CU3820 Principles of Assessment in Lifelong learning Essay

1.1: Explain the types of assessment used in lifelong learning. To ‘Measure (assess) the breadth and depth of learning’ (Geoff Petty 1998) I, as a teacher must ensure that my students will understand the targets and goals set for them. This is achieved by using assessment practises. ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning’ breaks down the structure of assessing and learning thus: †¢ Creating †¢ Evaluating †¢ Analysing †¢ Applying †¢ Understanding †¢ Remembering These methods also enable me, as a teacher to measure success within the classroom. To evaluate whether learning is taking place, there are three assessment methods to use. Initial Assessment: To assess the learning capabilities of the learner an initial assessment will take place. This will enable me to determine whether there are any learning difficulties that may affect the learning and teaching process. Once any difficulties are found the relevant support can be given to the learner. Formative Assessment: This method is used to monitor the learning progress of the learners during the course. It will enable me to provide feedback on their progress and also give the learner the opportunity to give me feedback on my performance. This method can also highlight ant problems that may need o be addressed. Summative Assessment; Summative assessments takes place at the end of each course or learning session. It will assess to what extent learning has been achieved and to enable me to re-evaluate my own teaching methods. This will allow verifiers to assign course grades and certification. 1.2 EXPLAIN THE USE OF METHODS OF ASSESSMENT IN LIFELONG LEARNING To explain how assessments show progress and achievement, it is essential to learn what an assessment is. Assessment for learning is a term used to describe how evidence of student learning is recorded by me the teacher and is used by both students and teachers to decide where a student is within their learning and what they need to do better or to keep to the level that they are working at. Assessment for learning is a very effective way to put on record that learning and good teaching are being achieved. Assessment for learning is a joint process between student and teacher where both are engaged in an on-going process of student progress and development. The assessment to use will depend on the subject in my case spanish and any requirements of the organisations involved. Although all teachers should use some initial assessment to identify needs of the learner and to see if they have any previous experience in the language work set to them which in my subject would be spanish. Assessment methods can be recorded for group or individualls to reflect on the ability of the students. The student or learning group and the activities you select and the learning outcomes might affect your choice of assessment methods in a lesson. Formative assessment takes place during learning with the purpose of improving learning and involves me as the teacher giving feed back into the learning process to help me as the teacher, to decide whether a student is ready to move on or needs to practice what is being learnt, or has still yet to learn. It is usually the teacher’s final decision as to whether a student is ready to move on to the next stage of the course. Formative assessment can take a variety of forms; peer and self assessment, verbal and written, questioning and marking. Summative assessment happens at the end of a course. To measure and talk to the student/groups about what they have learned so far in the lessons. Summative learning is less about informing and improving the learning process but more about measuring the end result; for example end of year exam. 1.3 Compare the strengths and limitations of assessment methods to meet individual learner needs Student questioning is an effective way for engaging students within the learning process, obtaining existing knowledge of the chosen course and demonstrating, thinking and understanding of the students enables me to informally yet formatively assess their knowledge and the understanding of the progress the student is making with their studying. For example; at the beginning of my micro teach session, which was a De-fragmentation learning exercise, I asked the group if any of them had any previous experiences. This aided me in what level to teach the group. A good ice-breaker can be used as a group activity, as in my micro teach i got the group to exchange questions and answers with the person next to them to get the group engaged. I then dealt with each learner individually by asking them how they were getting on and if they understood the subject. This simple but effective method engaged the group, then I could address the learners individually and provide individual needs for the said learner. David Miliband stated: ‘We need to do more than engage and empower pupils and parents in the selection of a school: their engagement has to be effective in the day-to-day processes of education, at the heart of the way schools create partnerships with professional teachers and support staff to deliver tailor-made services, In other words we need to embrace individual empowerment within as well as between schools.’ References: Milliband,D (2004)’Personalised learning meeting individual learner needs’ Published by The Learning and kills Network 2. Understand ways to involve learners in the assessment process. 2.1. Explain ways to involve the learner in the assessment process. Carol Boston says ‘Black and William (1998b) define assessment broadly to include all activities that teachers and students undertake to get information that can be used diagnostically to alter teaching and learning. Under this definition, assessment encompasses teacher observation, classroom discussion, and analysis of student work, including homework and tests. Assessments become formative when the information is used to adapt teaching and learning to meet student need.† Where and how do we include students in the formative assessment process? What is the role of technology in this feedback cycle?’ Formative assessment, as I understand it, is an on-going process where both teachers and students evaluate assessment evidence in order to make adjustments to their teaching and learning. Robert Marzano has called it â€Å"one of the more powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.† The formative assessment process can strengthen students’ abilities to assess their own progress, to set and evaluate their own learning goals, and to make adjustments accordingly. Formative assessment can also elicit valuable feedback from students about what teachers are doing effectively and what they could do better. Student Self-Assessment and Reflection Activities which promote meta-cognitive thinking and ask students to reflect on their learning processes are key to the formative assessment process. When students are asked to think about what they have learned and how they have learned it (the learning strategies they’ve used), they are better able to understand their own learning processes and can set new goals for themselves. Students can reflect on their learning in many ways: answering a set of questions, drawing a picture or set of pictures to represent their learning process, talking with a partner, keeping a learning log or journal, etc. Goal Sheets Having students set their own goals and evaluate their progress toward achieving them is an effective part of the formative assessment process. Goal setting has a positive effect on student motivation and learning when the goals are specific and performance based, relatively short-term, and moderately difficult. Goal sheets are an effective way to help students set goals and track their progress. It is best to identify specific goals. For example, â€Å"I will read in English for 20 minutes each night† is more specific than â€Å"I will read more.† Also, goals need to be achievable in a short period of time and not impossibly difficult. The teacher can model how to set effective goals and also how to evaluate one’s progress toward achieving them by asking students to periodically write or talk about what they have achieved, what they still would like to achieve, and how they will do it. 2.2. Explain the role of peer and self-assessment in the assessment programme F. Dochy (2006) said ‘The growing demand for lifelong learners and reflective practitioners has stimulated a re-evaluation of the relationship between learning and its assessment, and has influenced to a large extent the development of new assessment forms such as self-, peer, and co-assessment. Three questions are discussed: (1) what are the main findings from research on new assessment forms such as self-, peer and co-assessment; (2) in what way can the results be brought together; and (3) what guidelines for educational practitioners can be derived from this body of knowledge? A review of literature, based on the analysis of 63 studies, suggests that the use of a combination of different new assessment forms encourages students to become more responsible and reflective. The article concludes with some guidelines for practitioners.’ Principles for using self and peer assessment 1. The purpose for using self and peer assessment should be explicit for staff and students A major reason for using self and peer assessment is for its role in developing students’ skills in improving learning and in helping students to improve their performance on assessed work. Additionally, it has a place as a means of summative assessment. 2. There is no reason why peer and self assessment should not contribute to summative assessment In many such cases such assessment will not contribute a major proportion of the mark until it has been well tried and tested. However, in a well-regulated scheme, there is no reason to limit the proportion of the marks involved. It is particularly important that the principles below are noted. 3. Moderation For any situation in which the mark from peer or self assessment contributes towards the final mark of the module, the member of staff should maintain the right to moderate student-allocated marks. The initial step in alteration of a student-allocated mark may be negotiation with the student(s) concerned. 4. Instances of unfair or inappropriate marking need to be dealt with sensitively Any instances of collusive (‘friendship’) marking need to be dealt with sensitively and firmly. 5. The quality of feedback on student work must be maintained In situations of self and peer assessment, students are usually in a position to learn more than from situations of tutor-marked work. They learn from their engagement in assessing and frequently from oral, in addition to written feedback. However, the tutor should monitor the feedback and, where appropriate, elaborate it to ensure that students receive fair and equal treatment. 6. Assessment procedures should always involve use of well-defined, publicly-available assessment criteria While this is true of all assessment, it is particularly true where relatively inexperienced assessors (students) are involved. The assessment criteria may be developed by the tutor, but greater value is gained from the procedure if students are involved in developing the criteria themselves. 7. Involvement of students in assessment needs careful planning Many students see assessment as a job for staff, but at a later stage they are likely to recognise the benefits to their academic learning and skill development. Initial efforts will take time and tutor support. For these reasons, it is preferable that the use of peer and self assessment is seen as a strategy to improve learning and assessment across a whole programme. The common situation is for these assessment procedures to appear in isolated modules, often not at level 1. 8. Self and peer assessment procedures should be subject to particularly careful monitoring and evaluation from the tutor and students’ point of view It can take time for such procedures to run smoothly and for this reason, the initial involvement of relatively few marks – or solely formative assessment is wise. Student feedback to the tutor on the procedure will be important. 9. The use of peer and self assessment should be recognised as skill development in itself Such procedures are not just another means of assessment but represent the development of self-appraisal/evaluative, analytical, critical and reflective skills. These are important as employability skills and can be recognised in the learning outcomes of a module. References: Dochy,F (2006) Studies in Higher Education. Published by Web of Science(2006) 3.1. Explain the need to keep records of assessment of learning. Record keeping is part of the role and responsibility of the tutor and some often these records are required by law or codes of practice in the institution or industry. But there are boundaries and legislation regarding what can be collected and kept and how it can be used. The Data Protection Act 1998 states that records must be kept securely, be relevant and not excessive, accurate and up to date and not kept for longer than necessary. Students can request a copy of all information held about them under The Freedom of Information Act 2000. All important things to bear in mind. The need for keeping records I like that you are forced to think about why there are these records, not just what they are or how they work. Why are these records being kept, to what end? †¢ Track progress †¢ Prove achievement †¢ Identify issues such as low attendance / learning difficulties †¢ Ensure all sections of course have been completed It could be that a lot of these are required by your institution. But I’m not sure that’s the best answer: â€Å"because I have to†. Take it one step further back and think about why the organisation requires you to keep or submit them. Once you’ve thought about what records you need then it is on to how you collect and categorise that information. The types of records you would maintain A lot of this focuses more on the pastoral side, which I think is nice. Make sure you show a variety of types of records, to show you have thought about the full spectrum: †¢ Attendance and assessment †¢ Everything in between †¢ Tutorials, one to ones, learning reviews / goals / plans 3.2. Summarize requirements for keeping records of assessment in an organisation. Recording and Keeping Assessment Results Most organisations have a process in place for recording the results of assessments, and so does your Registered Training Organisation. It is not uncommon as well for assessors to maintain their own records in case of any follow up or appeals. A generic approach would be: †¢ Assessor either records or passes on the results for recording †¢ Assessor checks that the result has been accurately recorded †¢ Result provided to learner There are several reasons why the results need to be kept: †¢ Feedback to learner †¢ Legislative requirements †¢ Record in case of appeal †¢ Company records for future training needs Recognition of Prior Learning Another reason to maintain a record is for the recognition of prior learning and credit transfer processes. If outcomes can be matched by different training organisations detailed records of exactly how competency is assessed simplify the process. It also means, the competency a learner has acquired in one environment may be considered in another, different environment. With records a learner can apply to have prior learning recognised often before commencing a new training program. While it is necessary to keep a record of the actual result, it can be useful to also keep details on how the assessment was made. Training Records and Confidentiality Generally speaking, the only way an external person is able to access another person’s record is with the written permission of the person involved. |Access to records must be restricted for the sake of confidentiality. | | |Generally, managers and supervisors have limited access to personal files, but consider: | | |Who should have access to assessment records? | | |Why would they need the information? | | |What level of detail do they require? | | Each organisation will have a policy and procedures for access that should comply with ethical and legal obligations. It would be worthwhile checking your store policy and procedures in relation to this area.

Club IT, Part 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Club IT, Part 2 - Essay Example Vendors will have the ability to restock for the owner at the appropriate time. In the paper, l am using the traditional systems development life cycle which â€Å"provides the user with a tentative system for experimental purposes at the earliest possible time.† (Kellen and Night, 2001, pg 51 ) Keywords: website optimization Club IT Technical Issues Club IT has done a very good renovation of its club and have in turn attracted a very good clientele to their club which is a big step. The technical aspects of club improvement include hardware and operating systems, networking, data management systems, and applications software. The lack of a good quality Internet is a big hurdle. During my observation night, l had to deal with slow Internet which was a dial up type in a cramped room. This really slowed down my research that evening and putting into consideration the type of clients that this club attracts, it needs an improvement. If the club can acquire a better type of Intern et, it would also service Club IT’s customers who mostly are Net Generation and Millennials. These customers regularly use mobile technologies such as Blackberries, PDAs, camera phones, and other wireless communication devices. Club IT should also consider having wired and secure network connections for their offices. The club owners should also consider expanding their offices and using fewer machines in their offices. The club produces its own merchandise which is displayed on its website. Although this is a good thing, they should include a shopping cart and snippet code to ensure easy location of required products. Since most of their clients shop online, this would increase traffic to their website and attract their competitor’s customers and get the niche they need to gain the competitive advantage over the rest. For the site to be secured, the user should be provided with a unique username and a password which is alphanumeric to ensure security. His password sho uld expire after a period of one month to ensure that they are not hacked easily. Relocation of ticket sales should be made so that they can also take advantage of these resources. The company’s website has limited its access to only the administrators. This has served as a shortcoming to its vendors who could play key role in developing the cost benefit of the company. By giving access to its suppliers they will be able to notice the various market changes as well as enable them to find an array of reports that provide analysis of how their products are selling. In the future, the club owners will be able to exchange information with the vendors directly ensuring that they have the competitive advantage over their competitors. Over time, this type of system enables the website owners to keep track of their individual sales and their respective curve chains. Each department should get their own portal on the website to enable accountability. The different departments should a lso be accessible to each other to make it simple to communicate with each other e.g. the accounts department accessing the staff portal to pay them. The staff should also be given unique passwords and usernames which cannot be compromised. A virtual firewall should be implemented to avoid unauthorized access. Recommended project development methodology The recommended development methodology is the linear methodology. This type of methodology divides the project into sequential phases which

Reengineering business process Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Reengineering business process - Case Study Example This ever increasing competition necessitated the company to contemplate about the provision of information on various matters including marketing at appropriate time points. However, contrary to the expectations of its well wishers, the superannuated legacy systems used by the company had serious flaws in their architecture which impaired the achievement of organizational effectiveness and strategic objectives. The critical problem associated with structure of legacy systems was its inability to integrate and become compatible with other systems. To overcome these shortcomings and survive in the industry, the company decided to re-engineer the global supply chain namely PRIDE project (Process re-engineering through Information Delivery Excellence). As a part of the re-engineering programme, implementation SAP/R3 is a critical endeavour to become a truly global company (Scott and Vessey, 2002). The company believes that implementing SAP, which is an enterprise-wide solution, will int egrate all the core functions of the organization comprising of Sales, Finance, Accounting, Logistics, Manufacturing, and HR. The centralized database and integrated architecture of SAP facilitates smooth flow of information across departments, eliminates data redundancy and provides a broader picture of the organization to management. The present essay is an attempt to evaluate and critically analyze the re-engineering programme of Dow Corning Corporation in term of organisational learning, project management and risk management. The essay takes a descriptive approach wherein all the requirements of an effective and workable re-engineering project are discussed in detail. The essay also suggests certain measures by which the project can be made operational and successful. Project Management Project management is commonly understood as the process of planning, monitoring and controlling a project so as to achieve its objectives on time and as per specific budget, quality and performance (Atkinson, 1999). The successful ERP implementation needs many resources and factors and Al-Mashari at al. (2003) have developed the critical actors of ERP success and these factors can be shown as in Figure 2. After the analysis of Dow Corning ERP case, it has been observed that the company brought in many resources for the successful implementation of ERP. At the same time, it has also been noticed that the company neglected some areas completely and it is recommended that these areas are to be improved in future. The pre-implementation factors which have been observed as critical success factors are bifurcated into three stages, namely pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation. All these different stages involve many activities/efforts, all of which are briefed as below: Pre-implementation Stage 1. Vision and Planning Planning is indispensable for all activities in business, particularly for strategic operations. As the first move towards re-engineering, Dow Corning aligned IT strategy with its business strategy. This is followed by major changes in the existing in IT function. First, the company formed a new committee, the Process and IT Board. Second, a new business unit called BPIT (business processes and IT)

Persuade Your Employer That You Deserve a Raise Essay

Persuade Your Employer That You Deserve a Raise - Essay Example I was indeed workaholic. Working for late hours even after the fixed office hours was a trend which was rarely seen in American companies. Admittedly, it was the sincerity and passion I had toward my work that kept me boosted always. The task of recruiting hardware engineers for the iPhone and iPad projects were the most challenging and voluminous task in the whole span of my professional life. In many of the days, I was the only one who remained after the office hours and managed the extensive documentation works of the human resource department. I travelled through technology institutes to find young, vibrant and innovative engineers, of design, hardware and software for the successful accomplishment of the projects. It is clear that my diplomacy was beneficial for the company to persuade engineers and designers from other IT giants like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo etc to work with Apple. And my expertise in computer programming was a surplus advantage for the company, for I got t he duty of supervising the iOS for iPhone and iPad. It must be noted that it was when many officers in the C level disagreed to supervise the immense task of supervising the development of iOS that I had to take up the responsibility. All this makes me upright to stately say that I played a substantial part in the successful completion of the iPhone project in 2007 as the HR manager as well as a software developer. I believe I have been loyal to my superiors in the company right from the day I joined Apple; and I have always been friendly with my colleagues too. I was always appreciated by my superiors in the HR department and my contributions and suggestions to the research and development wing was always well-considered. Our CEO Mr. Steve Jobs was always ready to listen to our opinions and suggestions. It is a unique feature in Apple that even though I am an employee in the HR department, my expertise in computer programming was also considered and exposure was given to me in the software development section. Such an easy and liberal working environment makes Apple a professional’s dream. The only thing that disappointed me in Apple is that there has been no change in my position and no additions to my salary apart from the usual annual increments. I have completed 10 years in Apple by now, and I am one of the well-qualified employees in the human resources wing. I graduated in business administration specializing in HR as well as computer science from the prestigious Harvard University. I was a topper in the university and that’s the reason for which Apple recruited me directly from the campus. It was my efforts that provided Apple a handsome amount of savings by taking up market analysis within the company instead of outsourcing it to external analyzers. This step was found exorbitantly helpful in maintaining a good position in the stock markets constantly throughout the financial years. Though I have such long stories of success to speak abo ut from the course of my work at Apple, I feel I never received a raise that I deserved while comparing with my track record at Apple. And I had to see many who were less academically qualified than I moving to higher positions in the firm. Apple had been always known as an employer who carefully listens to the concerns of its employees. Today Apple is the leading brand

How does Implementation of Literature Circles Affect Student Essay

How does Implementation of Literature Circles Affect Student Performance on Literature Assessments - Essay Example in addition, some other classes like the 5th grade have opted to implement the literature cycles methods but teachers still have doubts on the method because they are not sure if it is as beneficial as the reading discussion or instruction which they are currently using. This article sought to investigate the impact of literature cycle compared to read-alouds on reading and student reading encouragement for students in high school (Allington & Johnson, 2002). It is important to note that when using literature circle method in giving instructions to students, they are not allowed to take comprehension-reading tests because comprehension tests provide efferent response. Researchers have tried to use various theories including reader response theory, flow theory, social interaction theory, and motivation theories to address the effect of reading instruction on students. Group discussion helps direct the child to more independent thinking and in turn expand cognitive development. It is v ital to note that if students finds an activity more interesting or perceive it as worthwhile then they are more likely to put in more effort in order to succeed. People need to become intrinsically involved in activity they are learning to do in order to make it valuable in future (Allington & Johnson, 2002). ... Literature circles have been found to be effective methods to help motivate students to read. Literature circles can be applied to assist pupils to learn different skills since children need to learn methods for holding themselves and others responsible, inviting and expecting quiet members of the group to participate or contribute and monitoring the purposefulness of the talk and negotiation of meaning. Read-alouds is another important method used in discussion about books with students. This technique is an instructional method where parents, teachers, and other caregivers read texts aloud to children. Reading aloud also is applied in the content areas very effectively in that they can allow for both collaborative and individual meaning construction through efferent response and aesthetic to content and literature (Daniels, 2002). For over the years, reading has changed significantly in that there has been various reading instructional or discussion methods that have been debated a s the most reliable. Students were divided into literature circle groups based on their preference books and these groups changed oftenly. In addition, the researcher on this topic selected for the read aloud each week. After the researcher read the book, the class and the researcher had a discussion over the story in the book. The researcher observed students attitudes and to hear types of discussion that were on going. Lastly, the researcher tried to establish the motivation level of the student by giving students time to determine their views of the process. The problem with introducing different learning or reading discussion is that some students will not be willing to participate in discussions than others. Some students tend to avoid teacher eye contact as a

Creating an Inclusive School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Creating an Inclusive School - Essay Example The special classes enable the special case students to access additional education benefits and programs. Rhonda and other special learners should benefit from LRE that allocates extra time for tests and quizzes. This provides adequate time for properly tackling examination questions. The special education teachers should read aloud the test and quiz questions. This will enable easy understanding of examination instructions. The teacher should allow Rhonda and other special learners to utilize the computer in preparing written assignments. This improves the presentation and quality of written assignments. Special learners like Rhonda should be given preferential seating arrangement at the front of the class. This ensures effective hearing and enhances visibility during class lessons. The LRE ensures that parents or guardians of the special learners participate in the learning processes. This is because the parents are provided with extra education materials like textbooks. The education materials are used to guide the special learners during home studies. The school administrator should encourage adoption of two learning classes for special learners; the special and the ordinary class. This will improve the education capabilities of special learners. The administrator should also budget for appropriate resources that enhance learning of special students like

Agricultural Production in Ancient Civilizations Essay Example for Free

Agricultural Production in Ancient Civilizations Essay During the period of 500 C. E – 1000 C. E. ancient civilizations in North and South America and China cultivated and gradually moved from the hunting and gathering lifestyles. These civilizations drifted towards food collection and then farming. This approach, crops and attitudes toward agriculture varied with culture. With the Native Americans and the Ancient Chinese during 500 C. E – 1000 C. E. have both differences and similarities towards agricultural production. Document 1, tells of a story about how Maria Manuela de Cora (an Inca Author) passes along ancient legends. One that is called â€Å"Seeds† that says that one day the son of the sun kills a child that was made by the sun. The son of the sun got scared of the anger of his father and scattered about the world the pieces of his murdered brother. It tells that his body parts like his teeth grew corn. This would be a story about the creation of corn, why it was there and how. However, document 7 talks of an Ancient Chinese Legend. This talks more about that fact that if you took the weeds you could fertilize the farmer’s crops. With each story tells something to do with farming. How that one, thing is made or how to make their crops better. Document 5, is a diagram of a hunting scene and peasants working in a field in Ancient China. This illustration gave a reason for historians to track the development of tool- and weapon making in organization in agrarian and artisan production as well as the leisure activities of officials and the landed elites. With document 3 talks about Mesoamerican origins. Historians talk about that current archaeological evidence cannot pinpoint a single location where Indian agriculture began or determine precisely why the Indians became agriculturists. They did though have records that suggested that the cultivation and domestication of plants. With the painting and the records gave historians a better view of each hunting scene and peasants working in fields. During the period of 500 C. E – 1000 C. E. ancient civilizations in North and South America and China cultivated and gradually moved from the hunting and gathering lifestyles. These civilizations drifted towards food collection and then farming. With this approach, crops and attitudes toward agriculture varied with culture. With the Native Americans and the Ancient Chinese during 500 C. E – 1000 C. E. have both differences and similarities towards agricultural production. Showing that China was more into the facts then stories like Mesoamerica to explain the reasoning of agricultural in both of China and Native Americans.