Sample: Workplace Assessment

My typical work/learning setting is not considered a normal classroom setting. Instead, I usually teach in the workplace of my customers, who are educational institutions. The physical location is usually the school’s library or a spare classroom, computer lab – or, in one particular instance, the school’s cafeteria. In some cases the school provides the equipment that is required to teach my classes, however in many cases I provide the computers needed through the resources in my company that are made available to me for such purposes.

In providing assessment materials for use in figuring out whether or not my training was successful, I have relied upon the use of student surveys, and direct questioning of both the student and the sponsoring parties (sometimes this is the Technology Coordinator, other times it may be the Superintendent or other involved parties). I’ll normally include the class sponsor to make sure that what was being delivered met the educational expectations, and that their objectives were accomplished.

Through research I have found that there are many other tools that are available to trainers that can be used for course assessment purposes. These include both formative and summary tools, as they serve different purposes. Although many school systems are just arriving at the use of student input as a valid assessment tool, teachers who are in the practice of educating adults have been involved with this technique for a while now. While in the past my concern was more with the development of expertise, which led me to use more summative assessment techniques, I believe that the use of student input as a formative assessment tool will only increase as more and more teachers see the value of this tool.

In changing to a more collaborative approach to assessment, Sato and Atkin (2007, January) recommends “start the change process by examining teachers' current views and practices, rather than by looking to an abstract vision of ‘best practice’ ”. This is more of a gradual, adaptive approach to change. One of their research subject switched from a grade-oriented to an “acceptable/not acceptable” basis due to input from her students, after presenting rubrics that were planned for this instruction. This led to a balance between mastery of content, with quality of presentation. This “acceptable/not acceptable” strategy allowed students to eliminate the middle ground, and let students know whether they had performed well in a particular area or not.

Adult learners tend to be more of an individualized learner, prone to study in isolation, and interacting with their peers less regularly than those students involved in secondary education. The British educational method, when addressing similar issues, came up with the idea of a self-assessment model in which students evaluate their own performances and offer suggestions for improvement through the survey process, according to researcher P. K. Commons (2003, February). Again this points to the use of student input as a growing means of assessment and development around the world.

Malian and Nevin (2005, Summer) take the idea of gathering student reflections and include the teacher as a part of this process in their look at understanding innovation in teacher education. They state, “In essence, Goldsmith and Foxall suggest that a reason for assessment would be to acquire a greater understanding of the innovation, perhaps in a meta-cognitive fashion. Teacher educators and teacher practitioners engage in this form of reflective assessment through informal and formal appraisal of innovative teaching and learning practices.”

Best practices from an adult learner point of view do not have the same criteria, as would non-adult learners. Teachers of adult learners generally do not have to deal with such issues as governmentally mandated standardized testing, and so standardized instruction is less of a norm in today’s adult education classrooms. Consequently instruction is based to a greater extent upon how the institution interprets, and how the individual classroom teacher chooses to deliver, the subject matter for each course. This makes the task of designing fair and effective assessment even more difficult, since by nature the deliver process is more free form.

One challenge to using alternative assessments loom, and that is the issue of fairness. Once a student is seen to be at a disadvantage compared to other students in the classroom, sufficient additional resources must be allocated in order to create a level playing field. As Baker et al (1996) states, “until such systemic changes are made to address inequities in the current educational system, there is little reason to believe that alternative assessments are inherently more equitable than traditional assessments.” My compensation for students who exhibit a lack of sufficient prior technical knowledge as a prerequisite for completing my courses is to allocate additional instruction time on an individual basis, until the student can function effectively in the course that the student is enrolled in.

My choice of a creative partnership between the teacher (myself), and the students that I teach (other professional educators) can create a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. The teacher gains the benefit of the experience that each student brings to the table, while the students gain the benefit of the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter delivered. With the addition of self- and peer- assessments as a part of my formative assessment arsenal (these are currently not a part of my existing assessment toolkit), the final product that I can deliver to my students would be drastically improved when compared to the product delivered without such a feedback mechanism.

References:

Baker, E., Anderson, L., Fiester, L., et al (Ed.), (1996, Spring). Improving America’s Schools: A Newsletter on Issues in School Reform. Retrieve February 25, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/IASA/newsletters/assess/index.html

Commons, P., (2003, February). The Contribution of Inspection, Self-Assessment, Investors in People and the Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative to Improving Quality in Further Education Sector Colleges: An Initial Exploration. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27(1), 27-47. Retrieved February 23, 2007 from EBSCOhost.

Malian, I., and Nevin, A., (2005, Summer). A Framework for Understanding Assessment of Innovation in Teacher Education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 32(3), 7-17. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from ProQuest.

Sato, M., and Atkin, M., (2007, January). Supporting Change in Classroom Assessment. Educational Leadership, 64(4), 76-79. Retrieved February 25, 2007 from EBSCOhost.