Student Choice Assessment: Making Learning Meaningful For Learners How does student choice affect student achievement?

Seminar Title

Student Choice Assessment: Making Learning Meaningful For Learners How does student choice affect student achievement?

Student Choice Assessment

5th Grade

Middle School

Science

Social Studies

Are you looking for new ways to assess student understanding? Are you and your students tired of completing the same assessments unit after unit, concept after concept? If you answered “Yes” to either or both of these questions, this session is for you! I’m excited to share with fellow educators various ways in which you can assess student knowledge and understanding without using the traditional assessment tools of paper and pencil or online assessments. Through my research and implementation in my fifth grade classes, I have found that by allowing students to choose the way in which they present their level of understanding in a final student choice assessment, rather than one that the teacher decides, has improved student engagement in class, motivation to excel and improve their grades as well as a higher sense in ownership. I believe this to be relevant across various grade levels from elementary all the way through high school. So if you are looking for an opportunity to get fresh ideas for ways to assess student understanding, this session is for you. Hope to see you there!

Kristen Akkerman SCB3 Learning Community kmakke16@smumn.edu Student Choice Assessment: Making Learning Meaningful For Learners How does student choice affect student achievement? The question guiding my research is as follows: How does student choice affect student achievement? Even more so; How does student choice assessment affect student achievement? A review of literature suggests and “noted the value of diversifying assessment formats for all students, so that difficulties in one format (e.g. in written abilities) do not prevent students from demonstrating their knowledge and ability,” (Katz & Mirenda, 2002, p. 21). With that said, educators should keep in mind the various forms of assessment that can be used. Multimedia, presentations, essay, short answer/ one sentence summary, fill in the blank, projects, pro-con grids, student generated test questions, etc. (Angelo & Cross, 1993). The ideas are endless. Any form or activity that you use with your students to check for understanding can be implemented and used as a form of assessment. As a result of my literature review, I focused on changing the way in which I have my students take assessments in my social studies and science classes. Students will be given the opportunity to showcase their learning in a variety of ways instead of just the traditional paper and pencil tests; which was still offered as an option for my students. Some student choice assessment options were: essay, newspaper article, powerpoint/google slideshow, poems, art, brochure, videos, plays/skits, etc. Through implementation and data, I have found this way of assessing student learning and understanding to be very beneficial for students and teachers alike. Students are paying more attention to what they are learning and are showcasing their level of learning in heightened, more elaborate way. I have seen students’ interest in subject matter increase as well as their motivation and overall letter grade in the class increase drastically. All of these things happened due to changing the way in which my students are assessed and how they present their knowledge of the content being discussed.