The Need for 21st Century Assessments

Throughout my academic career I have been exposed to a variety of teaching strategies. After taking courses such as EDUC 4P19 I can now infer and reflect on my previous experiences and understand the reasoning for different assignments and tasks that I deemed as irrelevant at the time. The reasoning for my naïve initial conclusion was due to my lack of knowledge of different types of assessment required in the curriculum. The assignments such as peer evaluations and editing each others work, which I figured were monotonous tasks for easy marks turned out to be crucial parts of understanding which strategies through the course worked best for me. The three types of assessment are essential part of a teachers’ evaluation of the student and help them grow as a lifetime learner.  These three types of assessment are known as assessment of Learning (AoL), Assessment for Learning (AfL), and Assessment as Learning (AaL).

The dominant type of assessment I have seen throughout my academic career is AoL. This type of assessment is used to gauge a students knowledge on a specific topic or subject of study. I sincerely believe that this is most suitable way overall to assess knowledge in many courses such as math. However, I believe math courses within the elementary and high school curriculum should use other assessment strategies more frequently such as AaL. This type of assessment focuses on metacognitive development and incorporates tasks such as reflections or peer evaluations. I believe this would be a more helpful way of developing knowledge for math students because they can recognize which strategies they found most useful during lessons. Another positive result of AaL is students are exposed to peers strategies of forming knowledge and can create a collaborative learning environment. However I do not believe that only AaL alone is a suitable way to gauge students’ final math marks.

Another type of assessment that could be utilized more in math classes is AfL. Assessment for learning involves the process of teacher providing feedback to students on their work as well as adjusting their lesson to meet the students needs to learn. An appropriate yearly task that should be implemented into elementary and secondary school math curriculums is a diagnostic assessment. The inclusion of a diagnostic assessment would allow for the teacher to gather an understanding of the range of knowledge levels and learning needs in the classroom. From this point on, the teacher can construct their lesson based on the students’ preexisting knowledge. This can be a much more problematic approach to classroom assessment for some teachers as it requires them to get to know their students and manipulate their lessons to suit the necessary learning needs.

In the twenty-first century it will require graduates to have much more then memorization skills to obtain a sustainable career. There must be different types of assessment used in classrooms to prepare students for different scenarios in the workplace. AoL is the traditional way for teaching to designate a concrete grade to each student. However there must be more ways implemented to guide students to form knowledge. AaL should be used more in courses such as math and science in order to provide students with a more student directed learning approach. Whereas AfL is an efficient way to show students how they are progressing as the course. AfL, such as describing detailed, meaningful feedback on an essay is an appropriate way for a teacher to privately convey a message to their students on how to grow in their field of study. The following short video is another example that demonstrates the need for twenty-first century assessment styles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lBhMSaFNhY)If students are to truly grow as learners they must have a long-term exposure to the different learning strategies they find most useful. A much richer curriculum can be achieved by straying away from the traditional AoL and incorporating more meaningful assessments.

Integrating Marginalized Perspectives into the Curriculum

During my initial lessons about the integrated curriculum I began to think of how difficult it must be to incorporate various disciplines into a single allotted time slot.  As a future teacher, my own initial concerns with the integrated curriculum were that I might not have competent knowledge of the curriculum involving more than one or two subjects. Drake et al. (2014) provide detailed descriptions on how to effectively and efficiently incorporate an integrated curriculum into the modern classroom. However many current teachers are still facing issues stepping outside the boundaries of their ordinary classroom lessons and routines.

            A qualitative study proposed by Scott (2013) interviewed five grade 10 high school teachers in Calgary regarding their ability to incorporate various perspectives into subjects like history and economics. The various perspectives specifically apply to French and Indigenous viewpoints on issues around globalization such as the expansion of mining in Canada during the industrial revolution (Scott, 2013). The study concluded that all five of the teachers faced serious problems finding the time to incorporate French and Indigenous Studies into issues of globalization. Furthermore the teachers had issues relating these perspectives to the topics of discussion and lastly they felt uncomfortable due to their own incompetent knowledge of Indigenous and French cultures leading the avoidance of the topic (Scott, 2013). Although it is a small sample, the results from this study clearly demonstrate that teachers in Calgary are having difficulties implementing a more integrated curriculum that helps students learn material through various perspectives. 

            There are many justifications and fingers that can be pointed for why these five teachers and many more across Canada are facing barriers creating an integrated curriculum. Scott proposes that they should do a literature review of relevant local issues that involves various perspectives. I believe however that the onus is still on not just the teachers but the board of education to find ways to create a less segregated, mind-numbing schedule that involves switching from math to science, English, etc. The integrated curriculum avoids this problem. First of all, the five teachers interviewed by Scott should have created a Know Do Be Umbrella as demonstrated by Drake et al. (2014) in order to outline their lesson material, assessment tasks and learning goals for the class. I will provide my own brief example of how I believe the lesson plan could have been formulated. Firstly the teachers should have outlined the ‘Know” section, which in this case requires students to have knowledge of various socio-economic issues around globalization and cause and effect relationships or marginalized citizens. Secondly is the “Do” section. The teachers should have their students perform group research and hold class or group discussions. Lastly is the “Be”, in which students are to be ethical members of a community who acknowledge and respond to marginality in their community. There must also be “big Ideas” incorporated into the “Know Do Be” lesson plan such as Citizenship and Communication (Drake et al. 2014).

Canada is not the only country focused on creating a more inclusive integrated curriculum. The following video is a short demonstration of why Indigenous studies and perspectives have been integrated into the Australian Curriculum. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PwPlYA4w0)Hopefully in the near future Canadian curriculums will begin to implement similar strategies towards an integrated curriculum.

                                                            

                                    References

Drake, S. M., Kolohon, W., & Reid, J. L. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment:Engaging Students in 21st-Century Learner. Oxford University Press.

Scott, D. (2013). Teaching Aboriginal Perspectives: An Investigation into Teacher Practices amidst Curriculum Change. Canadian Social Studies, 46(1), 31-43.

A Georaphical Integrated Cirriculum

              As a geography student at Brock, I notice that my classes are not nearly as crowded as other fourth year classes in separate faculties. It has become apparent that there are very few undergraduates planning on completing an honours thesis or returning for a master’s degree. Also, recently coming to my attention was news of my former high school cancelling the grade 11 academic geography classes as a result of minimal enrolment, while many parents also questioned the principal if geography is really necessary for grade nine curriculums. The decline in the interest of geography is alarming because it is a discipline that focuses on developing environmentally responsible and moral citizens. Having completed two high school geography credits in high school and taking education courses in a post-secondary institution, it leads me to believe that this decline in the interest of geography is due to the lack of engaging activity and applicable information to student’s lives.

Converting the high school geography curriculum into an integrated curriculum would be more engaging for students and arouse more interest in the subject. I have designed a rough outline of how high school geography can implement an integrated curriculum based on the model proposed by Drake et. al (2012).  The outline is just an example of how an integrated curriculum can be cohesive with geography in a modern high school. The pre-steps involve knowing the students and topics of study that connect to their lives/experiences (Drake et al. 2012).  If the students are coming from a middle-upper class background, an appropriate subject in the field of geography includes environmental degradation as there seems to be a relationship between the average income of residents in an area and their ecological footprint (myfootprint.org).

Stage one in creating a backward design integrated curriculum includes deciding upon a topic to for lessons, determining the ‘Know’ ‘Do’ and ‘Be’ and creating an exploratory web (Drake et al. 2012). The topic for my project lesson I have chosen is how students’ lifestyles affect the natural environment. The ‘Know’ will consist of the geography of Canada and the effects pollution/waste and transportation have on the environment and potential sustainable solutions. The ‘Do’ will consist of many different tasks, which focus on highlighting students’ twenty-first century skills such as communication, collaboration and creativity; in terms of geography it will also involve mapping, research and presenting. The ‘Be” or final result, is to develop ethical, environmentally responsible citizens who contribute towards a sustainable future.  The ‘Be’ is what teachers should be striving towards developing in geography classrooms. Also, creating an exploratory web will help students understand how their lives directly relate to the topic of study (Drake et. al 2012).

The second stage of the integrated curriculum design involves creating a rich performance assessment task and creating assessment tasks for the students (Drake et al. 2012).  This is a critical step in the process because it involves creating effective lessons that are supposed to develop the twenty-first century skills. I think the most effective term project in high-school geography would involve project based learning in which the students perform research on their contribution to environmental degradation, write papers and carry out presentations which accumulates to a final portfolio on the topic. The marking can be done gradually as different parts of the assignment are handed in such as group work, presentations, research and essays.

The last stage of the integrated curriculum design focuses on developing essential questions and organizing daily instruction. Essential questions in geography must drive the lesson, facilitate discussions and require research to answer. A geographical example relating to my integrated curriculum outline is: In what ways does shopping locally for commercial goods and foods impact the natural environment? After the essential questions have been created, specific days can be devoted to brainstorming, research, and collaboration of results in groups, presentations, and so on. I believe integrated curriculums that incorporate more project-based learning strategies as proposed by Drake et. al (2012) will influence more students to continue enrolling in geography during their academic careers. Making the material more engaging and relevant to students’ lifestyles will certainly result in an increase in interest of the subject and modernize geographical teaching strategies in the classroom.

Know, Do and Be-The Framework to Successful Learning and Learning Strategies

 Developing effective strategies for a learning curriculum is just as important as the content itself. Like many others, my student career prior to university consisted primarily of standardized tests and rubrics. Although this is an effective way for teachers to gauge how much content the students can regurgitate, it does not show the ways in which students came to form their knowledge and does not provide much feedback for them to grow as learners. Teacher’s today should be fully focused on incorporating the Know, Do and Be framework into their classroom, proposed by Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014) as a means to help their students develop successful strategies to acquire knowledge.

 There are four different types of knowledge making up the “know”, the initial step of the framework. Factual and conceptual knowledge are essential for a teacher’s marking scheme and a student’s grade, however their procedural and metacognitive knowledge is essential to their growth as a learner. One of the primary issues in my student career was my own lack of understanding of how I learn best. Being exposed to so many lessons where I was placed amongst twenty-five other students, I would simply have to take in the information being lectured from the teacher. However, students have different ways of forming knowledge; whether they be visual learners, need to work in groups, individually or need their lesson to be placed in some sort of real life context. Once teachers expose students to more strategies and techniques to learning, the students themselves can then further develop procedural and metacognitive knowledge. This could result in many more students taking initiative in the classroom to participate as well as help their peers whom may use similar strategies to form knowledge.

 After the “Know” is completed than students must be able to perform and demonstrate their knowledge in the classroom. The “Do” is the part of the learning process where students exercise the knowledge they have gained, as well as other sorts of interdisciplinary skills (Drake, Reid, Kolohon, 2014). In order for students to complete the “Do”, they must have knowledge of the proper strategies to do so.  Being educated does not simply guarantee success or a job. Instead, it is the twenty-first century skills or life skills that are greatly valued in neighbourhood communities as well as the workplace. This includes but is not limited to skills such as communication, collaboration or critical thinking. These types of skills and traits are essential to succeeding in both teaching as well as learning positions.-first century skills  provide students with traits that will be useful inside and outside the classroom. This is why I believe twenty-first century skills should be renamed “life skills”; they are necessary for work and nearly all aspects of community life. 

 What is to be done after one learns the knowledge and acquires the skills to perform the task at hand in the classroom? In order to reach the final step of the framework, students must become moral and ethical learners. This is considered the “Be”, where the overall growth of the learner can be recognized and assessed. The "Be" involves a class-first mentality for students which includes respect, tolerance and participation. I feel that this is an essential part of learning even if the proper knowledge or skills were not acquired. Having moral and ethical students who are eager to learn is vital in a classroom.

 In order for students to become critical learners they must obtain the proper knowledge (“Know”), the proper skills to perform (“Do”) and become a responsible student whom contributes to their community of students (“Be”). The following link provides a short video that demonstrates the need for twenty-first century skills amongst students in today’s society. Although their definition of twenty-first century skills is slightly different than the one used in EDUC 4P19, the goal in creating optimally effective and fully functional learning environments remains the same. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AvZ5ulVyLc)

 Source: http://weknowmemes.com/2012/10/not-sure-if-i-am-actually-learning-in-class-or/

             The picture above raises acknowledgement of an issue many students, including myself sometimes contemplate. By developing twenty-first century skills students can ensure that they will not find themselves wondering the same thing. With the implementation of twenty-first century skills during lessons and tasks students will be capable of learning the required curriculum and becoming moral and ethical learners, prepared for the real world.

Modern, Effective School Curriculums

Classrooms must be a space in which all individual students have a fair opportunity to succeed in learning about variety of formal or informal subjects. It has come to my attention however that this statement is not true. Within the classroom there are often times where some students are disadvantaged by traditional teaching practices. The practice of teaching cannot be as simple as a educator lecturing students with do’s and don’ts of the classroom while overflowing their minds with subject information. This method of traditional-authoritarian teaching style only benefits those who are able to keep up with the educator’s standards while those struggling are left behind.

 During my elementary and secondary schooling years I have seen many students become fall behind in class and as a result fall behind for the rest of the week when this teaching practice is in use. Teachers need to seek out and address the different types of curriculum as a means to discover the most effective ways of transferring knowledge (Drake, Reid, Kolomon, 2014)

Project-based learning seems to be the most effect way for a constructivist to draw the content out of the students. By posing an open-ended question for an assignment, students can generate potential topics of study in groups and continually build on each other’s ideas. I have seen this method work in many classes as a student. After a topic and group was chosen, my group’s task was to hand in the same essay on three separate occasions. Each time the paper is handed in it will be marked with feedback then will be handed back for revision, editing and for the addition/deletion of new ideas. This was an effective way to meet the curriculum objectives because as students it was required we do most of the learning on our own while the teacher acted as a guide/source of knowledge.

Holistic education is a style the style that is the most unfamiliar to myself. This type of education seems like it most concerned with developing ethical, confident learners. The following link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUYRHAeECyA) contains a video of a woman named Wu Jiahi who used holistic education to develop her learning and life skills. After taking an over-seas musical exchange program Jiahi has discovered a talent of playing music and performing while also developing other skills such as public speaking. Holistic education is also very evident in many Indigenous schooling curriculums where they must focus on teaching the “mind, body and spirit” (Drake, Reid, Kolomon, 2014). More information can be found on Manitoba’s government website regarding Indigenous schooling in Manitoba at http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/abedu/perspectives/concepts.html.

It would be interesting to see a potential hybrid of project-based learning, holistic education and social reconstruction. There is no good reason that modern education cannot combine all of these constructivist teaching practices and curriculums into one classroom. Since Canada is such a multicultural community all students should be offered an equal opportunity at succeeding in school. In order to liberate students from authoritarian style classrooms, teachers must consider project –based learning, holistic education and social reconstructions. By incorporating all three constructivist models of curriculum into one classroom students who are from foreign cultures, Indigenous families and those from low, middle or high socio-economic statuses all have the opportunity to grow as learners and collaborate together rather be taught in a standardized monoculture.