2017 Workshop Talk | 1:02:22 | All Grade Levels, Math, Science
Summary
Most of us associate the word assessment with test, and by test we would mean those sheets of paper we pass out to our students at the end of a unit in order to evaluate what our students have learned. But do these tests, and other traditional forms of assessment, truly evaluate what our students have mastered in any particular unit of study? Or do traditional paper tests encourage memorization of problem types instead of providing a measurement of our students’ ability to problem solve in a truly novel situation using what they have learned? If we claim that our goal in classical, Christian education is to develop the next generation of scientific and mathematical thinkers for the Kingdom, then our assessments should evaluate how well we are doing that. I fear too many of our assessments instead only evaluate how well our students have memorized how to solve particular problem types introduced in class or in texts. In this workshop we will explore, ñnontraditional” forms of assessment such as real-life scenario problems, essays, portfolios, presentations, projects, etc. Use of non-traditional forms of assessment will have your students excited for test day, looking forward to the opportunity to show what they have learned. And these, “non-traditional” forms of assessment will provide you as the teacher with a more accurate understanding of what your students actually know. LetÍs make assessment real!
Speaker
Darla McDonald currently teaches physics and human physiology at Cary Christian School in Cary, NC. She has served on the faculty of Cary Christian for the past eight years with a total of eleven years of experience teaching in classical, Christian education. Darla holds a BS in biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is pursuing a MEd from North Carolina State University in science education. She has a passion for teaching and for inspiring in her students a love for God and for studying His creation. Darla and her husband, Tim, have four children: Luke, Eva, Jonah, and Isaac, who range in age from 14 to 5 years old. In addition to her teaching role at Cary Christian, Darla also coaches the varsity field hockey team.
Additional Materials
The Association of Classical & Christian Schools presents Repairing the Ruins, the ACCS annual conference, copyright ACCS. You may make additional copies of this recording for use by your school but please do not sell any copies of the recording, or post it on the internet.
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