ASSIGNMENTS,PRACTICAL WORK, SELF ASSSESMENT

 ASSIGNMENTS

 

Assignments are used as learning device and tool for evaluation. There is no doubt that assignment is carefully planned and regularly valued by the teachers to improve the student‘s attainment. The assignment is one of the most important phases of teaching.

Purpose of Assignments

1.    To provide opportunities to students to work and practice independently.

2.    To develop self-reliance and initiative.

3.    To develop habits of reading regularly among the students.

4.    To provide opportunities to students to utilize the leisure time profitably.

5.    To provide remedial measures for backward students.

 

Kinds of Assignment

Page-by-Page Assignment

This type is sometimes called the textbook assignment. It designates the number of pages to be covered. Page-by-page assignment is unsatisfactory, but recent studies have revealed that this type is still widely used in the elementary grades.

Chapter Assignment

This is another form of traditional or textbook assignment. Like the first type, it is still extensively used in secondary schools and in colleges. Preparation for this type of assignment is left entirely to the pupils.

Problem Assignment

This type of assignment gets away from the basic textbook idea. It encourages the use of references and stimulates reflective thinking. In this type the problem to be solved is the prime consideration. Special directions and suggestions are important in this type of assignment

Project Assignment

This is a special type of assignment which is best adapted to vocational courses, to natural science subjects, and in some measure to social science subjects and others content subjects. In this type of assignment a project is considered a unit.

Syllabus Assignment

Syllabus assignment is often utilized in the college or university. In this type of assignment, questions and references are given to guide the students. Here again guide questions and other suggestions are given to insure attention to the important points of the lesson.

Drill Assignment

It is the purpose of this assignment to strengthen the connections formed in the process of growth in mental motor skills. Memorizing a poem or mastery of facts or simple combination facts in Arithmetic are good examples of this type of assignment. Drill assignment, like other type of assignment, should be motivated.

Teachers need to

1. compile assignments that are broken down into a series of tasks, building in

2. reviews and feedback opportunities

3. prescribe a completion date for each task and provide support to ensure that

4. learners set individual targets to meet the required outcomes of the task.

5. provide informal oral feedback when required as part of classroom monitoring activities

6. review the progress against targets and provide feedback.

7. provide opportunities for learners to reflect on feedback provided and act on advice given.

8. provide opportunity for consolidation work to be undertaken by less able learners.

9. make sure that any remedial work is again reviewed and feedback provided before

10.                    learners progress to the subsequent task.

11.                    create opportunities for learners to participate in peer assessment and self assessment

12.                    activities on completion of the overall assignment.

13.                    undertake formal assessment of learners work and return assessed work with

14.                    Written feedback within the agreed period.

 

PRACTICAL WORK

Practical work is considered an integral part of students experience in the discipline.

Practical work is a necessary part of the learning experience of most students and especially those of science, engineering and health related disciplines.

It serves many purposes it can develop essential transferable skills, perhaps associated with information technology, it can develop subject specific skills and it can serve to demonstrate and reinforce material of lecture courses.

 Practical work helps them to learn team-working skills, safe working practices and self dependence.

Practical work refers to those activities in which students manipulate and observe real objects and materials in the laboratory and the field.

Practical work in the subjects sits within thinking and working scientifically and is intrinsic to a full learning experience for students; it is not an additional component of teaching and learning.

There should be an expectation that on completing the course students are able to perform a range of procedures with due regard for accuracy and risk management.

They should have hands on experience of conducting specific technical and manipulative tasks. Students should be given the opportunity to undertake work in which they make their own decisions, for example through an investigation of their choosing over an extended period of time.

They should be assessed on their ability to plan, observe, record, analyze, communicate and evaluate through this activity. A range of practical activities should be incorporated into the teaching of ideas to enable students to develop their understanding through interacting with objects and observations.

It is widely recognized that practical work is a vital element of school and there are a number of high quality resources to support it. However, practical work always impact sufficiently on pupil‘s engagement and learning.

 

 

a.     Practical work aims to improve

b.    clarity of learning outcomes associated with practical work

c.     effectiveness and impact of practical work on learning

d.    quality rather than quantity of practical work and

e.     to ensure that these developments are sustainable

 

WORKSHEET

Ø Worksheet commonly refers to a sheet of paper with questions for students and places to record answers.

Ø The term may also refer to a single array of data in spreadsheet software or an informal piece of paper that an accountant uses to record information.

Ø In the classroom setting worksheets usually refer to a loose sheet of paper with questions or exercises for students to complete and record answers.

Ø They are used, to some degree, in most subjects, and have widespread use in the curriculum. These are intended to help a student become proficient in a particular skill that was taught to them in class.

Ø They are commonly given to students as homework. They made up of a progressive set of questions that leads to an understanding of the topic to be learned.

 

Performance Task Assessment

Performance task assessment lists are assessment tools that provide the structure students need to work more independently and to encourage them to pay attention to the quality of their work. Assessment also enables the teacher to efficiently provide students with information on the strengths and weaknesses of their work.

Peer Assessment

Ø It is widely recognized that when learners are fully engaged in the learning process, learning increases.

Ø A fundamental requirement of Assessment for Learning is for learners to know what they have to learn, why it is required and how it is to be assessed.

Ø When learners are able to understand the assessment criteria, progress is often maximized, especially when individuals have opportunities to apply the assessment criteria to work produced by their peers as part of planned classroom activities.

Ø Peer assessment using the predefined assessment criteria is the next stage to evaluate learner understanding and consolidating learning.

Benefits of organizing peer assessment activities

Ø learners clarifying their own ideas and understanding of the learning intention

Ø Checking individuals‘ understanding of the assessment criteria and how it is to be applied to learners‘ work.

Self-Assessment

Once learners are able to use the assessment criteria appropriately and can actively contribute to peer-assessment activities, the next step is to engage them in self-assessment tasks.

Self-assessment is a very powerful teaching tool and crucial to the Assessment for Learning process. Once learners can engage in peer-assessment activities, they will be more able to apply these new skills to undertaking objective‘assessment of their own work. We all know it is easy to find fault in other people‘s work, but it is a far more challenging process to judge one‘s own work.

Once learners can assess their own work and their current knowledge base, they will be able to identify the gap in their own learning; this will aid learning and promote progress and contribute to the self-management of learning.

Teachers need

Ø provide opportunities for learners to reflect on their own work

Ø  ensure they provide individuals with the necessary support so that they are able to acknowledge shortcomings in their own work

Ø support learners through the self-assessment process so that strengths in their work are fully recognized and weaknesses are not exaggerated to the point that they damage learners‘self-esteem.

 

Strategy for Assessment for Learning

Ø Video clips of good practice provided in the file were used in the first training session

Ø The school believes that Hind sight it would have been better to use examples of good achievability at their also its suitability for their learners.

All staff is undertaking all units of the training pack