Assessing Student Learning

RUNNING HEAD: Literature Review and Application

Literature Review and Application

Assessing Student Learning:
Math, Science and Technology
TED 690
Professor England
April 10, 2015
Desirae Chatigny

Assessing Student Learning

Abstract
The purpose of this review is to provide the reader with information from two sources in the area
regarding assessment and the integration of technology and critical thinking and application in
the classroom. The paper touches on different types of assessments and how a teacher could
integrate technology in the classroom to promote student learning. Assessments in this field
would promote learning progression in students in various content areas.

Assessing Student Learning

Assessing Student Learning:

Math, Science and Technology
According to our lecture, the purposes of assessment is to monitor student progress, make
instructional decisions and evaluate student achievement; assessment should be done to support
and enhance student learning. Five forms of formative assessment include: observation,
journal writing, daily assignments, conversation, and teacher interviews. Five forms of
summative assessments could include: matching, true false questions, multiple choice questions,
standardized tests, and constructed response questions. Summative assessments are looking for
students mastery of a concept and have a correct answer. Formative assessments are subjective;
a teacher determines the students grade with the opportunity to give partial credit for knowledge
shown through the process of solving a problem. (Class lecture Mathematics and Science
Assessment).
Performance assessment incorporates information from summative and formative
assessments allowing teachers to find a students depth of knowledge in a subject area. Testing
through standardized tests alone would not give the teacher this information. Smarter Balanced
assessment includes the use of selected-response items, constructed-response items, technologyenhanced items, and performance tasks. (Smarter Balanced, 2012).
An example from the link is the question labeled 43051. It says five friends ordered 3
large sandwiches. James ate of a sandwich, Katya ate of a sandwich, Ramon ate , Sienna
ate 2/4 of a sandwich. How much of the sandwich is left for Oscar? The answer is of a
sandwich is left for Oscar. A student would have to figure this by finding that 3 sandwiches are
equivalent to 12/4 sandwiches. The student would then have to add the portions eaten by the

Assessing Student Learning

first four (9/4) and they would then have to subtract that from 12/4 to come up with the answer
. A student would have to work through a process of addition and then know to subtract that
total from the total sandwich in order to find the correct solution (Smarter Balanced, 2012).
Performance assessment is important because it allows teachers to see growth in a
students learning process (Smarter Balanced, 2012). Through standardized testing it is not as
easy to see progression. In evaluating through performance assessment teachers are able to see
more of a thought process than they would through a standard multiple choice exam (Smarter
Balanced, 2012).
Schools today are not like the traditional schools from back in our day. Today, students
are using technology in their everyday learning. When I was working as a student teacher, all the
students in our classroom were assigned their own Chromebook. They were on such
Chromebooks daily to complete assignments, create live documents, create surveys, prepare
power point presentations, take exams, research, to practice and apply math skills, and to post
questions on a classroom blog. So why not include technology in their assessments and
observations? Today we are using technology in the workplace that was not even invented when
we were in elementary school. As teachers this is something we need to think about. It is
important to keep up with the times, things are constantly changing and will continue to do so.
The technology tools many of our students will use in their future careers probably have not been
invented yet. One purpose of common core is to teach our students as whole learners, so we
should be preparing them for the future. If we teach our student to be flexible and receptive to
new technology I think that will benefit them for years to come. A teacher could definitely get
creative with implementation of assessment through use of technology in the classroom.

Assessing Student Learning

In my future classroom I plan to include technology in our daily routines. Students will
have the option to use technology when completing assignments and homework for my class. I
want to use technology to connect my students with students across the globe. My students will
work on cross-cultural projects, becoming increasingly diverse learners. We will explore and
utilize the technology we have access to in our class. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to
learn to safely and properly use new, innovative technology in my classroom. I plan to attend
trainings when possible, asking as many questions as I can come up with. Our world is
extremely diverse. It is my duty to teach my students how to efficiently and effectively
contribute to our society. Technology will be a major part of those contributions so we will be
integrating Wikis, Blogs, Power Point, Digital Stories, and other technology tools into our
standards-based instruction. Our assessments will be based on how well the students have
followed instruction, inclusion of important content, creativity, and critical thinking application.
My lesson plans and assessments will look different than the plans I worked through as a student
teacher. I plan to build my lessons from my assessments. It will be important as a teacher to
know what I am trying to assess when creating my lessons.
The UDL or the universal design for learning according to page 141 of the text by Rose
and Meyer, suggests that teachers can remove barriers to learning by providing flexibility in
terms of options for materials, methods, and assessments (Rose & Meyer, 2002). This design
for learning was originally developed for students with special needs but it can be applied to any
typical student in the classroom. We can use this idea to become more flexible in the
classroom with instruction, strategies and materials. Technology is able to play a part in
flexibility by allowing teachers and students to access information in various ways. Everything
seems to be digitalized today and linked together somehow. Students are able to find

Assessing Student Learning

information on the internet or create something unique and share that with the entire class
through a google drive or something of the sort. Others in the class then have the opportunity to
make suggestions and add to what one student has posted. They are able to take one idea, build
on it, and another student can then add to that. Technology allows for the snowball effect to take
place in the classroom. One idea can be transformed into 15 or 30 linked ideas in a matter of
minutes with our new technology. Using technology such as this a teacher can comment and
direct a student quickly if they are off track or need a little push in the right direction. Perhaps a
student is close to the idea we want them to grasp but not quite understanding. A teacher would
have the opportunity to share a link with the entire class in a matter of seconds to re-focus the
entire class. Technology really is an amazing tool when used for learning in the classroom.
It is my hope to get some kind of podcast or webcast set up at the school where I begin
my teaching career. I would like my students to be a part of the team that would produce the
casts. These would be your typical morning announcements viewed on promethean board by
each class at their convenience. We could video students working on projects, helping others,
displays of culture, extra-curricular activities, behind the scenes shots, and special student and
class recognitions. Each day the web or podcast could feature the principal or whomever is in
charge of announcements and all the happenings that day. I think students would be more
engaged and excited about events taking place at school if we were able to produce something
like this. I could use this type of activity to assess my students and their understanding of
culture, proper use of technology, math calculations (because they would have to know how
many segments they could fit into the cast based on minutes per segment), and organizational
skills. Students in a project like this would likely learn to think outside the box, make
executive decisions, think on the spot, and become problem solvers.

Assessing Student Learning

The UDL or the universal design for learning according to page 141 of the text by Rose
and Meyer, suggests that teachers can remove barriers to learning by providing flexibility in
terms of options for materials, methods, and assessments (Rose & Meyer, 2002). This design
for learning was originally developed for students with special needs but it can be applied to any
typical student in the classroom. We can use this idea to become more flexible in the
classroom with instruction, strategies and materials. Technology is able to play a part in
flexibility by allowing teachers and students to access information in various ways. Everything
seems to be digitalized today and linked together somehow. Students are able to find
information on the internet or create something unique and share that with the entire class
through a google drive or something of the sort. Others in the class then have the opportunity to
make suggestions and add to what one student has posted. They are able to take one idea, build
on it, and another student can then add to that. Technology allows for the snowball effect to take
place in the classroom. One idea can be transformed into 15 or 30 linked ideas in a matter of
minutes with our new technology. Using technology such as this a teacher can comment and
direct a student quickly if they are off track or need a little push in the right direction. Perhaps a
student is close to the idea we want them to grasp but not quite understanding. A teacher would
have the opportunity to share a link with the entire class in a matter of seconds to re-focus the
entire class. Technology really is an amazing tool when used for learning in the classroom.

Assessing Student Learning

References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use A
Standards-Based Approach. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (2012). Smarter Balanced Assessment. Olympia, WA.
Retrieved on April 21, 2014 from:
http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/index.htm
Class lecture on Mathematics and Science Assessment MAT 674- April 2014.