Student number: 212198847

Student name and address: Naomi Mathew-Vadaketh118 Polaris Drive Doncaster East, VIC 3109

Campus: Burwood

Assignment name/title: Reflecting on your assessment designDue Date: 12/6/2015 Extension date:Unit Code: ETP401 Assessment item: 2bCourse Code: E359 Course name: Bachelor of Education

(Primary)Tutorial group: Tuesday 2pm Lecturer/tutor: Margaret Stone

PLAGIARISM AND COLLUSION Plagiarism occurs when a student passes off as the students own work, or copies without acknowledgement as to its authorship, the work of another person. Collusion occurs when a student obtains the agreement of another person for a fraudulent purpose with the intent of obtaining an advantage in submitting an assignment or other work. Work submitted may be reproduced and/or communicated for the purpose of detecting plagiarism and collusion. DECLARATION I certify that the attached work is entirely my own (or where submitted to meet the requirements of an approved group assignment is the work of the group), except where work quoted or paraphrased is acknowledged in the text. I also certify that it has not been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other unit or course unless permission for this has been granted by the Unit Chair of this unit. I agree that Deakin University may make and retain copies of this work for the purposes of marking and review, and may submit this work to an external plagiarism-detection service who may retain a copy for future plagiarism detection but will not release it or use it for any other purpose.

SIGNED: _____Naomi Mathew-Vadaketh___________________DATE: _______________12/6/15_______________ An assignment will not be accepted for assessment if the declaration appearing above has not been signed by the author.

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Contents

1. Cover page……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...1

2. Contents page………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...2

3. Introduction: Learning and teaching context…………………………………………………………………………………………..3

4. Assessment design and development……………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

5. Implementation of assessment strategy………………………………………………………………………………………………...4

Whole class assessment data………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4

Feedback on students’ assessment work samples and analysis………………………………………………………5

6. Reflecting critically and stance on assessment practice………………………………………………………………………...11

Reflection on assessment design and teaching……………………………………………………………………………...11

My teacher stance on assessment………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

7. References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

8. Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14

Introduction: Learning and Teaching Context

The lesson sequence and assessment strategies in the report were adapted for a Prep/1/2 classroom.

There are several special needs students who require one-on-one teaching and are supported by one

teaching aide. The students learning takes place in a classroom that is well resourced, accessible to

technology and has a one-to-one iPad scheme which allows flexibility in learning and teaching. The school

itself is government funded and is located in a suburban, mid-socioeconomic area.

The first, second and third lessons in the five-lesson sequence focused on the features of a clock and the

basic knowledge needed to recognise and tell simple times. The fourth lesson introduced digital time to

the students where students had to identify certain times to the minute. The learning intention for this

lesson was that students would be able to use certain skills to tell time to the minute. The fifth lesson

introduced duration and the learning intention was that students would understand the concept of

minutes in an hour and the hours in a day (see Appendix 1).

One of the key factors that influenced the assessment approach was that each student has different

learning needs abilities. Black and William (1998, p. 140) suggest that students’ needs are unpredictable

and greatly vary from student to student and as such, it is paramount that teachers understand their

students’ progress and difficulties so that their teaching is adapted accordingly. This would result in the

interaction between learning and teaching that was a focus in the assessment approach. Another focus of

the assessment approach was that it should practical, effective and ultimately lead to future learning.

Harlen (2010, p.30) stated that there are certain principles which guide quality assessment, which state

that assessment should improve learning and that assessment should engage learners in the learning and

assessment process.

Assessment Design and Development

The KWL chart was chosen as the prime form of assessment throughout the five lesson sequence as it

allowed for an individual analysis of knowledge for each student as well as providing an understanding of

the students’ attitude towards the topic. The initial assessment or diagnostic assessment which saw the

‘Know’ and ‘Want to know’ sections of the KWL chart filled out, allowed me to draw the conclusions that

the students were quite unfamiliar with many concepts of time at that particular moment and that some

students were not particularly interested in learning about time. From information provided in the KWL

chart, I decided to focus my lessons on the basic aspects of telling time in the first few lessons as that

allowed students to learn about the basics but also explore their wonderings about time once they had

completed the activity. The ‘Learnt’ part of the KWL chart was a form of summative and formative

assessment that informed me of the students’ progress as well as what the next goals should be for them

whilst allowing the students to reflect on their learnings. This was a useful way to consolidate their

knowledge as well as inform future teaching and gain an understanding of how the students’ learning

occurred.

Table 1: Summary of Assessment Task and Criteria

Assessment

Task

Type of Assessment Links to

curriculum

Criteria Feedback to

students

KWL chart The KWL chart is used

for diagnostic

assessment initially

during the first lesson.

This will be given to

students to complete

the ‘Know’ and Want to

know’ columns before

any teaching occurs.

Subsequently, the

‘Learnt’ column will be

filled out at the end of

the fifth lesson as a form

of summative

assessment. The KWL

chart is also a form of

self-assessment.

The KWL chart

formed the basis

for the general

learning intentions

described in the

lesson sequence. It

also provided me

with information

as to the different

levels of

knowledge that

students had

about time which

informed my

support/extension

groups during the

lessons.

I used a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

rubric to assess

the KWL charts as

it allowed me to

group the students

based on their

knowledge of time

which then

informed my

support and

extension groups.

The feedback from

the KWL chart was

provided to

students in the

form of comments

on the chart which

were discussed

with the students

individually.

Implementation of Assessment Strategy: Whole class assessment data

Table 2: Whole class assessment data

At the start of lesson sequence At the end of lesson sequence5- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-is able to tell time to the minute-has an understanding of how to add and subtract time/tell duration

Justin, Orlando, Millie

4- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-has an understanding of how to tell time to the minute-is able to add and subtract hours and

Kaz, Millie, Orlando, Justin Nick, Kaz, Oscar,

half hours3- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-understands simple time telling eg o’clock, half past etc.-is able to add/subtract hours of time

Welli, Nick, Oscar Welli, Ava, Jay, Will

2- can accurately identify and name features of a clock- understands simple time telling eg o’clock, half past etc.

Conor, Ava, Jay, Will Jessie, Mylo, Alistair, Cash, Milla, Conor

1- can identify or name some features of a clock

Raf, Nyabuor, Cash, Alannah, Abi, Alistair, Mylo, Jessie, Milla

Raf, Nyabuor, Abi, Alannah

From the assessment data, it is clear that more students have moved up a place in the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric, indicating that there is a growth in learning for most students. However, 7 out of 20 students remained in the same grouping which might indicate a greater need for support throughout the teaching sequence. Nearly all the students are able to tell simple times such as half-past and o’clock which is a positive outcome considering the learning objectives for three out of five lessons was on telling simple time. Towards the end of the lesson sequence, it became apparent that there was a greater need for extension for students in the 4 and 5 groupings. There was also a need for support as the students in the 1 and 2 grouping made a bit of progress but perhaps were not supported enough as 4 out of 9 students remained in the 1 grouping. The general tone of the whole class assessment data is positive as most students have experienced a positive jump in their learning. However, I would modify my teaching practice by including more open-ended tasks so that students at each level can be given the same task but the level of difficulty is reduced or increased to support or extend the different students.

Implementation of Assessment Strategy: Feedback on students’ assessment work samples and analysis

Work Sample and Feedback 1:

This students demonstrates an understanding of features on a clock such as numbers, clock hands and that the numbers need to be spaced out evenly. She also shows knowledge of clock related vocabulary such as ‘minute’. After the sequence of lessons taught, it appears that this student now has a firm grasp on the features of a clock including the appropriate numbers placed in the correct places and evenly spaced. The student has also drawn an o’clock time which she has correctly identified as ‘2 o’clock’. As this student is in their first year of school, I felt it was best to provide exposure to different features of a clock as this would increase her understanding of minutes which is something the student wanted to know. This student already had some understanding of features on clocks which is why I talked to the student about how to find out what the hands tell us as this would extend her further.

Image 1: Work sample 1 first knowledge

Image 2: Work sample 1 learning after sequence

Work Sample and Feedback 2:

This student understands the features of a clock and is also beginning to understand the names for hands on a clock. This student has an understanding of how to write digital time and seems to be grasping o’clock time as demonstrated in the picture drawn. The feedback given the student encourages them to show me their knowledge of different times on analogue clocks as knowing digital time is different to knowing analogue time. Knowing how to tell both types of time is an important skill and as such, the student was encouraged to focus on that as well as expanding his knowledge of how to tell more difficult times.

Image 3: Work sample 2 first knowledge

Image 4: Work sample 2 learning after sequence

Work sample and feedback 3:

This student has got a grasp of concepts relating to time such as the number of minutes in an hour and the length of time for certain minutes. This student also understands features on a clock. As there is no visual display of how certain times are represented on a clock, it is hard to assume whether the student understands how to create this representation. The feedback given encourages this student to focus on harder concepts such as the duration of time and telling time to the minute. I believe that this feedback will encourage this student to extend themselves beyond what other students might be learning.

Image 5: Work sample 3 first knowledge

Image 6: Work sample 3 learning after sequence

Reflecting critically and Stance on Assessment Practice: Reflection on assessment design and teaching

Throughout the lesson sequence, assessing and providing feedback to students was a big focus for me. As such, I ensured that the feedback I received from students through the assessment strategy guided my lesson sequencing and content and in return, I ensured that my feedback was clearly explained to students and revisited at the beginning of each lesson. My mentor feedback greatly shaped the assessment design as there were a number of school practices that I had to adhere to as well as beliefs that my mentor teacher held. The major changes that occurred were changing the initial assessment of a pre-test to part of the KWL chart, changing the peer-assessed rubric at the end of the sequence to a teacher-assessed rubric midway through the sequence and using a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric to highlight support and extension groups (see Appendix 3). I believe that a KWL chart is valid because it does not prescribe what knowledge is important but asks students to describe everything they know about clocks and time. A KWL chart may not be so reliable as it can be hard to compare the knowledge that each student has presented as a student might choose to focus on their knowledge of o’clock time while the other might choose to focus on their knowledge of how clocks work, simply because that interests them more. The students chose the assessment criteria to focus on in the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric and subsequently, I used that information to guide

what was taught in the lesson sequence. Through using the KWL chart as well as inferences I had made throughout the lessons, I was able to report to my mentor what had been learnt from the students’ perspectives as well as my own. I learnt that assessment is something that occurs naturally throughout each lesson and that it is more effective to provide students with constant feedback instead of once at the start and again at the end. I also realised that assessment has to be carefully constructed so as to extract targeted information, which is most often needed in a classroom. Assessing students is not an easy task but rather tedious especially if you take an individualised approach. However, I believe in its necessity to inform teachers and students if teaching and learning is to be most effective.

Reflecting critically and Stance on Assessment Practice: My Teacher Stance on Assessment

Through implementing my assessment strategy, I have been able to develop some new ideas about assessment as well as consolidate previous beliefs. I believe that assessment provides students and teachers with feedback in terms of progress, misconceptions and so on and it is that feedback that provides the connection between teaching and learning. As such assessment’s main role is to provide feedback which should determine teaching and as such student learning. Assessment is not solely for the teacher but is a tool that students should also use to become self-sufficient monitors of their progress which is the ultimate goal. This aligns with Rowntree (cited in Hodges, Eames and Coll 2014, p. 190) who states that assessment prepares students for later life where they regulate and assess their own learning. This is one important long-term goal of assessment but I also believe that in school, assessment also has to lead to student progress. Through using a KWL chart, I could see that student motivation was an important factor in accurately assessing the students’ knowledge as most who had a negative view of time or maths as a whole tended to write minimal information. This has the potential to skew the data and mislead my teaching which in turn would not result in effective student learning. One main idea that I am currently wrestling with is how to create an assessment task that involves students but also encapsulates the set curriculum. I believe that my main views on assessment have stayed relatively similar but rather my views on assessment planning and the role of feedback in particular have changed.

References

Black, P & Wiliam, D 1998, 'Inside the Black Box', Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 80, no. 2, p. 140, EBSCOhost, viewed 10 June 2015.

Harlen, W 2010, ‘What is quality teacher assessment?’, Developing Teacher Assessment, Maidenhead : McGraw-Hill Education, pp. 29-52

Hodges, D, Eames, C, & Coll, RK 2014, 'Theoretical perspectives on assessment in cooperative education placements', Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 189-207.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Lesson sequence with assessment strategy overview

Lesson 1: Introduction to clocks and features of clocks (Assessment: complete K&W from KWL chart and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric based on KWL chart)

Lesson 2: O’clock time

Lesson 3: Half past, quarter past and quarter to time

Lesson 4: Digital time (Assessment: Rubric)

Lesson 5: Duration of time (Assessment: completing L from KWL chart)

Warm Up Student Activity Reflection1 Assessment: K&W from KWL chart

Lesson focus: identifying features of a clock

Class brainstorm about time on a poster. What do we know? What are the features of a clock? How many minutes in a day? Where do we see clocks? Why do we use clocks? Which way does a clock move?Have iPad stopwatch displayed on the TV using the visualiser. Get students to predict how many times someone can do something in a minute. How can we estimate a minute?Resources: Poster paper, markers

Students will make their own clocks and decorate them. Things that need to be included on the clocks are: hour and minute hand, numbers from 1-12, lines marking the minutes. These clocks will be used throughout the rest of the time-based lessons as a teaching tool.Resources: paper plates, colour pencils, paper fastener, different coloured arrows for hour and minute hand, clocks from maths resources for referencing.

Students will gather on the floor in a circle and identify features of their clock such as the minute hand or hour hand.

Resources: students’ clocks, demonstration clock

SupportStudents can work with partners to draw clock face and identify different features of the clock.

ExtensionIn partners, students can play time tic tac toe. Each person has to take turns in asking their partner a question about time. If their partner answers correctly, they place an ‘x’ or an ‘o’ in the squares. If the students don’t get the question right, they miss that turn. Students have to ask questions that they know the answer to but might be tricky enough for their partner not to know. Eg. How many seconds are there in 1 min and 23 seconds

2 Lesson focus: telling o’clock timeBuzz word(time): Magic time is 8:00. Students can say up to three o’clock times but whoever says 8:00 is out. Quick discussion on what is o’clock time. Where do the hands have to be?Get the class to show you on their clocks what certain times are.Facilitate discussion using interactive clock:http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/ClassClock/clockres.html

Resources: whiteboard, markers, students’ clocks, visualiser, iPad

Students will be given a blank sheet of clock faces which they have to draw the specified time. Next to the clock faces will be an empty box which students have to cut and paste a picture of an activity in that will relate to that time of day.Resources: Two sheets of paper (one with empty clock faces and an empty box, other with pictures of daily activities)

Students will be chosen to share what times they have drawn and what pictures they have placed in the boxes. Check with the class whether it looks right.Discuss how we know it’s an o’clock time?

SupportStudents will stay on the floor and work with teacher to consolidate o’clock time

ExtensionStudents can colour in the pictures. They can draw their own clock faces with o’clock or half past time and draw pictures to match what they would be doing at that time-could be specific activities that they do.

3 Lesson focus: telling half past, quarter past and quarter to timeIntroducing half past, quarter to, quarter past time. Students bring their clocks to the floor. Using my demonstration clock, show students what half past/quarter to/past time looks like. Get volunteers up to show different times.Remind students which way a clock moves.Facilitate discussion using interactive clock:http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/ClassClock/clockres.html

Resources: students’ clocks, demonstration clock, whiteboard, markers, visualiser, iPad

Students will extend on their clocks that they made. Using a larger plate, they will create a rim where they can write down o’clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past in words, next to the 12, 6, 9 and 3 respectively. Students can decorate their clock extension. Students can also work in pairs and test their partner by showing them clock times they have made with their clocks.Resources: large paper plate, pencils, colour pencils

Students will come back to the floor with their clocks and will demonstrate certain times using their clocks. If there is time, look at extension activities as an introduction to digital time next weekResources: students’ clocks, demonstration clock

SupportStudents work with a partner to place additional features on their clock

ExtensionUsing iPads, create a Pic Collage page that has facts about a certain time. Eg using 7:12 as the time, students could write how many more minutes it is to 8, the number of seconds in 12 minutes, what it looks like on an analogue clock.

4 Lesson focus: telling time to the minute and knowing how to write digital timeIntroducing digital time. Skip counting in

Assessment: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 RubricClock puzzle: In pairs, (based on capabilities) students will be given a

Get 1 partnership to share their ordered time pairs.

2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Have number chart available to help with skip counting. Use interactive clock online and students’ clocks to show times like 3:30/1:15 etc. Resources: number chart, interactive online clock, students’ clocks

bag of jumbled clock times where they have to match the analogue time with the digital time. Once matched, students can take a picture of each pair using their iPad and place them in order (they can choose to start at whichever time)Resources: Bag of analogue clock faces and digital clock faces, pencils

What time did they start at? Morning/afternoon? What might you be doing at that time?Recap of digital time with the class. What do we see when we read digital time?

Resources: students’ clocks, demonstration clock

SupportContinuation of warm up activity

ExtensionOnce puzzles are completed, students can log onto laptops or iPads and play with the interactive clock online by moving the clock hands and testing their partner.

5 Lesson focus: learning how to calculate duration of timeIf we started eating at _____, and when we finished, the clock looked like this then how long did we take to eat? Use interactive online clock and clock from maths resourcesResources: whiteboard, markers, visualiser, iPad

Assessment: L from KWL chart

Using iPads, create a Pic Collage page that has facts about a certain time. Eg using 7:12 as the time, students could write how many more minutes it is to 8, the number of seconds in 12 minutes, what it looks like on an analogue clock etc.

Resources: iPad, online interactive clock, students’ clocks

2/3 students with different times present their facts about different times.Facilitate discussion based on duration facts and different ways to tell time.

Resources: visualiser, iPads

SupportWork on the floor with me to create a fact poster together.

ExtensionStudents can find out the relationship between units of time eg. How many (hours and) minutes to midnight from 7:12

Appendix 2: Actual assessment strategy in full including learning support materials and criteria

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric

5- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-is able to tell time to the minute-has an understanding of how to add and subtract time/tell duration4- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-has an understanding of how to tell time to the minute-is able to add and subtract hours and half hours3- can accurately identify and name features of a clock-understands simple time telling eg o’clock, half past etc.-is able to add/subtract hours of time2- can accurately identify and name features of a clock- understands simple time telling eg o’clock, half past etc.1- can accurately identify and name features of a clock

Lesson 2 clock worksheet

o’clock

o’clock

o’clock

o’clock

Sample of clock puzzles from lesson 4

12:00

2:00

11:30

3:30

KWL Chart

Know Want

Appendix 3: Peer and Mentor feedback on proposed assessment design

Mentor feedback

Peer feedback from typed up notes

Questions/Feedback

Mentor teacher has told me not to include peer assessment but I’m hoping to include students in the assessment process instead of the actual assessing. How could I do that?

Peer: You could include a KWL chart at the start and the end, that way you could use information straight from them to inform your teaching

Peer: You could brainstorm with students the criteria that should be included in your 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric

It’s not a school practice to separate students based on their year levels when teaching. Is a rubric the best way to scale the students?

Peer: Yes, I think a rubric is best because it’s not about their year level but basically how they match up to the criteria. And your idea of a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rubric is good because one level is not better than the other, they have just been posed as groupings based on capabilities.

Is my assessment structure appropriate in terms of where I have started to fishbone?

Peer: I think so. It’s given you enough time to deliver content but also to start separating students out based on abilities. I wouldn’t do it any sooner because I don’t think there would be enough time for students to demonstrate their capabilities and you would also want enough time at the end to branch students out into your abilities-based groups.