Addressing Affective Domain

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/index.html

The affective domain of learning involves a student’s attitudes, interests, and values (Hall, 2011). Without a positive affective domain, a student will likely do poorly in a class, even if he or she has the capability and skills to do well. Similar to the growth and fixed mindset that we learned about, a certain affect could hold students back. Hall (2011) demonstrates this with an example: a student that have the ability to write and comprehend reading may do poorly just because they have a negative affect.

Even though having a positive affect towards learning would really help a student learn, teachers often neglect affective assessments (Hall, 2011). From my experience, most teachers focus on improving students’ cognition, but very few address students’ affect. While trying to improve assignments and the structure of homework assignments will certainly help a teacher become a more effective instructor, it does not address how open the students will be to learn.

I plan to use affective assessments in my classroom to help both my students and me improve. I will use self-reflective essays and assignments to help students help themselves. For example, I can ask my students to write an essay about why they don’t want to learn about biology. Through answering this question, students may learn about what’s holding them back from learning. Self-reflective rubrics are also a valuable self-improvement tool; students compare their assignments and projects to the rubrics to determine how they can improve their work (Andrade, 2007/2008). Through this action, students will develop independence towards creating better work.

Unlike self-reflective essays and rubrics, the questionnaire and survey type of assessments will help me improve more than my students. Questionnaires will allow me to quickly see how my class as a whole feels towards learning certain subjects (Popham, 2009); I could then use this data to adjust my lesson plans. Surveys, similar to questionnaires, will help me understand how my students feel. Unlike questionnaires, surveys will be more in depth and less anonymous (Gibson & Chase, 2002). I could use the data from surveys to help me address each student personally.

References

Andrade, H. (2007/2008, December/January). Self-assessment through rubrcs. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 60-62.

Hall, R.A. (2011). Affective assessment: The missing piece of the educational reform puzzle. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators, 77(2), 7.

Gibson, H.L., & Chase, C. (2002). Longitudinal impact of inquiry-based science program on middle school students’ attitudes towards science. Science Education, 86(5), 693-705.

Popham, W.J. (2009). Assessing Student Affect. Educational Leadership, 66(8), 85-86.

Creating a Foundation

As a biology major, it’s almost ironic that I struggled with general biology both in high school and in college. Learning facts like the contents of a cell, the genes of pea pods, and taxonomic naming were as random to me as learning sporadic dates in history class. It was also difficult for me to conceptualize these things because I couldn’t see them. Mr. M, my high school biology teacher, tried to do fun activities like decorate a cake like a cell and watch a YouTube video of little cartoon organelles moving around in a cell. From these activities, I learned that I should memorize the list of organelles in a cell, even though I didn’t understand what an organelle or a cell was. My general biology college professor didn’t help clear this confusion, either. She flipped through PowerPoint slides that had cartoonish images of cells and DNA and organelles. She made us memorize how each of these cartoon organelles looked like and what they did. I only truly understood cells when I looked at various kinds of cells under the microscope in anatomy, learned about how these cells made up organs, and learned about why we need these organs. It was much easier for me to know these facts when they connected in my brain rather than when they were a list or a diagram that I needed to memorize. From these Master’s classes, I learned that people learn better when using a web of knowledge rather than memorizing unconnected facts. To help students create this web, teachers should take a day or even a week to teach why and how things such as cells and DNA are connected. Also, teachers should let students see real cells before subjecting them to these cartoon diagrams.

http://www.yourgenome.org/

http://thegreatestgarden.com/animal-cell-light-microscope-observation/

While I struggled with general biology, I noticed other students struggle with basic algebra. When students had to answer more complex math problems, they were often trumped by the basic principle of PEMDAS. Math is a subject that builds upon itself. If these students don’t understand how to answer these problems now, they will only struggle more in college when they need to use these concepts in chemistry and physics. There should be more support for students to create a solid foundation of knowledge of math. If teachers don’t have enough time to sit down with every confused student, they should pair confused students with students that can explain these concepts to them.

Assessing Assessments

http://australiancurriculumtfel.edublogs.org/files/2015/11/Assessment4-2grumgq.png

This week, I learned about the five different types of assessments: selected-response, constructed-response, performance assessments, portfolio, and self-assessment (McMillian, 2008). I think each of these assessments have their own strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered before utilizing them in a classroom.

Personally, I enjoyed doing portfolio assessment because it gave me self-motivation to research on my own. I enjoy how personalized it was and how it allowed me to demonstrate what I was researching. However, before I use this in a classroom I will consider that although it demonstrates what a student learned on their own, it doesn’t necessarily guide students to learn a specific topic. For example, in a math or biology class, I wouldn’t depend on portfolio to teach a student the curriculum but I will use it as a side project to let students explore specific topics they are interested in. I think performance and self-assessments have the same trait as portfolio assessment: although they promote and measure higher cognitive abilities, they shouldn’t be used to measure knowledge of facts.

I think a balance between selected-response and constructed-response questions most accurately measured my learning. Selected-responses have a certain merit to them. If questions are worded correctly, I think this could be a very helpful tool to include on tests. However, as a teacher, I will use caution when using these types of questions in a classroom because I know how easy it is for questions to be too confusing or too easy.

While selected-response questions are like a broad web of measuring students’ knowledge; constructed-response questions can fill in the gaps to ensure students actually understand (McMillian, 2008). Although constructed-response is more reliable to measure deep understanding, it still has its flaws. I remember as a student when certain short-answer questions focused on a certain topic I didn’t study, and I just had to leave it blank. As a teacher, I will help students avoid this frustration on tests by giving test outlines that clarify what they will be tested on.

Overall, I enjoyed all of these assessments and I think they are all necessary in a classroom. Just as a dinner plate consists of a main course and a variety of sides, a classroom needs a little bit of all the five assessments to get an accurate idea of how much students know and to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

Reference

McMillian, J.H. (2008). Assessment essentials for standards-based education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.