Who would like to be graded all the time? What’s worse, who would like to observe others’ works and give grades then be judged for the grades you give? I think nobody likes this side of the Assessment.

I, for one, used to have no value for assessments because they have made my student life very difficult, pressured, and stressful. I grew up as a grade-conscious student. I hated low scores, and not being part of the top five in a class made me feel unvalued and insufficient.

So when I became a primary school teacher in Cambodia, I did not put so much effort and value in assessments. I gathered evidences of learning my own way. I graded the students my own way, too! And, translated these grades in accordance to the school format. But, I can say that those assessments and grades lacked validity and reliability.

The light that the Methods of Assessment principles have brought to my teaching life has been immense.

First, now I value the elements in assessment design: alignment, rigor, bias, precision, and scoring. Such are needed to ensure assessment validity and reliability.

Second, I am more aware of the difference between traditional and non-traditional assessments. Both are important because not all learners have the same learning styles; therefore, not all learners have the same assessment capabilities.

Third, a needs assessment is important if we would want to know the current level of knowledge that our learners have in accordance to the learning objectives of a specific lesson. Without needs assessment, teachers will just have to guess what to teach and how to teach these lessons. This is inefficient and insufficient.

Finally, creating a Table of Specifications and Rubrics in assessments are significant parts of creating assessment activities. These are tools for the teacher to become more organized in each lesson activity when gathering sufficient evidence of learning and to become clearer when describing the grading criteria, the instructions, and the learning objectives of each task given to students.

Overall, who would like to assess others and be assessed by others all the time as if you have to fit a certain standard? I think only teachers who can see the light of Methods of Assessment would like to deal with assessments anytime. I, for one, has been added to this list of teachers who now understand the value of assessments and their principles.

Time is not our friend. It will keep on moving forward whether we are ready or not. It will keep on doing what it does best–leave everything that is slow behind.

Time has been not my friend for this Exercise because I am one of those slow moving humans at this season of my pregnant life. Every day is consist of sleep, rest, eat, work, ministry, academics, a lot of sleep again, and a lot of tummy pain in between. My energy is very limited, and time does not care about all these.

Hence, in this Exercise 2, time has been my greatest challenge.

On the flipside, with the thorough instructions of Exercise 2, I was able to understand more the concepts of creating assessment activities through the process of Learning Objectives, Table of Specifications, and Non-traditional alternative assessments. Before I did this exercise I was overwhelmed by the number of tasks at hand. However, in actual works, I enjoyed every part because I learned more by applying the theories. My cognitive skills were enhanced more to expand the ideas of the theories in assessment.

Finally, the biggest value I take away from this Exercise is the value of a collaborative work. I used to dread working with a team and rather preferred working solo. But, with this Exercise, life was easier. I had someone to discuss ideas with, someone to correct my misunderstanding of the concepts, and someone to add more inputs to what I already know.

Overall, this Exercise 2 on Going Non-Traditional had its own impact in my personal growth in terms of time management, self-discipline, and interpersonal skills.

I used to dread self- and peer assessment because I was not confident enough that I was doing everything right amd giving the fair grades to myself or to my peer.

However, a clear criteria and easy-to-understand descriptions in rubrics help me become more confident with my evaluation. At least, the rubrics take away self-doubt. With rubrics, I have a clear basis of my assessment–which makes it valid and credible.

Learning from this module, I have realized that self- and peer assessment is very valuable to a learner’s growth and maturity. Such assessments help learners become independent, self-directed, and life long learners. And, this is what I envision for my learners–that they become better learners who are independent, self-directed, and life long learners. (Repetition for emphasis purposes.)

What I have learned from this course, so far, is that assessments are significant parts of a learning progress. Assessments are not for grade getting nor for accomplishing school requirements. Instead, assessments help learners evaluate their current status in relation to their learning goals. As for the teachers, assessments help them evaluate whether there is a need to change in teaching techniques or strategies in order to help learners achieve learning goals.

From Module 7, Feedback and Reporting, I have learned that assessments become more valuable when they are valid and reliable. How do they become valid and reliable? One way is by having clear rubrics, fair grading system, and timely feedback. Rubrics help learners determine the why’s and how’s of a certain task. A fair grading system leads to learner motivation. A timely feedback encourages learners to improve.

For the teacher’s side, having clear rubrics, fair grading system, and timely feedback help him evaluate the learner’s progress justly and without doubt.

With this course, the learner’s mindset I have acquired as a child (being grade conscious) has been changed. Now, I want to be a teacher who does not base my learner evaluation on grade getting but on his overall progress in terms of the learning goals vis-a-vis his personal learning style and intelligence.

1.) From this lesson, I have learned the importance of Assessment Design elements as well as the importance of a Table of Specifications (TOS).

The design elements that include alignment, rigor, precision, bias, and scoring are cuurcial in constructing test questions and in planning a TOS for assessment to ensure validity, reliability, and effectivity.

2.) From this lesson, I have learned that assessments are not for the mere purpose of grading and passing a certain academic requirement. Instead, assessments are tools to gather evidence of learning. Instead of giving a failing grade, teachers are responsible for addressing learning hurdles that come out in the assessment results.

3.) Finally, from this lesson, I have thought about new and creative ways to address assessment problems for pre-school and primary learners. These learners find it difficult to cope with the big schools’ assessment design which is usually plain paper-based. As an educator, it is my responsibility to ensure that young learners can easily respond to the assessments given to them so that I can also easily gather evidence of learning; and, address learning hurdles if there is any.

Some principles to be used in creative and effective assessment design for young learners: Multiple-Intelligence theory and Orality principle.

Pacing, timeline, encouragement, humility, and openness–these are the traits that I saw in our group during the last stretch of finishing Exercise 1. Working alone is easier for me because I get to take control of what I submit. However, I appreciate working in a group because I have learned to acknowledge other thinking minds. So in this activity, we had to be sensitive of other members’ pacing vis-a-vis the group’s timeline.

I also saw the need for encouragement because each member might be going through some things that we were not aware of. And, like how I was on some days, some members need to hear encouragement words to keep on moving forward.

Finally, we needed to be open that each member has his own way of expressing his thought. Each has his own ideas. This openness lead to easy collaboration among the group.

Needless to say, as an introvert, this type of an activity has helped develop my interpersonal skills.

One thing is for sure. Assessments are not dreading to think about anymore. Needs assessments, for one, are necessary to know the current situation and compare this to the ideal or standard situation. Identifying this gap means being able to see the root of a problem or problems. Consequently, solutions will be available to address the problems.

As an educator, I always depend on needs assessment in order for me to identity the knowledge level of my students. For example, I do a one-week online Level test for my ESL students. This Level Test includes assessments in the areas of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. For my pre-school students, I also do a one to two days of observations. I need to know what my students currently know, so I can design their learning experience according to what they need as learners.

What I need to improve on is doing a more formal needs assessments involving the learners, the parents, and my colleagues. This way, we will all be able to contribute to the betterment of the current informal education system that we are providing both to face-to-face students and online students.

Overall, having a new mindset in regard to needs assessments as a crucial part of the entire learning and teaching process is the best part I have learned from this course to become a better teacher.