Reflective Blog Module 8

When choosing assessment methods to evaluate students' learning teachers should expand beyond the traditional objective test.  According to Howard Gardner's Theory of Intelligence (1999), students possess eight intelligences.  Objective tests do not and can not measure all of these intelligences such as body awareness/kinestic abilities. So for a teacher to limit their assessment to a mere objective test would be largely insufficient in many ways.  Likewise, objective tests fail to measure creativity.  According to Sternberg's Theory of Intelligence (1985), creativity is the ability to think and solve problems.  Many important people in history from Albert Einstein to Pablo Picasso were creative thinkers but this creativity would not be recognized on a standard objective test.  If students are diverse learners, than assessment should be diverse and give all types of learners time to shine.


A few unique assessment that my students and I enjoy using in class include:

1. Students teach a lesson
When students teach a lesson it allows them to be creative.  They can use a variety of technology to assist them including power point, digital storyboard, or a make a video.  Also, by teaching it they retain the material better and it really shows what they know.  My students recently taught a lesson on an assigned revolution in history.  Some topics included the French Revolution, Latin American Revolution, and American Revolution.  They each included a power point with a time line, key people and their significance, & causes and effects of the revolution.  They also had to include one acitivy to keep thier audience involved which ranged from videos, games, and simulations.  The students commented on how long it took them to make one lesson and how they remembered everything about the revolution so well for the test.  Before the test, they would ask each other last minute questions about the revolutions.  They became a learning community!  What objective test can measure this?

2. Blog
My students enjoy blogging on controverisal politcal topics. We recently blogged about whether or not women should have the same rights as men to fight in combat.  The students enjoyed debating andeven the shy students and the ESOL students were not so shy about joining the conversation.  The conversation became personal and sometimes included additioanl research.  Civic competancy was was developing in the students.  This can not be measured on an objective test, but is essential  for students living in a democracy.

a short video on the benefits of blogging

3. create an exhibit
My students recently created an ancient Greek and Roman art exhibit using their knowlege from our unit on Greece and Rome in teams.  They created their own art work in Greek and Roman style at the Art Cafe field trip.  Then they create plagues that explained more about Greek and Roman culture and then added information about famous Greeks and Romans. It was displayed in the media center.  They took pictures to post on our school website.  Taking on the role of a museam cureator allowed them to develop time managment skills and collaboration skills.  These are needed in the career world and cannot be assessed from a standard objective test.

4. class project
Last year my students completed Project Citizen.  Each student researched a public policy topic they were interested in.  They listened to each other's ideas and then decided to make a public policy to prevent animal abuse in Beaufort County.  They contacted state official about the policy, weighed the benefits and costs, and then presented to the Mayor.  This experience gave them a real-world experience.  They needed to dress up, practicing speaking skills, and put together a visually pleasing power point presentation.  These are all important career, life, and technology skills these students need in 21st learning that would not be present in an objective test.

To summarize, all of these assessmensts go beyond the traditional objective test. These assessments  provide an opportunity for students to use technology and develop 21st century learning skills, build job skills, civic competence, and/or communication skills which are not measured in objective tests.  They can help measure multiple intelligences, creativity, and problem solving.  Truly, educators should use a variety of assessments.