Unit 6.6 Reflection
Which kind of assessment was most difficult to create? Why? Which one was most easy? Why? What was something that surprised you about creating assessments?
I think the most difficult assessment to create is the selected response assessment. By this I mean, I find it difficult to word the assessment in terms that do not sound confusing to students and align it with the learning target. My goal is to write questions that are easy for students to answer, while still being able to test the students knowledge, rather than testing their ability to take the test. I think that it can be difficult to come up with the selected response options. My problem is coming up with possible answers that may be too easy. Another problem is to make sure my students are able to pick an answer they know for certain is the best answer and that there is not another option. I have had this issue come up in other classes from other teachers, where there are multiple answers that sound like they could be right, yet there is meant to be only one. My least favorite part about selected response answers are the true and false questions, because I feel that they are not fair for the students who may feel they remember the concept of the information, but do not remember the exact wording from the text. True and False questions just feel that they are trying to trick me rather than test my knowledge. So, I hesitate in writing true and false questions.
I think that the easier assessments are the written assessment and performance assessments, because it is easier to grade with a rubric. The rubric helps me to break down specific items I am looking for in either the written assessment or performance assessment, while still leaving it a little more open-ended for how the students demonstrate their knowledge, as opposed to selected responses, which require students to demonstrate their often memorized knowledge rather than a skill.
The part I am most surprised about is the fact that I thought I would find these assessments to be opposite in terms of difficulty. I thought it would be easier to write the selected responses and more difficult to write the performance assessment. I think that understanding the most important content to test is difficult, but rubrics are the most helpful for me to try to process what I am assessing.
I think the most difficult assessment to create is the selected response assessment. By this I mean, I find it difficult to word the assessment in terms that do not sound confusing to students and align it with the learning target. My goal is to write questions that are easy for students to answer, while still being able to test the students knowledge, rather than testing their ability to take the test. I think that it can be difficult to come up with the selected response options. My problem is coming up with possible answers that may be too easy. Another problem is to make sure my students are able to pick an answer they know for certain is the best answer and that there is not another option. I have had this issue come up in other classes from other teachers, where there are multiple answers that sound like they could be right, yet there is meant to be only one. My least favorite part about selected response answers are the true and false questions, because I feel that they are not fair for the students who may feel they remember the concept of the information, but do not remember the exact wording from the text. True and False questions just feel that they are trying to trick me rather than test my knowledge. So, I hesitate in writing true and false questions.
I think that the easier assessments are the written assessment and performance assessments, because it is easier to grade with a rubric. The rubric helps me to break down specific items I am looking for in either the written assessment or performance assessment, while still leaving it a little more open-ended for how the students demonstrate their knowledge, as opposed to selected responses, which require students to demonstrate their often memorized knowledge rather than a skill.
The part I am most surprised about is the fact that I thought I would find these assessments to be opposite in terms of difficulty. I thought it would be easier to write the selected responses and more difficult to write the performance assessment. I think that understanding the most important content to test is difficult, but rubrics are the most helpful for me to try to process what I am assessing.
Hey Lily!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your struggle with creating selected response assessments. Man can they be a pain! I was never a fan of true and false questions as well, and refrained from including them in my assessment. I do believe it is important for students to know how to answer true/false questions, but I didn't include them on my assessment for this week. I also found the written and performance assessments to be fairly easy to create. This was a shock to me, but it is good to know. Rubrics can be a pain to write, but they definitely kept me on track and helped me to create clear expectations for what I wanted my students to be able to do. I feel confident about writing performance tasks. Great post and thank you for sharing!
Lillian,
ReplyDeleteI, too, struggled with the selected-response questions, as well as, thought it would be the most straightforward format to create. Boy, was I wrong? There is so much that goes into creating questions. For me, I think the hardest part had to do with not knowing the actual content, or the students, or anything else for that matter. This is an assessment that will likely be easier to create when we are inside a class. As we continue to move forward, it is bound to get more comfortable for us. We will see how things are done inside a class (*fingers crossed), and learn how to assess our students based on the content, their skill level, and their needs.
Hi Lilly,
ReplyDeleteI have always loved structured tests. This way you know if you have answered the question correctly or not. I know that this has it disadvantages and does not always work for all students. Maybe if we structure this type of assessment as pre-assessment and make it clear that the students are not being graded would be a good use of this type of assessment tool.