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WELCOME
Educational
Research and Evaluation Methods |
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This course is
designed to help you share “a new vision of student evaluation–a vision
that includes learning standards, meaningful performance tasks, and
authentic classroom assessments to help our students become reflective,
lifelong learners.”[1]
This course
will help you grow as a teacher and help you find new ways to assess and
document your growth. You will be learning new purposes and formats for
assessment. Moreover, you will be developing an action research project to
examine and validate your instructional choices.
You will be able to
use part of the information from
your milk crate full of “stuff,” to document that you have found new ways
to enhance students' learning. |
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What you
learn in this course will |
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 | help you assess your
students’ learning more efficiently |
| provide better
ways to portray your students learning |
| enrich your
classroom's learning environment |
| make informed
instructional decisions |
| provide new ways
to document the effectiveness of incorporating MI strategies in
instruction |
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When you
first encounter the content of this course, a flurry of questions may come
to mind, such as: |
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| Since my day
is already full, where will I find the time to create and use these
techniques? |
| How do I put
these results in a grade book? |
| How do I know
that this, too, won’t pass? I’ve seen too many “helpful” ideas come and
go. |
| Why do I need
this? After 10 years in a classroom I know a "B" when I see
one. |
| Isn’t this
just a sneaky way to lower standards? |
| The old tried
and true methods have worked well for generations, haven’t
they? |
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You will
find answers to these important questions through your participation in
this course. Just as importantly, as you progress through this course,
other significant questions will arise: |
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| How can I
discover strategies to improve the effectiveness of my teaching, and how
can I document their effectiveness? |
| How do I
create assessment tools that help students monitor their own growth in
understanding and achievement?
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| How will I
use assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of my instruction and the
effects of my instructional decisions? |
| What
information obtained from these assessments will improve instruction in
my classroom? |
| Will the
results gathered from assessment help other stakeholders improve the
educational environment? |
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As you
learn more about action research and authentic assessment, you will find
answers to these questions as well. |
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Many of
the weekly exercises in the first half of the course are designed to give
you a chance to apply new knowledge and practice new skills. You will
apply these skills as you complete this course's major
assignment by participating in action
research. |
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[1] Burke, K. (1994) How to Assess Authentic Learning,
Arlington Hights, Ill.:Skylight. |
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