Is learning always observable?
“How can I determine learning has happened?”is the question every teacher asks him/herself to insure about his/her students’ learning of the subject matter. In fact, by answering this question, teachers succeed to assess themselves and their students at once. Assessing themselves reveals how successful they were to transmit information and knowledge, and how inviting and engaging their teaching was. For assessing and evaluating students, weather they aim to “assess for learning” or to “assess as learning”, teachers can adopt some effective strategies.
The first and the most obvious one is the summative evaluation which enables teachers to assess and evaluate students’ learning. But, there is other strategies that permit teachers to spend the time they wanted to consecrate to correct quizzes and tests to engaging and enjoyable activities. This sort of evaluation –formative evaluation- varies depending on students’ needs, subjects content, and teachers’ aims and creativity. For instance, putting students in the small groups and giving them enough time to think, then, to talk and share their ideas; group work lets them not only to extend their knowledge but also to enhance their confidence. Journal entries and reflective writing are other strategies through which teachers can assess and evaluate their students’ learning. Self evaluation and exit slips are effective ways that show their strength, their weakness, and their gaps of knowledge to students. The strategy inside/ outside circle –or Socrates’ circle- could also be effective for it give all students, introvert and extravert, to talk and to share their understanding of subject matters.
These are some examples of strategies teachers can use to favor and evaluate students’ learning and understanding. In each case, by making a connection between what they knew and have learned and what they seek to know and learn, students contribute to their active learning.
“How can I determine learning has happened?”is the question every teacher asks him/herself to insure about his/her students’ learning of the subject matter. In fact, by answering this question, teachers succeed to assess themselves and their students at once. Assessing themselves reveals how successful they were to transmit information and knowledge, and how inviting and engaging their teaching was. For assessing and evaluating students, weather they aim to “assess for learning” or to “assess as learning”, teachers can adopt some effective strategies.
The first and the most obvious one is the summative evaluation which enables teachers to assess and evaluate students’ learning. But, there is other strategies that permit teachers to spend the time they wanted to consecrate to correct quizzes and tests to engaging and enjoyable activities. This sort of evaluation –formative evaluation- varies depending on students’ needs, subjects content, and teachers’ aims and creativity. For instance, putting students in the small groups and giving them enough time to think, then, to talk and share their ideas; group work lets them not only to extend their knowledge but also to enhance their confidence. Journal entries and reflective writing are other strategies through which teachers can assess and evaluate their students’ learning. Self evaluation and exit slips are effective ways that show their strength, their weakness, and their gaps of knowledge to students. The strategy inside/ outside circle –or Socrates’ circle- could also be effective for it give all students, introvert and extravert, to talk and to share their understanding of subject matters.
These are some examples of strategies teachers can use to favor and evaluate students’ learning and understanding. In each case, by making a connection between what they knew and have learned and what they seek to know and learn, students contribute to their active learning.
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