To ensure the success of pupil self-assessment, teachers need to:
• incorporate it into classroom programs
• provide feedback and demonstrations, strategies and information about the different types of thinkers
• guide pupils in developing and drawing on their knowledge about their own thinking style(s) and the processes, tools and strategies at their disposal.
Oral or written teacher feedback should help pupils to focus on what they can do in relation to their overall learning goals or objectives and should emphasise their achievements and how they can improve. The feedback may consist of general questions about the individual pupil’s learning or thinking, or context-specifi c feedback and questions as described. See Table 5.2.
CHAPTER 5: Self-assessment
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TABLE 5.2 Teacher questions and feedback to guide pupil self-assessment
Generic questions to guide self-assessment Feedback and guiding questions to facilitate self-assessment in different contexts
What did you do well? What are the reasons for this?
What could you do better? How could you do this?
What did you enjoy about your learning? Why?
What would you like me to know about your learning?
What would you like me to notice about your work? Why?
How do you feel about your learning? Why?
What sort of thinking did you use to help you with this?
What was the most important thing you learned?
How do you feel when things get hard?
What is your greatest improvement/achievement?
What helped you achieve this?
Your written explanation was very clear and easy to understand. What did you do to make this so good?
I found it hard to read your diagrams because I did not know what they were about. What could you do next time to make sure everyone will understand them?
You worked well with your group when you were preparing for the presentation. You took turns and listened carefully to others.
What were you proud of as a team worker?
I noticed you used a T-chart for the fi rst time. I am sure you have learnt/done something else new. What new thing can you do/do you know now?
You appeared enthusiastic and interested as you were doing the work. How did you feel? Why?
You thought creatively to solve the paper-shortage problem. Did you use any other type of thinking as you worked?
Teachers can help pupils self-assess their learning and thinking by providing opportunities for them to think about and identify their specifi c skills, interests, feelings, thoughts, attitudes, values, strengths, areas for improvement, preferred learning style(s) and thinking process, and the factors that enhance or hinder their learning.
Self-assessment can be built into the session/unit by asking the pupils to think and pose questions at different stages to investigate the questions such as those in Table 5.3.
TABLE 5.3 Teacher questions to prompt pupil self-assessment of specifi c aspects of learning and thinking Self-assessment of learning mathematics Self-assessment of thinking
What helps you to learn mathematics?
What hinders you in learning mathematics?
What are you good at in mathematics?
What do you fi nd diffi cult in mathematics? Why?
How can you help yourself to be better at mathematics?
How can teachers help you to learn mathematics?
How do you feel about mathematics? Why?
What makes a good mathematician?
If you had to describe what a good mathematician does, what would you say?
What do you think are good things to develop as a mathematician?
Why are some people better at mathematics than others?
What helps you to think?
What hinders your thinking?
How would you describe your thinking?
How would you describe yourself as a thinker?
What do you fi nd diffi cult when thinking? Why?
What do you fi nd diffi cult when thinking about a problem? Why?
How can you help yourself to be a better thinker?
How can I help you with your thinking?
How do you feel about thinking? Why?
What makes a good thinker?
What do you think are good skills to develop as a thinker?
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79 The teacher can facilitate discussion about what has been learnt and the thinking processes involved, for example by:
• using pairs, small-group and whole-class activities
• using guiding questions or discussion prompts
• varying the approaches, so that pupils maintain their interest in the discussion, for example: by using activities such as Die refl ection roll (p 82); Think, pair, share (p 83) and proforma 6.4: Head, heart and hands (p 113)
• modelling self-assessment strategies, for example: by providing many examples of questions, thinking prompts, graphic organisers and activities such as those described in this chapter and throughout the book.
Teachers need to involve pupils in identifying appropriate outcomes, and be clear about what is required for the pupils to meet them by making criteria explicit, discussing ways outcomes/learnings may be demonstrated, and recording them on class charts for future reference.
Before commencing a specifi c teaching session, tell the pupils what you want to teach them and the reasons for this. (You may decide to display the outcomes, requirements etc on a chart as a visual prompt for the pupils.) During the session, describe and discuss what profi cient use of the skill/knowledge will look like and why it is important. At the conclusion of the session, revise and discuss what has been learnt, how well and the reasons for this.
Teachers can also encourage different ways of collecting, sharing or recording self-assessment information, for example:
• Use oral, written, physical and pictorial presentations (proformas are often a good starting point).
• Allow pupils to choose some of the assessment procedures.
• Provide opportunities for pupils to conduct peer observations and provide constructive feedback.
• Provide prompts such as checklists, continuums or rating scales to assist in focusing the peer- and subsequent self-assessment.
• Schedule conferences during which the pupils’ progress is discussed. These can be pupil/teacher or pupil/teacher/parent.
• Provide the pupils with a list of the skills (or jointly compile the list) and ask them to keep their own records of progress.
• Use pupil portfolios in which pupils place signifi cant pieces of their work,
based on teacher-listed criteria, teacher- and pupil-negotiated criteria, or the individual pupil’s own reasons.
• Use learning logs, self-assessment journals or ‘thoughts and discoveries’ booklets in which pupils record refl ections of their learning, thoughts, feelings, progress and plans for action. They can use these at regular times throughout a week or as appropriate depending on the teacher’s and pupils’ purposes.
• Give specifi c, regular and positive feedback about pupils’ refl ections, in an oral and/or written form (See Table 5.2).
Teachers can use guiding questions to help the pupils focus on specifi c aspects of their learning and thinking – such as their achievements, their feelings, how they faced problems and worked to overcome these – and set goals for future learning (See Table 5.3).
These questions can be context-specifi c: for example at specifi c times during a session (See Table 5.4), and to help each pupil self-assess their personal and interpersonal actions (See Table 5.5).
CHAPTER 5: Self-assessment
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80 Smart Thinking
TABLE 5.4 Questions for self-assessment at different stages Before
During
Conclusion
What they already know, think and feel.
What they predict they might learn, think or feel.
What they want to learn, know about and do.
The sort of thinking they are using.
What they fi nd easy or hard.
How they feel.
What they would like help with.
Their progress in terms of their thinking, feelings, knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
The factors that helped or hindered this progress.
Their plans for further learning.
TABLE 5.5 Teacher questions to prompt pupil self-assessment of personal and interpersonal actions Learning to work in groups Thoughts and feelings during group work What is one great thing you did in the
group today?
What did you contribute to the group?
What is something positive that you could say about how you worked in the group?
What did you do or say to make someone else feel part of the group?
How did you help someone else today?
What went well?
What was hard?
What could you do next time when something gets hard?
How did you feel as you worked in the group? Why?
What did you think as you worked in the group?
How did you feel when things went well?
What did you think when things went well?
What did you say to yourself when things were easy or went well?
How did you feel when things were diffi cult?
What did you think when things were diffi cult?
What did you say to yourself when things were diffi cult/challenging?
What will you do next time when you think/feel like this?
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Smart ideas Smart ideas
The following activities are designed to help pupils develop effective self-assessment skills. Teachers may need to adapt these to suit the needs of their pupils.