#connectedassessment

Over 9 months ago I was reflecting on the ways that I was wobbling around assessment in my ED677 course at Arcadia University. Today I am going back to this work to look at what we all learned and how I might apply this learning to ED677 Spring 2019 as well as a new course that I am developing for Hopkins called Teaching Writing Online (to run Summer 2019).

Here’s how I designed things for ED677: Since the overall goal of ED677 is for each of us to design with the values of Connected Learning in mind, ie. social, participatory and equitable while also paying attention to the ways this impacts our teaching. These are abstract concepts of course, so as the instructor I tried to support thinking through them by offering a set of set of continua that moves us in increasingly connected directions, ie. reflecting on learning, reflecting on teaching, and then reflecting on our practice.

To do this I offered three guides:

Reflecting on Learning, meant to support participants to reflect and assess on their own learning. 

Reflecting on Teaching, meant to support participants to reflect on the impacts this learning might have on their teaching. 

Reflecting on Practice, meant to support participants to think about the ways they are practicing being a connected learning and teacher at ED677 with and identify where they have had success as well as where you would like to improve and then set goals for next steps.

I then asked them to do a Self Assessment and offered some questions they could respond to (they were prompted to do this both mid-semester and at the end) and also, if these choose, to send me (anonymous) Instructor Feedback.

Here are the guides we used:

Reflecting on Learning Guide As a learner practicing connected learning, where do you think you are along these continuum -  Where did start? Where are you now? Where might be you be tomorrow?

X Axis = Continuum of More Connected to Less Connected Y Axis = Values of Connected Learning

Y, Social

Socializing to learn is avoided.

Socializing to learn starts to happen.

Socializing to learn is embraced.

Socializing to learn is fostered in self and others.

Y, Equitable

Learning resources and opportunities are controlled by those in power and not distributed equitably.

Learning resources and opportunities are controlled by those in power but distributed more equitably.

Learning resources and opportunities are shared and distributed equitably.

There is shared responsibility for the creation and distribution of learning resources and opportunities.

Y, Participatory

Participation is based on notions of compliance (ie. mandates and expectations of others).

Participation is based on interests although mostly driven by mandates and expectations of others.

Participation is based on interests and a sense of value to the larger community.

Participation is based on interests and a shared sense of value to and from community.

Reflecting on Teaching Guide

As a teacher asking questions about equity and connected learning, where do you think you are between these descriptions of conventional versus connected teaching? Where do you want to be? (This is a resource created by Nicole Mirra in her collection Transitioning from Conventional to Connected Teaching: Small Moves and Radical Acts)

Reflecting on Practice Recommendations

At ED677 I recommend that you practice and explore the connected teaching and learning ideas above in these ways:

Explore the key principles of Connected Learning, with specific attention to issues of equity, and demonstrate these through weekly making, reflecting and sharing.

Contribute regularly online and to the work of your fellow classmates.

Engage with others (another community, students, colleagues, etc.) outside this course.

Document and reflect on your journey in support of your own assessment and evaluation.

Create and share something to support your work as well as others in thinking about connecting learning in equitable ways beyond the life of this course.

Look back at your work so far. How has your practice been going? Where do you feel you have been successful? What do you think you could improve?

Finally a set of self-assessment questions were offered to impact a final assessment grade for this course and reflection on goals forward. Self-assessments were not meant to be publicly shared unless participants chose to do so; it was a requirement to share at least this part of their assessment with me as the instructor.

In what ways have you been successful this semester?

In what ways do you still want to improve?

How do your successes and reflections on improvement inform your thoughts and questions about connected learning and teaching moving forward?

What are your goals forward?

From there, I reviewed and responded each self-assessment and the related work for the semester and sent back a response to each participant. I created a corresponding grade for Arcadia University. As per my original syllabus, I had said that for those registered and seeking credit, grades will be based on your own self-assessment and instructor assessment (70/30). I said that instructor assessment would be based on:

Active and regular engagement with classmates and colleagues around the concepts of connected learning;

Reflection on your own learning and the implications of connected learning principles and values;

The completion of a final self-assessment and final public project.

Having now completed that semester, a few reflections I want to jot down include:

Self-assessments were strong this semester and I found them useful in determining a final grade. Participants (only 4 of 13 opted to give instructor feedback) gave positive feedback overall; they did not directly speak to the assessment however.

These two instructor assessment feel valid to me still as they were very clear throughout: 

Reflection on your own learning and the implications of connected learning principles and values;

The completion of a final self-assessment and final public project.

This one still feels very unsolid, fuzzy: ie. “Active and regular engagement with classmates and colleagues around the concepts of connected learning.” The question of what is “active” and “regular” in my mind versus theirs if I don’t give exact instructions on it is the core problem. And I don’t give exact instruction because all of our lives are different and needs and approaches to engagement are different for every person. I think that it actually ended up getting better addressed in the self-assessment because I focused on the “practice recommendations” that I offered at the beginning of this course.

Wobble, wobble, wobble. Some flow. Then wobble, wobble, wobble, again. And I’m still excited about what I am learning here.