Learning Intention:

3. Learning Intention: • Teachers will be able to use formative assessment to enhance the teaching and learning in their classroom • Success Criteria: • Distinguish between assessment of and for learning • Know the key elements of assessment for learning • Write learning intentions • Suggest activities/tasks to achieve the learning intention • Devise Success Criteria • Use questioning in the classroom to generate discussion and improve student’s participation in their learning

5. Reflect on Current PracticeAssessment of and for learning..... Source: “Putting Assessment for Learning into Practice,” David Spendlove, 2009)

6. Assessment for Learning (formative) is not an attack on assessment of learning (summative assessment). These are complementary approaches - it’s about getting the balance right. It is the teacher who decides the balance and timing of formative and summative assessments; (“Putting Assessment for Learning into Practice,” David Spendlove, 2009)

7. Assessment for Learning: Key Elements • Learning Intention and Success Criteria • Effective Feedback • Effective Questioning • Self assessment - Students as owners of their own learning • Peer Assessment - Students as Instructional resources for each other Assessment for learning strategies need to be phased into practice over time. AfL Assessment for Learning – A Practical Guide 2010 p38

8. Assessment for Learning (AfL) Enables teachers and students to focus on three key questions - • Where are students now in their learning? • Where are students going in their learning? • How will students get to the next point in their learning? NCCA Assessment Guidelines p9.

9. Learning Intention • Learning Intentions are an explicit description of what a learner should know, understand and be able to do as a result of learning. (Learning and Teaching Institute, Sheffield Hallam University)

10. Learning Intentions “Lessons are guided by syllabus-linked learning outcomes that are shared with the students.” SSE Guidelines • Example: Students will be able to: • Plan a balanced breakfast menu for two • Demonstrate understanding of the concept of plate tectonics • Describe the environmental effects of a natural disaster.

11. Devising Learning Intentions • State learning intentions simply and clearly. • Learning Intentions should be capable of being validly assessed – a verb should be used in the statement. • Plan a nutritional menu for two • Measure and Map an area • Describe the environmental effects of a natural disaster

12. Separating the Learning Intention from the Context of Learning The context of learning is simply the actions, activities and/or tasks students will be doing to achieve the Learning Intention.

13. Clarified Learning Intentions • Clear: focus on what will be learned in the lesson, as distinct from what students will do in the lesson • Useful: focus is on concepts, skills or knowledge that is used rather than focusing on imparting knowledge • Can be transferrable to a similar context Adapted from source: Leahy, S, Lyon, C and Wiliam, D. (Nov.2005) Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership

14. If the learning intention is free of context it can illustrate to students that there are many reasons for learning the concept From Clarke, S. (2005) Formative Assessment in Action: Weaving the elelments together

16. Workshop Activity Use the subject-based statements on the worksheet to: Write a clear learning intention Identify a context of learning (task/activity/teaching approach etc.)

17. Success Criteria Success Criteria suggest ways to achieve a learning intention. “How will I know when I have learned?” “How will I know when I have achieved the learning intention?” The learning intention and the success criteria need to be visually displayed • WILF -What I’m Looking For

18. Success criteria can be • a series of steps/sequence of instructions • a list of options/menu from which the students can choose • a list of “remember to” prompts • a visual aide memoir

19. Success Criteria – menu/list of options Learning Intention: Create a written character portrait What will you need to do to achieve this? (Success Criteria) Include some or all of the following Appearance Hobbies and interests Personality traits Attitude to self/others Occupation How others respond to the character.....

20. Stems for Writing Success Criteria What I expect from everyone is… What I am looking for is… Why does…..? What if….? How would you….? Could you explain….? What might….? To produce a good… what do you need to do? What do we already know that would help…? To be successful you…

21. Effective Feedback “Feedback is among the most powerful moderators of learning” Hattie, 2012

22. Effective feedback Oral – most powerful impact Marks/grading only- does little to improve learning Written comment - quality more important than frequency

23. Principles of Effective Feedback • Involves more work for receiver than the giver • Timely • Clear and focused • Attached to the learning intentions and success criteria

24. What is Feedback? “The best feedback is highly specific, directly revealing or highly descriptive of what actually resulted, clear to the performer, and available or offered in terms of specific targets and standards.” ( Wiggins, Grant. Educative Assessment, 1998)

25. Four levels of feedback • The Task: correct or incorrect and could include directions to acquire more, different or correct information. • The Process: used to create the performance/product; aimed at the learning process requiring understanding to complete the product/performance • Self Regulation: greater skill in self-evaluation or confidence to engage further with the task • The self as a person: personal; directed at the person, not the performance/product Hattie and Temperley: The Power of Feedback: Review of Educational Research, March 2007; Vol 77, No. 1 Which level of feedback do you think might have the greatest impact?

26. Evaluative vs Descriptive Evaluative Feedback offers: judgements of value or correctness or incorrectness Descriptive Feedback offers descriptions of: why a response is appropriate what has been achieved suggestions for improvement suggestions or prompts of a better way of doing something

27. Concrete, specific and useful; therefore it is actionable. Can a student take action to the following examples of feedback? “Good job!”, “B+”, “You need to try harder next time!”

28. User friendly: understandable language; concentrate on one or two key elements of performance • Too much feedback can be counter-productive

29. Good work! You need to work harder You got a B on your presentation I am so pleased with your essay You need more quotes in your essay You need more detail in the write up of the experiment, instructions, recipe etc… In light of the above feedback, what have I learned that can improve my performance? How can we make the above comments useful?

30. Making the Evaluative Descriptive: Activities • Good work; Your use of descriptive language was an improvement on your last essay. I was able to imagine the scenes very clearly. (achieved) • You need to work harder; (ways to improve) • You got a B on your presentation; (achievement, improvement) • I am so pleased with your essay; (appropriateness, achievement)

31. Feedback vs Advice • Feedback must be linked to the learning intention and success criteria as well as moving the learning forward, otherwise it tends to become either a judgement or advice.

32. Activity • Organise all the comments into categories of Descriptive Feedback and Evaluative/Advice

33. Structuring Effective Feedback: Activity • Highlight successes (2 or 3) and identify one area for improvement • Give improvement suggestions – write a prompt that will help student make the improvement reminder- suitable for able students: “Say more about how Gandhi influenced India’s independence scaffold- for students who need more support than a reminder: “Describe something that happened when the molten lava reached the river.” example- can work with all students but especially the less able: “Choose one of these or create your own: ‘He is a good friend because he never says unkind things.’; ‘He is a friend because he never tells lies.’ Adapted from NCCA

34. Ongoing!! Feedback only works formatively if the student has opportunity to improve to better achieve the learning outcome. In summative assessment the feedback is too late.

35. Effective Feedback Techniques • Three Questions: asking the students to reflect on their work and move it forward • Spot your own mistake

36. Question Stems Could you explain..? What if…? Why does…..? What if….? How would you….? Could you explain….? What might….? How would you? What might you…? Why does…?

37. Assessing Progress During Lessons Asking key questions: • to measure student progress in learning orally • to generate class discussion • use open questions • higher order questions

38. Strategies for Effective Questioning • Use ‘open’ rather than ‘closed’ questions • E.g. Is Iago or Othello responsible for Othello’s downfall?

39. Strategies for Effective Questioning • Change the question into a statement: Instead of asking: “Who was most responsible for the Irish Civil War?” Make a statement: “DeValera was responsible for the Irish Civil War.”

40. Strategies for Effective Questioning • Invert the question e.g.: “Is Ireland a republic?” Change to: “What does it mean for a country to become a republic?” • Insert the word “might” into the question “What is the meaning of socialism?” “What might be the meaning of socialism?”

41. Strategies for Effective Questioning Start your questions with “why” or “how” Instead of asking: “What is a prime number?” Ask:“Why is 7 a prime number and 9 a composite number? Instead of asking: “What was life like under the Taliban?” Ask:“How were the lives of men and women different under the Taliban?”

42. Assessment It is essential that teachers ensure that AfL does not become a set of teaching tips that ultimately fall into unthinking routines of traffic lights, two stars, WALT boards, success criteria and so on. AfL – A Practical Guide (N. I Curriculum) pii