Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 120: Mythbusters about Teaching & Learning: Assessment (2 of 3 episodes)

Transcript

Ep 120: Mythbusters about Teaching & Learning: Assessment (2 of 3 episodes) · New Teacher Talk

• 0:01
  Welcome to New Teacher Talk.
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  My name is Ken King,
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  and I am an education professor at Aurora University in
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  Aurora, Illinois.
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  I was observing a teacher candidate during a clinical
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  experience a few years ago.
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  After he shared new content with the members of the class,
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  he instructed the students to give him some learning
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  feedback.
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  Give me a thumbs up if you understand what we just talked
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  about.
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  Immediately,
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  every member of the class confidently held up a thumb to
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  confirm the understanding and the new ideas.
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  Well,
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  the thumbs up assessment might have been a sound way to
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  evaluate how confident a student was about their
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  understanding,
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  but confidence and understanding is not the same thing as
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  mastery of new information.
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  Students often misjudge how much they know about a topic
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  due to several cognitive biases and learning
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  misconceptions.
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  Without deeper probing or formative assessments that
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  require students to demonstrate their knowledge,
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  the teacher risks mistaking perceived confidence for actual
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  understanding,
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  leaving students with a false sense of having mastered the
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  new content.
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  The first idea I'd like to share is that there is the
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  illusion of knowledge.
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  Students might believe they understand a concept fully when
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  they only have a superficial understanding.
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  This is often due to overconfidence or encountering
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  information that feels familiar but hasn't been deeply
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  processed or applied.
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  For example,
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  a student might read a chapter on ecosystems and feel
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  confident because they recognize most of the terminology.
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  However,
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  when asked to explain the energy flow in an ecosystem,
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  they struggle because they have not integrated the concepts
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  deeply.
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  Another concern is metacognitive blindness.
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  Many students lack the ability to accurately assess their
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  own learning and understanding.
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  They may not be aware of their knowledge gaps and might
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  confuse familiarity with understanding.
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  For example,
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  a student could finish studying for an exam and say,
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  I understand everything,
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  but during the test they realize they can't apply the
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  concepts to solve problems.
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  They do not realize their gaps in understanding while
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  studying.
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  Another concern is passive learning.
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  Students may rely on passive learning techniques like
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  reading and rereading,
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  which can create an illusion of learning without fostering
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  deep understanding or attention.
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  An example of this is when a student reads through a
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  textbook multiple times,
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  but doesn't engage with the material actively.
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  They find themselves unable to apply the knowledge to
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  practical problems because they're under practice of
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  retrieval or application.
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  Over reliance on rote memory is also a barrier to
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  understanding.
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  Remembering facts without understanding them deeply can
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  make students feel prepared even when they aren't able to
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  apply the knowledge effectively.
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  Consider, for example,
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  a student who memorizes formulas for a math exam but can't
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  apply them to new types of problems presented on the test.
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  They knew the formulas, but not when or how to use them.
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  The term of confirmation bias might be familiar to you.
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  Students tend to seek information that confirms what they
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  already believe or understand,
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  and neglect or underestimate information that contradicts
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  their beliefs or reveals gaps.
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  In a history class,
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  a student might focus only on sources that confirm their
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  preconceived opinions about an historical event and ignore
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  evidence to the contrary,
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  leading to a skewed understanding of what took place.
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  The examples I've shared offer reasons why students can
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  have overconfidence in what they know.
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  There are some strategies that I'd like to offer that help
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  students confirm their understanding better.
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  To help students understand and confirm what they actually
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  know, teachers can employ several strategies.
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  As a new teacher,
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  this is the best time in your career to include practices
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  that will provide real evidence of understanding by the
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  members of your class.
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  All of the following examples provide teachers and students
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  an opportunity to provide or receive feedback that extends
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  into the relationships between ideas and not just service
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  level content.
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  You might consider the use of active learning.
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  This makes use of techniques such as summarizing,
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  questioning, teaching others, and discussing,
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  which require deep interaction with the material.
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  For example, instead of just reading about photosynthesis,
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  students can work together in groups to create a model or
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  demonstration that represents the process.
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  This deepens their understanding through action.
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  Active learning strategies that include summarizing,
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  questioning, teaching others,
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  and discussing help students better master new content
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  because they require deeper cognitive engagement with the
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  material.
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  The discussions and questions that take place require that
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  they take new ideas and express them in their own words or
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  develop them through a model that they've created.
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  This increases the opportunity to synthesize ideas and
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  student generated points of view.
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  Another option is to provide regular feedback to students.
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  When you do this in a timely manner and provide specific
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  feedback to help students that will correct their
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  misunderstanding,
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  and gain insights into what they really do understand.
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  For example, after a writing assignment,
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  a teacher can provide specific feedback on areas that need
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  improvement along with examples,
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  allowing students to see exactly where their understanding
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  was incorrect.
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  Feedback that identifies strengths and areas for
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  improvement guide students in refining their skills and
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  understanding.
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  It encourages a growth mindset,
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  showing students an improvement as possible with effort and
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  with a strategy.
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  Teaching metacognitive techniques is another strategy that
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  helps.
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  Teach students how to assess their understanding and
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  learning processes through self-reflection,
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  self-questioning, and self-testing strategies.
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  As an example, before starting a new topic,
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  students could write down what they believe to be true and
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  after the lesson,
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  reflect on what they learned and what surprised them,
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  helping them to identify discrepancies in their initial
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  understanding.
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  An excellent strategy is making use of formative
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  assessments.
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  The use of quizzes,
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  polls and informal assessments help students gauge their
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  understandings continuously rather than only relying on
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  summative assessments.
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  Teachers that use quick and graded quizzes after each topic
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  help students self-assess what they understand and where
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  they need more practice.
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  This also offers feedback to the teachers to adjust
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  instruction.
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  Concept mapping,
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  this encourages students to create maps or visual
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  representations of the materials to see connections and
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  identify areas of weakness or possibly misunderstanding.
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  Imagine an example where students create a concept map of
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  the cardiovascular system which helps them identify
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  information and see relationships between the different
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  parts revealing misconceptions or gaps in their
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  understanding where they can't connect the idea as well.
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  The connections among the elements of the concept map do
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  much to help students see relationships among the concepts.
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  These relationships provide learners with access points
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  that can connect also with new ideas.
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  The think-pair-share strategy is well known.
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  This uses collaborative learning activities where students
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  explain their understanding to peers which can help uncover
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  their own misconceptions.
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  Imagine a science teacher will bring a concept in physics
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  where students first think individually about a question
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  then discuss with a partner and finally share with the
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  class which can help them clarify their thoughts and
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  receive feedback from peers.
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  During the discussion the teacher should circulate around
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  the room observing and listening to the discussions to
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  assess student understanding and identify misconceptions or
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  insightful ideas.
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  During the sharing the teacher encourages connections
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  between different student contributions and asks follow-up
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  questions to deepen understanding.
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  Teachers can develop challenge questions.
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  These are challenging higher-ordered thinking questions
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  that require application and analysis rather than simply
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  recall.
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  For example,
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  instead of asking students to merely define terms,
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  a teacher could ask them to predict what happens for
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  instance in a chemical reaction if one reactant was double.
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  This is encouraging them to apply and think critically
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  about what they've learned.
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  Another way to approach this is to ask for counter examples
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  of a new concept under what circumstances is something not
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  true.
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  By implementing these strategies,
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  teachers can help students develop a more accurate
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  understanding of their knowledge and their learning
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  processes.
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  Thank you for listening.
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  I hope you become a regular follower of this podcast
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  channel.
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  And remember, as a new teacher, we are here to help you.