Assessment and feedback
Student growth is the focus of education. Evaluating student growth is conducted with formative and summative assessments.
Formative assessments
Formative assessments gauge student progress and which concepts need more practice. Formative assessments don't need to be graded for accuracy. When students understand these assessments aren't graded for accuracy, they're free to try and "fail" until they reach a true understanding of the material. With formative assessment, students rely on feedback, so they learn how to improve. Formative assessment encourages growth mindset and develops skills that students use throughout school and into the workforce.
Formative assessment examples include asking a student to:
- Complete practice problems in OneNote
- Complete a poll, practice quiz, entrance/exit ticket in Forms
- Summarize their understanding of a video lesson or live lesson in OneNote
- Complete a graphic organizer using the Whiteboard app
- Answer questions related to a concept in Word
Summative assessment
Summative assessments are typically at the end of a unit of learning and measure students' mastery of the content. While formative assessment isn't graded for accuracy and relies on instructor feedback, summative assessment is graded and final. Objective tests and essays are traditional summative assessments. Instructors can use other assessment strategies to measure students' growth, including:
- Demonstrations: Instructors task students with demonstrating their mastery of a concept by teaching it. Students use Sway, PowerPoint, or Clipchamp to teach an assigned topic to a specified audience. Students can use the Screen Recorder feature in PowerPoint or Stream to record themselves teaching a concept, explaining a process, or walking through the steps of how to solve a problem.
- Portfolios: Students document their learning in OneNote. Students reflect on their learning, self-assess, and provide authentic examples of their progress. At the end of the unit of learning, students use their portfolio to write a response to an overarching essential question.
- Problem-based tasks: Instructors give students or student groups real-world authentic problems to solve. Throughout the course of study, educators pose an authentic problem for students to solve and students apply what they learned to the problem. Problem-based learning provides students with purpose and engages them in meaningful work. Students feel a sense of responsibility, value, and independence when they focus on solutions to real-world questions. (Nsiah, 3).
Feedback
Assessment is only one piece of measuring student growth. Meaningful and timely feedback is a key component to success in a hybrid learning environment. "If we want online students to actively engage with the course, we have to engage them as frequently as possible through fair and helpful feedback" (Darby 111). Meaningful feedback helps students improve and grow in the learning goals. Instructors provide students with details of how they did on the current assignment, but also how they can improve. To offer feedback effectively and efficiently, educators can use a number of strategies:
- Audio feedback in OneNote: Using Assignments in Microsoft Teams, instructors distribute a OneNote page. When finished, educators offer feedback with Insert Audio. Audio feedback provides meaningful feedback in a timely manner and students report greater satisfaction when with it. According to Small Teaching Online, students "indicated an increased satisfaction with audio feedback; it felt more personal, they reported, and they found it to be more useful because the audio feedback included more explanation and suggestions for improvement than the written feedback did" (Darby 124).
- Notes in Forms quizzes: Instructors insert messages in a Forms practice quiz to provide feedback as the student completes the quiz. If the student answers incorrectly, the feedback feature in Forms directs the student to a specific page or video that helps find the answer. If the student answers correctly, the feedback sends the student to a resource with additional information to challenge them further. Creating notes in the quiz allows instructors to be virtual tutors for their students as they practice concepts.
- Feedback cycles with Assignments in Teams: Instructors create an assignment in Microsoft Teams, requiring students to submit their final work through the Team. Once submitted, educators review students' work and provide feedback. When the feedback is returned to students, they modify their work based on the instructor’s feedback and resubmit.
Considerations for primary learners
Assessing learning for primary learners in a hybrid environment looks different for each student. It's imperative that educators create assessments and offer feedback that supports the learning of each student. Feedback, especially when personalized, is an effective method to promote learning. It should be cyclical so students are constantly receiving input and modifying their work. Feedback may be from educators, peers, or self-review. If the feedback is quick and relevant, students use it to improve their learning outcomes.
Considerations for intermediate learners
Intermediate learners can demonstrate their learning using different tools. For feedback to be effective, provide choice, using choice boards, project-based learning, and multiple modes for students to show their understanding. Rubrics support the use and measurement of various assessment tools. Rubrics allow educators to assess targeted skills, monitor progress, and supply new or adjusted learning experiences to personalize student learning.
Considerations for adolescent learners
The change to a hybrid learning environment may mean adolescent learners need a change in accommodations, services, or simply the way content is delivered. The increased need for school responsiveness makes the demand for quality assessments and feedback more critical than ever. Ways for students to self-assess and to provide teachers with data to inform future instruction include:
- Defining clear criteria
- Incorporating student voice in defining success
- Focusing on meaningful feedback
- Embedding opportunities for self-assessment
- Leveraging opportunities for peer assessment