Sarah_leakey's List: Professional Reading

• Radnor's paper uses the phrase `qualitative formative  assessment' in its title, and this may help to explain why quantitative evidence  for the learning effects of discourse variations is hard to find. An exception is the research by Clarke (1988) on classroom  dialogue in science classrooms.

  • Might be worth looking at as I have done both qualitative and quantitative analysis of talk.
• Johnson & Johnson (1990) present a meta-analysis to show  that collaborative discourse can produce significant gains in learning.
• Rodrigues & Bell (1995), Cosgrove & Schaverien (1996) and Duschl &  Gitomer (1997) all report work with science teachers to promote such discourse.
• The concern in all three cases was to help students to move, in talk about their  work, from a focus in everyday and content based terms towards a deeper  discussion of conceptual learning.

2 more annotations...

• The focus on self-assessment by students is not common  practice, even amongst those teachers who take assessment seriously.

  • Considering this was the case at the time of writing, how can so many schools claim to be doing such a complex task so quickly. It's this speed which I think results in the superficial nature of self-assessment.
• The assumption here is they cannot do so unless they can  first understand the goals which they are failing to attain, develop at the same  time an overview in which they can locate their own position in relation to  those goals, and then proceed to pursue and internalise learning which changes  their understanding (Sadler, 1989).
• Two quantitative examples have already been described in some  detail in the section on Classroom experience (Fontana & Fernandes, 1994;  Frederiksen & White, 1997). Both of these have in  common an emphasis on the need for students to understand the learning goals, to  understand the assessment criteria, and to have the opportunity to reflect on  their work. Peer evaluation played a part only in the  Frederiksen & White study.

  • This perhaps emphasises the point that I was considering that too many people start with self-assessment but it cannot be effectively achieved beause of a lack of objectivity. Peer-assessment would therefore be a better starting point.
• In a review of the practice of writing, Zimmerman &  Risemberg (1997) discussed the different forms of the practice of  self-regulation employed by several well-known authors and linked this to  research evidence on the effectiveness of supporting students by encouraging  self-monitoring (Schunk & Swartz, 1993b; Zimmerman & Bamdura,  1994). A closely related set of studies by King (1994)  on students' questioning strategies will be reviewed in the section on Questions  below.
• Elshout-Mohr (1994) points out both that students are often unwilling to give  up misunderstandings--they need to be convinced through discussion which  promotes their own reflection on their thinking

  • This for me is where the value of talk partners comes in.
• inconsistency of research results on the cognitive level of questioning may be  due to neglect of the fact that the meaning of a question cannot be inferred  from its surface features alone.
• As both he and Filer (1995) argue, the meaning behind any discourse depends also  on the context, on the ways in which questions in a particular classroom have  come to signify the patterns of relationships between those involved that have  been built up over time.

  • Use this as defense for inconsistencies in the application of Bloom's in my analysis. Although Sandi can analyse it based on general principals known about Bloom's Taxonomy, she has not been in every classroom session and therefore does not always know the full context surrounding discussions and ideas.
• Newmann (1992) makes a plea, on similar grounds, for  assessment in social studies to focus on discourse, defined by him as language  produced by the student with the intention of giving narrative, argument,  explanation or analysis. The plea is based on an  argument that current methods, in which students are constrained to use the  language of others, undermine the constructive use of discourse and so  trivialise social knowledge. A striking example of  such effects is reported in a paper by Filer (1993).  
• Pryor & Torrance (1996) give an example of how a habitual pattern can be  unhelpful for learning.
• In the same vein, Quicke & Winter (1994) report success in work with low  achieving students in Year 8, where they aimed to develop a social framework for  dialogue about learning.
• The work of Ross et al. (1993) in  aesthetic assessment in the arts can be seen as a response to this plea, and the  difficulties reported by Radnor (1994) are evidence of the inadequacy of  established practice.

9 more annotations...

• there is evidence that non-radical interventions in teachers' information base  can impact on student achievement.

  • The non-radical interventions suggested here may well have an impact on student achievement via the teacher but does not provide the student with the skills to do this themselves as self and peer assessment would. Therefore, their ability to access tools such as this would vary from year to year depending on their teacher. Once self/peer assessment is embedded, it can be used lifelong by the pupil regardless of their teacher. Surely this is worth the effort.

• The conclusions of the review may be regarded as somewhat  disheartening for those who see reform of assessment procedures as producing an  immediate impact on student learning.
• shows conclusively that formative assessment does improve learning, at the same  time they say that reform of teachers' assessment procedures will take a long  time.
• First, while the principles underlying successful change can be identified,  there is no one optimum model.
• in classroom practice and pedagogy that are required are radical rather than  marginal.
• If this is so, there would seem to be little point in  identifying particular assessment procedures for teacher use in the hope that  their adoption would impact on teacher practice.

3 more annotations...