Educational Resources & Tech Tools 03/12/2016

• Gold Standard PBL: Assessing Student Learning | Blog | Project Based Learning | BIE

  • Assessment practices in PBL should reveal useful information and give students an opportunity to reflect on their progress.
  • Andrew pointed out that since projects tend to be lengthy, students need to know where they are in the process. It’s not like traditional practice, when students are assessed on a lesson-by-lesson or assignment-and-test basis and don’t need to keep track of where they are in relation to the requirements of completing a project over a longer period of time.
  • He also suggested teachers emphasize the temporary nature of grades, and focus on having a growth mindset: “This is where you’re at now, but you will move forward.”
  • Michelle warned of the tendency of teachers to “teach it more, teach it harder” when trying to improve a skill such as writing. “It’s well worth the time and energy it takes to teach students how to assess each other’s writing; it’s powerful.” Andrew noted how some teachers, when they realize some students didn’t get a concept, call a halt to everyone’s project work and re-teach the whole class, perhaps out of fear of letting go. Instead, pull the students who need it to the side for a mini-lesson, and let the other students continue working. Kelly mentioned that teachers she’s observed often spend quite a bit of time designing a project but not enough time planning assessment. I

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