Read the final paper in your materials pack entitled Authentic assessment to nurture students’ self-worth: Interview with Jan McArthur. Then, write an email to me, discussing the following:
How did you find the interview? Comment on any of the cornerstones of testing (usefulness, validity, reliability, practicality, washback, authenticity, transparency, security - see Introduction in course book for more on these) suggested, directly or indirectly, in the interview.
Did anything surprise/puzzle you?
Is there anything you would like to know more about? Would you ask Jan any other questions?
Deadline for this: Monday, 4th March
#2
At the end of the previous lesson, I proposed the following formative assessment for this module:
Students regularly engage in portfolio tasks
Students choose an achievement test from a primary/secondary/tertiary context to analyse and improve as the course unfolds; by the end of the course, the students will have re-imagined the test, altering and or supplementing it using the theory discussed on the course; students will present their exam-drafting journeys, providing support for their steps in the process and their thinking throughout it.
Elena’s thinking is that this is very much a thinking process that every teacher who strives to improve their assessment repertoire engages in, so hopefully useful and meaningful. But, is this a shared sentiment? How do you feel about this proposal? Does it sound worthwhile enough? Can it be improved further? Let me know by writing an email to me, without adding any attachments; simply, address me as a human being and someone who happens to moderate your Assessment in TESOL module. To support your thinking, you might want to refer to the course aims, stipulated on the first page of your scripts.
Deadline for this: Monday, 11th March
#3
Study the specifications (i.e. specs) for the Writing part of the FCE (to be found in your scripts, pp. 63-69). Specs are a detailed description of the test. Familiarise yourselves with the sample prompts (i.e. instructions for the tasks) and study the band scales (i.e. the assessment criteria scaled across FCE's proficiency levels, 0-5). We will be using this information in class next time as an intro to a standardisation activity, i.e. group training in how to assess reliably. The new terminology might be a bit overwhelming to start with, but please bear with it - it'll become your second nature in no time!
#4
In class, we assessed Candidate A’s essay. We decided the candidate’s name was Kassandra. :) Your task is to imagine that Kassandra is 13, she is a student on your FCE preparation course in a private language school. Kassandra produced her essay as a response to a homework assignment about how to write an FCE essay. Your task is to provide feedback on her writing in no more than 100 words. You have been working with Kassandra for half a year and you feel you can be informal in the way you address her. What would you say to her to help her develop as a writer, but also to score higher when she takes her FCE exam later in the year? Please email me your feedback. I may use, in an anonymised fashion, some students’ (excerpts from their) work to illustrate some points in our discussion of feedback in class next time.
Deadline: Monday, 25th March
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Portfolio tasks