Alternative assessment techniques consist of observing students working in class, asking questions, and listening to their answers. They involve student presentations, extended projects and performance tasks. The creation of portfolios and written journals that show and describe students' work are very useful techniques. Other less frequently used but viable techniques are the use of interviews, conferences and student constructed tests.
One of the techniques which our group wish to explore and share will be Questioning.
1) How can this technique be used effectively?
It can be used to assess problem-solving competence by asking students questions related to the four-step problem-solving plan:
1) Explore
2) Plan
3) Solve
4) Examine
Such kind of questioning should uncover what the student is experiencing difficulty in, as well as demonstrate the kinds of questions he should ask himself. Listening to the students' descriptions of their thinking and observing their written work provides a more accurate assessment of problem-solving skills than simply grading answers on tests.
In addition, questioning and observing students in a problem-solving context can give a teacher an in-depth understanding of a student's ability to think, communicate ideas and make connections.
2) Example:
The teacher may lead with a moderately easy question such as the following:-
"How would you find the unit price of meat, if 3kg cost $15.85?"
A correct response may be followed by more probing and demanding questions such as,
"How would you find the unit price of meat if 1.6kg cost $8.45?
An incorrect response may be followed by probing but less difficult questions such as
"What is the price for 1 kg of meat if 2kg costs $10?
"How did you get your answer?"
A student's ability to make connections can be assessed similarly. The above sequence of questioning can be followed by questions such as,
"If a student makes $6.50 for 3.5hours work, how would you find her hourly rate?"
These kinds of questioning allow the teacher to follow a student's thinking, or the teacher can change directions and pursue other ideas or thoughts the students may express. Thus the teacher and student can attain a fuller and deeper understanding of the process being evaluated.
Types of Questions
- Questions to Guide Instruction
- Questions for Error Analysis
- Open-Ended Questions
-If I change the problem to this, how would then you solve the problem? (for Problem Solving)
-Explain your solution (for communication)
-Explain why the solution to the equation is incorrect (for Reasoning)
-Do you see any relations between this idea to that, that we have discussed? (for Connections)
No comments:
Post a Comment