Ch. 9--Stage 5: ASSESSING

The last stage in any project is assessing what has been learned. When using the 5As format, the teacher is not the only one responsible for assessment. The students also plays a major role in evaluating what they have learned from an assignment and how comfortable they would be using those skills in future projects. In the past, a student's report "would normally be marked on the content and presentation. In the Information and Communication Age, although content is still important, equal value is given to the acquisition of the process skills used to complete the project" (Jukes, 2004, p. 64). In the Assessing stage, both students and teachers look back on the project to see what knowledge was gained, what skills were learned, and what skills still need to be improved.

I often use rubrics in my class so that my students, their parents, and I all know what I am looking for in projects, but the rubrics do not help me to assess the acquisition of process skills. Although I believe parts of the Student Assessing Tool for Process Skills (Jukes, 2004, p. 66) are too advanced for my third graders, I could definitely scale it back to be appropriate on their level. Using a tool like this would help me plan future projects by telling me which skills are firmly grasped and which ones require further instruction and practice.

References

Jukes, I., Dosaj, A., Macdonald, B. (2000). net.savvy: Building information literacy in the classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.