building a bridge between theory and practice in formative e-assessment

Building a Bridge Between Theory and

Practice in Formative e-Assessment

e-Assessment in e-Assessment in Practice,

12 November, Cranfield

Scoping a Vision for Formative e-Assessment

• Commissioned by JISC

• June 2008 to January 2009

• Norbert Pachler, Harvey Mellar, Caroline Daly, Yishay Mor, Dylan Wiliam, Emmanouil AgianniotakisEmmanouil Agianniotakis

• http://feasst.wlecentre.ac.uk/

2Yishay Mor / formative e-assessment / http://talks.yishaymor.org/e-assessmentinpractice2009

Methodology

Desk researchDesk research

Literature review

Comparing frameworks

Five Practical Enquiry Days

Combination of collaborative reflection, report back Combination of collaborative reflection, report back from team, and guest plenaries

Launch day, three Pattern workshops, developers' day


What is formative e-assessment?

Formative?

‘practice’ assessment /serial summative assessment

synonymous with learning

Alternative view:

The e?

The use of digital means to support

Alternative view:Formative features of assessment, which are afforded by specific features of digital media 4

Yishay Mor / formative e-assessment / http://talks.yishaymor.org/e-assessmentinpractice2009

OK, so what do we mean by Formative Assessment?

“An assessment functions formatively when evidence about student achievement elicited by the assessment is interpreted and used to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions that would have been made in the decisions that would have been made in the absence of that evidence”

(Dylan Wiliam)


Formative = feedback + moments of contingency

"... These create "moments of contingency," in which the direction of the instruction will depend on student responses. Teachers provide feedback that engages students, make time in class for students to work on improvement, and activate students as improvement, and activate students as instructional resources for one another."

(Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, and Wiliam 2005)


Participatory Methodology for Practical Design Patterns

• Problem• Problem

– Acceleration → need for effective protocols for sharing of design knowledge

• Context

– interdisciplinary communities of practitioners

7

– interdisciplinary communities of practitioners engaged in collaborative reflection on a common theme of their practice.

Son, this was my

dad's mobile.

I want you to

have it.Yishay Mor / formative e-assessment / http://talks.yishaymor.org/e-assessmentinpractice2009

Problem: The Design

Divide

the gap between those who the gap between those who have the expertise to develop high-quality tools and resources and those who don’t (Mor & Winters, 2008*)

8

the critical resource is not the capacity to produce, but the knowledge to do it right.


Solution...(in architecture)


What is a pattern?

• At is simplest, it is a

– Generalised solution to a problem– Generalised solution to a problem

– Follows a specific structure

Problem Solution

What are we trying to achieve / solve?

Cookbook: ingredients, procedure, expected

outcomes

10

C o n t e x t

Problem Solution

When, Where, Who


A burda pattern..

Season: Fall For: Women Garment Type: Dress Style: Classic, Evening Wear, RomanticMaterial: Taffeta

“if I copy a dress, I can only create the same dress. If I have a pattern, I

11

the same dress. If I have a pattern, I can create many dresses” (Yim Ping LENDEN)


As for software

12


In learning / e-learning..


The Participatory Pattern Workshops Methodology


Collaborative reflection workshop

Facilitate on-going design-level conversation between designers and practitioners designers and practitioners involved in diverse aspects of the problem domain.

Open, trusting and convivial.

15

Open, trusting and convivial.

And at the same time

Critical, focused and output-directed.


Collaborative reflection workshop


Case Stories Workshop

Engender collaborative reflection among practitioners by a practitioners by a structured process of sharing stories of successful practice.


Pattern Mining Workshop

Shift from anecdotes to transferable design transferable design knowledge by identifying commonalities across case stories, and capturing them in a semi-structured form.


Future Scenarios Workshop

Validate design patterns by applying them to by applying them to novel real problems in real contexts.


A few cases

• Creature of the week• Creature of the week

• CoMo

• Post 16 String Comparison

• Open Mentor

• ...• ...


Creature of the week (Judy Robertson)

SituationSituation

large class (138), first and second year computer science students. assignment: create a virtual pet in Second Life.

Task

− Engage and motivate the students

− show examples of good work which others could − show examples of good work which others could learn from

− show students their work is valued.

− build a sense of community.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/creatureoftheweek21


CoMo (Niall Winters, Yishay Mor)

SituationSituation

− Royal Vet College.

− Hospital rotations as part of their training.

Task

− Allow students to capture critical incidents in text − Allow students to capture critical incidents in text and image.

− Support sharing of clinical experiences and co-reflection.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/CoMo23


Post 16 string comparison (Aliy Fowler)

SituationSituation

− Grammar school been piloting the ‘string comparison’ approach to language teaching at post-16 for AS and A2 level students.

− Sixth Form level, grammatical consolidation and whole-sentence translation.

Task

− Allow students to practise written language independently and receive feedback on errors in order to improve their language skills.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/Post16stringcomparison


Solution

A bespoke string (sequence) comparator was A bespoke string (sequence) comparator was designed; uses fine-granularity sequence comparison to compare correct language strings to a user’s answer. Students answer questions and the comparator marks up errors in their input using colour coding (and font style) to highlight the different types of error. If style) to highlight the different types of error. If an answer contains errors the student is given a second attempt in which to correct the submission based on the feedback received.


Open mentor (Denise Whitelock)

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/OpenMentor27


A few patterns..

• Try Once, Refine Once

• Feedback on Feedback

• Classroom display


Try Once, Try Once, Refine Once

(Aliy Fowler)

http://pul.org/planet/Patterns/TryOnceRefineOnce


Problem

Lack of immediate feedback for students Lack of immediate feedback for students leads to fossilisation of errors and misconceptions

providing immediate feedback in an iterative fashion can also hinder iterative fashion can also hinder effective learning since students are able to "grope their way" step-by-step to a correct solution without necessarily having to think about each answer as a whole.


Context

Class sizeClass size

− Large (30-300)

Content

− Skills \ facts

Mode of instructionMode of instruction

− Blended / on-line. Computer tested.


SolutionSolution

32

Feedback on on

Feedback

(Linda McGuigan) McGuigan)

http://purl.org/planet/Patterns/FeedbackonFeedback33

Good feedback should -

�Alert learners to their weaknesses.�Diagnose the causes and dynamics of these.

Problem

�Diagnose the causes and dynamics of these.�Include operational suggestions to improve the learning experience.�Address socio-emotive factors.

Tutors know this, but are pressed for time. Or not aware of their feedback time. Or not aware of their feedback strategies

Large teaching organisations are not equipped to provide tutors with personal feedback on their teaching 34

Context

Large scale, technology supported, graded coursescourses

− many tutors instructing many students.

Feedback is mediated by technology that allows it to be captured and processed in real time

Topic of study is subject to both grading and formative feedback.formative feedback.


Solution

Embed a mechanism in the learning and teaching system that regularly captures tutor feedback, analyses it, and that regularly captures tutor feedback, analyses it, and presents them with graphical representation of the types of feedback they have given. Ideally, this should also include constructive advice as to how to shift from less to more effective forms.

In computer supported environments (e.g. VLEs), this mechanism could be integrated into the system, providing tutors with immediate analysis of their feedback, as well as tutors with immediate analysis of their feedback, as well as long-term aggregates.


Classroom Display

http://purl.org/planet/Patterns/Classroomdisplay 37Yishay Mor / formative e-assessment / http://talks.yishaymor.org/e-assessmentinpractice2009

ProblemUsing learner Using learner

generated content..generated content..

�Rewards participation.�Relates to learner's personal experiences.�Window on student conceptions.

� Need to collate works in a single easy to access location.� Learners uncomfortable about presenting their work in public� Legal or other restrictions on sharing work.

38

Context

Class size:

− Small / medium (6-60) − Small / medium (6-60)

Mode of instruction:

− Blended (preferable)

Time frame

− Continuous, over a period− Continuous, over a period

Pedagogy

− Involves construction / media production


Solution


Augmented domain map

41

Example scenario

When using Try Once Refine OnceTry Once Refine Once, there is a risk that high-achievers do not receive feedback.that high-achievers do not receive feedback.

So -

Use Showcase Learning Showcase Learning to celebrate students’ work and provoke feedback from peers and tutors.

Use Feedback on FeedbackFeedback on Feedback to alert tutors to the problem.


Conclusions

Tip of the iceberg

Practitioners (educational / software) Practitioners (educational / software) acknowledge the value of patterns, when served with side dishes of cases + scenarios

Collaborative elicitation of patterns from cases could be a potent form of professional development.development.


Thank youThe pattern language network project:

http://patternlanguagenetwork.org

The learning patterns project:

http://lp.noe-kaleidoscope.org/

The formative e-assessment project:

http://feasst.wlecentre.ac.uk/

Yishay Mor

44

This presentation:http://talks.yishaymor.org/e-assessmentinpractice2009http://www.slideshare.net/yish/eain

Yishay Mor

people.lkl.ac.uk/yishay

[email protected]

@yishaym


building a bridge between theory and practice in formative e-assessment

Education

formative eassessmente

assessment functions

byformative assessment

learningthe e

learning elearning

dont mor winters

emmanouil agianniotakis

transferable design