Changing the way we assess can spark creative learning!

Mr. Jones is on the left

In my teaching practice, I always look for ways that will engage students in meaningful work. Creating things that matter in the world is an important part of what I do. Yong Zhao discusses this meaningful work in his talk, "World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students" at the Debate on Education, and event organized by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia) in 2013. 

Zhao says that schools have been "sausage makers" in the past. Getting kids to do well on standardized tests, and trying to make them all into one thing, isn't working. And in that statement we can all find great truth. We know that our system is not working optimally. 

Zhao says that we need to hyperspecialize. Testing a fish on how well it can climb a tree is wrong. And we can all agree with that statement too. But, there is a flaw in the logic. We aren't fish, and monkeys, and birds. We are humans. All of us. And we have more in common with each other than do fish and monkeys and birds. 

In Zhao's statements, he argues in favor of concepts like multiple intelligences, which have been debunked as a thoery.  Gardner... found it necessary to debunk [this theory] once again in the new millennium. Survey designers simply exposed yet another, very prevalent myth: Tailoring instruction to pupils' MI intelligence profiles promotes learning." (Rousseau, 2021) This is not the case. 

It is with this in mind that I present a concept. We must teach content. We all need content knowledge for context in understanding the world we live in and how it functions, if we are to solve the problems we are faced with. 

Zhao argues that we can use the internet to find content. We can look up any information we need, so why should we learn it? The answer is simple. We can't start on a problem, realize we know nothing about it, then spend hours researching, and start all over again at the beginning, trying to solve the problem. 

We can use that method of resorting to the internet for information, when it comes to very specific bits of information, in a moment, to help us move forward, but even according to the most basic elements of deign-thinking and entrepreneurial mindset, we must have some basic grasp of the problem, the concepts surrounding it, and some general knowledge, if we are to ever begin to be successful. 

We need to focus on Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2016), which holds the belief that anyone can learn and that it is a process of applied practice and focus. It stands in contrast to much of what Zhao says in his talk in 2013. 

And from there we can begin to discuss innovations in assessment practices and how they can spur on innovation. 

I learned a great deal from a colleague of mine, Isaac Jones - a Kennebecasis Valley High School teacher, and it is his new methods of marking and how they are used that I find most innovative. They can open the door for creative pursuits, and solve many problems teachers face every day. 

Mr. Jones teaches English and has an interesting way of marking. It looks a lot like a New Brunswick Middle School report card. He only enters marks for outcomes in the curriculum. All work done in his class is explicitly related to the outcomes and he triangulates data using conversations, observations, and final products.

He has a paper gradebook where he records marks, on a scale of 1-5, based on this triangulation. For example: When he stops at a student's desk, while they are reading, writing, working on a product, etc., he asks them questions about their process. Through these moments of engagement, he learns more about their proficiency than by collecting an essay at the end. Essays are becoming almost meaningless as an end-product-assessment-tool. Looking at the final product without watching the process is not valuable, especially with the advent of OpenAI's Chatbot GPT. 

Another interesting thing about this method is that it gives multiple data collection points along the process of creation. It can be applied easily in an course as well - Science, while looking at scientific method; or Art, while in the process of creation. 

I'm starting to use this method in the Civics 10 pilot course in New Brunswick this year, where I move around the class and listen to conversations, make observations, and chat with students to see what they know and what conclusions they have draws about a variety of topics that will help them to become civically engaged citizens. 

That is the aim:  To use less time testing and quizzing and writing reports or presentations. To use more time, instead, on finding problems that are worth paying attention to, developing a base of knowledge to work from, and employing design-thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset so that students can engage in age-appropriate civic action projects. 

To better understand what Mr. Jones was attempting to do, and to understand the benefits of his system, I interviewed him. I wanted to understand his motivation, the difficulties he had to overcome, and what benefits there were of his system in developing more creative, growth-mindset, entrepreneurial citizens.

What follows is that interivew:

Looking at grading practices, what motivated you to take the steps you have taken to realize the innovation/social entrepreneurial accomplishments you have attained?  Why change?

o   Data collection and assessment has had to change to adapt to accommodate the modern students as well as ever-changing technology. Assessment needs to be flexible, diversified, and accurate. Accuracy is increasingly difficult with advances in technology and the commonplace use of devices in school. Collecting evidence in a variety of ways has helped learners find more opportunities to reach individualized goals that can be accommodated to their strengths in the classroom.

·         What barriers have you had to overcome (personally or professionally) and how did you do this?

o   Professionally my assessment changes have been welcomed by the school leadership. Personally I have found my assessment practices have been changing the ways I teach and interact with the kids for the better. More time for conversations, conferencing, and re-assessment (with accuracy!) have all resulted in positive changes in my practice. I have had to be more organized with data collection, as well as more strict with how and when I permit students to provide evidence of learning.

·         What recommendations do you have for fostering more creativity, innovation, or entrepreneurship in schools/society/organizations? How can we engage students to develop entrepreneurial mindset/design-thinking/creativity/thinking for innovation/social entrepreneurship?

o   Teaching core skills in English is still relevant and valued in my classroom. Yet, I also provide plenty of opportunities for choice. Students cultivate their own learning experiences by the books they choose to read, the movies they watch, and the assignments they choose to tackle.

·         Do you see your efforts contributing to social, economic, cultural, or environmental health and well-being? If so, how? What will this new structure for grading accomplish that might help contribute to any of those areas, or push students to more creative thinking / or any of the other things mentioned above?

o   I think my current teaching and assessment practices allow students to relate what they are learning in the class to their own lives and interests. My hope is that each lesson and assignment feels to the students to be either a practical skill or a bit of useful information that will help them not just academically, but also professionally and socially.

What I gain from this conversation is that allowing students to have more time to work on practical skills will make them better able to adapt to this ever changing world. Using conversations and observations will make students more ready to collaborate, and using this assessment framework can be extended in my classes to allow for more engaged, active, project-based learning opportunities, rather than old-school methods of assessment. 

The product is less important than the process, and that feels more in line with design-thinking, and iterative processes than other antiquated methods of teaching and assessing.

Sources:

Dweck. (2016). Mindset : the new psychology of success (Updated edition.). Ballantine Books.

Rousseau. (2021). “Neuromyths” and Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory: A Comment on Gardner, 

       2020. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 720706–720706. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720706

UOC - Open University of Catalonia (Director). (2013, January 7). Yong Zhao - World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGOInNGMovk