students the different types of conflict through film, and I am wondering if instead of showing the "obvious" forms of conflict, would it be more useful to show the "inobvious"? It might depend on your class, but that is something I might consider.
As far as assessment goes, I agree with Darcy that in the case of this assignment it might be best to use a rubric. Normally I am not a big fan of them, but I think in this case you might need to clearly your define your expectations at each level. When I give a mark for something like originality, I want to make clear that I don't just want it to be "pretty" and "colourful". I also want equal importance stressed on the content of the assignment. Thanks for the great ideas, and I can't wait to implement them in my class.
I enjoyed this presentation as well. I thought you had many good ideas of how to go about discussing conflict in the classroom. The movie clips would really get the students interested in the topic and knowing they would be able to create a comic strip would most likely hold the interest. There have been many comments about how to assess the comic strip, and I must admit I don't have any new suggestions to add. This was the only part of the presentation that I felt could have been a bit more thought out. However, overall, I really enjoyed this presentation and will use the ideas presented!! Great job!
I really liked that you addressed the issue of assessment in your lesson. While I share other's concerns about assessing something like orginality, I also wonder if there is even such a thing. There is the line of thought that there are really only about 10 stories in the world, and we just tell them over and over again in different ways. I mean, so they retold the confict of Romeo and Juliet, who hasnt? That said, I think that the discussion of whether we can ever assess the subjective is somewhat fruitless. ALL assessment (and evaluation) is subjectivity dressed up as objectivity as a prof of mine once said. While originality does seem particularly untangible, it is no different than other things, once you start to pick them apart.
I liked lesson focus conflict in literature. I just would like to say that we got into a bit of a discussion in class and on the blog about how to adequately assess things like originality. This is really a problem of assessment itself and not your lesson in particular. But, it is very useful when these type of topics come up in class, we all have a lot to think about in this regard. There are alot of things, not just originality, that are highly qualitative in nature and, therefore, inherently problematic to quantify in grades. My only question for your group would be, are there literally only three possibilities for types of conflict in texts? I cannot think of any others but three types for all of literature seems a little small.
I enjoyed your ideas on how to teach conflict. I only have one cautionary note. A lot of high school students I have worked with know the different kinds of conflict off by heart and they will happily tell you what they are, but they don't seem to have any sense of what is so fascinating or powerful about conflict. It is the driving force behind our interest in stories and makes them move forward. How can we impart a sense of the significance that conflict has as well?
I thought that this group came up with a wonderful way to introduce conflict to a class. Using contemporary media to help illustrate a point to students is very beneficial, in that arguably most students will be able to navigate and investigate a movie easier than a piece of literature simply based on their exposure to movies and media in their everyday lives.
I really liked the idea of creating a storyboard. I believe these sort of activities that are open ended and require a higher order of thinking are crucial to every teachers curriculum. I believe these tasks (although perhaps more difficult to mark) are actually the assignments that both the students and teacher enjoys most. Providing students with the opportunity to be creative is so important. Therefore, I believe that the sort of open ended rubric chosen for assessment is quite appropriate.
Thanks for the great ideas!
I’ve been reading the comments back and forth in regards to appropriate assessment and wanted to add in my two cents. Yes it’s hard to judge originality but I also agree with the groups reasoning behind it. You don’t want students to hand in t assignments that are generic and show a lack of effort on the part of the student, especially if you are going to be showing them examples. In my experience many students will take the easy road out and stick closely to the examples shown in class, which really defeats the whole purpose of the activity and lesson. My understanding was that the group simply put together a rubric of what could have been included in the assessment and it is up to us as teachers to define terms such as originality with our individual classrooms. It was not a blanket mark but rather an area that the group felt could be included in the assessment. And yes I believe it can be assessed if (and here is the big if) the definition and expectations of ‘originality’ is discussed and agreed upon as a class. It could be as simple as asking the students: what do you think a 5/5 on originality would look like? What would a 3/5 look like? That way the students know and have collaborate on the expectations. We can’t take something out of the assessment because it’s difficult or controversial; rather we work with our students to come up with an appropriate measure.
I thought this group constructed a very engaging and student-centered lesson. I agree with Bhu (and feel that she articulates her concerns and alternative solutions very well), however, that assessment is a key aspect to an activity that needs to be considered. I tend to be of the school of thought that assessment (especially of creative material that would need subjective evaluation) should be done in conjunction with students themselves. For example, a rubric could be created with your students once the activity has been explained. This would make the activity even more student-centered by empowering them with input for their own evaluations. Self-evaluations work well also – if students are very aware of what and why they are marking their work (which, again, can be done with a rubric that the students, with a teacher’s guidance, can create).
I liked this lesson, especially because of the inclusion of multimedia like movie clips and comic strips. That kind of stuff would have hooked me as a student, and I wished I had more of that. Comic strips in particular can be fun, and I think that using both comics and movies gives students a strong introduction to how important conflict is to a story.
Unlike some comments by other posters, I'm not overly concerned by including creativity/originality in the assessment. I think that creativity and originality are sorely missing from assessment for the most part, and so including them in the mark is a great idea. I personally don't think assigning it a number value is really an issue, or rather it's a wider issue with assessment in general.
Post a Comment