5th iNet International Conference, 26 28 November 2008

There is a clear distinction between traditional assessment methods (assessment of learning) and the assessment model called assessment for learning. This involves giving feedback to students on how they can improve their work in the future and, crucially, that students follow the guidance given.

Assessment for learning can be implemented through a number of approaches. One method is to change the way that questions are asked in lessons by allowing greater thinking time and framing more open questions. An alternative is to encourage students to pay more attention to the comments teachers make by, for example, removing marks and grades altogether. Progress can also be made on the assessment for learning gateway through the use of student self-assessment; this often builds on prior work in the area of peer assessment.

In practice, assessment for learning encourages students to consider more carefully the learning objectives and outcomes of each lesson and assessment task. In this way students become more active partners with their teachers: they are better able to monitor their own performance and compare it against the standards they and their teacher jointly set.

Resources

• A more detailed exposition of the ideas, together with case studies of exisiting practice can be found in the Personalising learning 2 pamphlet.
• Further case studies looking at how assessment for learning complements some of the other gateways are available in the Deep learning 1 publication.

Assessment for learning | Learning to learn | Student voice | Curriculum | New technologies | School design and organisation | Advice and guidance | Mentoring and coaching | Workforce development