Assessment and Evaluation of Projects

1
Assessment and Evaluation of Projects

• August 2002
• Summer Institute
• Roy Parteno

2
Agenda

• General Principles of Project Assessment
• The New Curriculum and Assessment of Projects
• Some thoughts
• Some questions for discussion

3
General Principles

• Good management leads to good assessment practice
• Student involvement means student ownership
• Continual communication is a project management
  tool

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Good management means clear definition of

• the task
• required resources
• the components or stages of the project
• the time line with defined checkpoints
• the assessment criteria

5
The assessment criteria matters most when things
dont go right
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Student involvement in

• the definition of the task
• the establishment of the timeline
• the establishment of assessment criteria
• the use of assessment criteria
• self-assessment

7
Continual communication

• a critical project management tool
• builds students confidence
• bring me your problems, not your surprises
• identifies small problems while they are small
  problems

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The New Curriculum and Assessment of Projects
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Curriculum Expectations

• the new curriculum outlines clear and detailed
  curriculum expectations that is, the particular
  knowledge and skills that students are expected
  to demonstrate by the end of each course
• Program Planning and Assessment
• The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12
• 2000

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Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting

• The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation
  is to improve student learning. Information
  gathered through assessment helps teachers to
  determine students strengths and weaknesses in
  their achievement of the curriculum expectations
  in each course.
• Program Planning and Assessment
• The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12
• 2000

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Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting

• Assessment is the process of gathering
  information from a variety of sources (including
  assignments, demonstrations, projects,
  performances, and tests) that accurately reflects
  how well a student is achieving the curriculum
  expectations in a course. As part of assessment,
  teachers provide students with descriptive
  feedback that guides their efforts towards
  improvement.
• Program Planning and Assessment
• The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12
• 2000

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What does this mean about projects?

• They provide an opportunity for students to
  demonstrate knowledge and skills
• They provide an opportunity for teachers to
  identify strengths and weaknesses and provide
  feedback

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How do you assess them?

• Provide a good outline of the included
  expectations and how they will be assessed
• Use formative assessment as an opportunity to
  provide descriptive feedback

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How do you assess them?

• Provide assessment tools such as checklists and
  rubrics that students can use for informal
  self-assessment
• Use summative assessment to gather information
  for evaluation

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Some thoughts
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STs not ISUs

• There is a shift in the way a major project is
  likely to be viewed in a computer course
• In many cases, an ISU follows the regular course
  materials
• The term ISU (Independent Study Unit) suggests
  the student acquiring a new set of skills on
  their own

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So what is a ST?

• A summative task
• An indicator as to how well course expectations
  have been mastered
• A chance to demonstrate knowledge and skills

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A change in focus

• NOT
• what do you want to do for your project?
• BUT
• how do you want to demonstrate the knowledge
  and skills you have mastered in the course?

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Where do categories fit in?

• Develop and follow local assessment conventions
  so students get a consistent message
• Develop a model that the students understand
• Keep trying till it works with students

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Where do Learning Skills fit in?

• If communication and team-building are two of the
  most widely sought skills, then projects provide
  an excellent opportunity to provide students with
  valuable feedback.

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Questions for discussion
22
How do you use categories in a Computer Studies
project assessment?
23
How do you use projects as part of the final
assessment (30) ?