Assessment is a big part of the education system and required for quality feedback during the learning process. The skill and drill, standardized testing and several other assessment issues have been a big deal in education discussions. It was mentioned in the James Gee video I linked to last week that how assessment is handled in games is part of why games are good for learning. In the Mozilla Open Education Course there were several people interested in assessment.
NOTE: Since this last week saw little contribution from others, I will hold off on creating a summary post. Then those who come and participate later can add what they’ve found. Then there will be more reason to create the summary post.
There is a lot to talk about when it comes to assessment of learners. Lots of questions and more ways that they can be taken. Here are just a few and some possibilities for discussion and consideration.
What could/should be assessed?
Skills, memory, creativity, resource management, time management, leadership, communication, organization, teamwork and the list goes on with specifics from each discipline and field, but that’s just a list of things about students that could be assessed. There are other things like teaching methods, resource styles, method & resource selection for students and software are just a small portion of what else there is that can be assessed. Not only do we need to assess the students, but also the education system and tools.
Who could/should be assessed?
Students make up a large number of people as there are several times of students, and then there are the teachers, policy makers and just about everybody else to be considered. Each person has a part to play in education, so we shouldn’t limit ways of assessing to just pupils or just to those enrolled in the institutions. Then there are groups rather than just individuals, though that starts to come under how to assess.
How could/should they be assessed?
Tests, quizzes, homework and projects are standard in schools and have come unders scrutiny as skill and drill. There are other options to be discussed in many formats. Games are a possibility for interactive assessment, especially for situations that require adapting. Then there is the possibility of using more than one way to assess the same thing, which is related to the many aspects of a person that can be assessed. Each way to assess has strengths and weaknesses.
When could/should they be assessed?
Pre-tests, midterms, weekly quizzes, unit tests and finals are all tests that differ by time as much as scope. Choosing the right time to assess something is just as important as the rest, because we change over time. Homework is like continuous assessment over different material and different aspects of the student’s grasp of the material.
Where could/should they be assessed?
Online, in person, in the classroom, on the computer or even at home are all technically possibilities. Depending on the assessment purpose, and other details, different locations can be better than others. The pros and cons of the location should be considered like when the assessment is given, to make the assessment most effective. Simply put, the classroom is not always the best place to be assessed.
Why could/should they be assessed?
The purpose of each assessment should be a part of choosing the details of the assessment. Finding out what the students already know and need help with can be done through a pre-test, while finding out the effectiveness of an activity could be done through a pre and post test/quiz. If you want to graph out something, it makes sense to assess whatever it is consistently in method, location and timing.
I have several posts related to this topic I will be linking to in the comments, and hope you will do the same. Last time I talked about the topic a lot, and received little input, so this time I’m covering the topic possibilities more than what I think. Posts, videos, presentations, articles and more are welcome, just leave a comment with a link. That’s all it takes to add to this discussion. If you have any feedback, please let me have it.
Hi again Steve,
coincidence – the SLOODLE Second Life meeting today is on game-based assessment. For those unfamiliar, SLOODLE is a project that integrates Moodle and Second Life. There is a already a quiz tool that allows students to take Moodle multiple choice quizzes in Second Life (with optional sound effects and movement to make things a little more lively)
Now we have a prototype zombie blaster game – which uses the same Moodle quiz as a back end.
A demo should be followed by a more open discussion on game-based assessment.
http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2613
daniel
That’s great Daniel. Maybe next week will make this a hat-trick.
My one question is, is it all in Sloodle? Without registering I can’t see any of the content. You said you were going to possible blog about the motivation presentation (Look at that. It rhymes.
), but I haven’t seen that post and I am subscribed to your blog. Have I just missed it? Has anybody else blogged about it that you know of?
I have have made a post on this topic linking to other people’s content on the web, and intend to go through my posts to create another this week. So, here’s the first: http://blog.igenoukan.com/2009/06/designing-for-play-creativity-and.html
This time I’m posting the link to the post about the several posts I’ve made that I think are related to assessment. http://blog.igenoukan.com/2009/06/assessment-in-games-and-education.html
As the pattern has become, I’ll wait till Monday to start the next Weekly Special, unless discussions start up and people want to focus on assessment.
Here’s another contribution from Eliane Alhadeff : http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2008/08/serious-games-embed-new-metrics.html
All contributions are appreciated, regardless of whether the topic is the current one or not.