Module 5 Reflection

This module has helped me think about student-centered assessment in the following ways…

My views of assessment and the role of myself and my students has been challenged throughout this course. I have been teaching for several years, and my general view of assessment has been that I teach the material and then assess the learning. Although I still believe that assessment is part of my role as a teacher, including the students in the assessment process can be a valuable component of their learning.

When students evaluate other students’ work, they have to become critical thinkers which impacts the way they think about their own learning. When students can evaluate the work of their peers, giving feedback and suggestions, they develop a deeper understanding of the content. They also need opportunities to learn new skills such as creating projects, checklists, and rubrics. Including students in the foundational part of learning requires them to think about the content as a whole and the requirements that need to be addressed.  Assessing their own learning is an important component of student learning. Students should be able to objectively evaluate their own work while setting goals for their ongoing progress. During this evaluation, the students should be able to identify weaknesses they have and develop strategies to improve those weaknesses. When students are a part of the assessment process, they begin to take ownership of their learning, resulting in them becoming better students, invested in the process of their success.

In all of this, I have to reevaluate my role in the assessment process, which will require that I give up some of the control that I have and give it to the students. This will probably be difficult at first, but I understand that it will be such a benefit to them. I know it will be worth it.