Rolf Stuvik, a teacher, is confident that assessment for learning, which promotes assessment at all stages in the learning process, will benefit all students, regardless of their education level or life situation.
“I think that assessment for learning is something for our school,” says Stuvik, who teaches at Nygård grunnskole for voksne, a school in Bergen, Norway, that provides primary school education for adults.
Stuvik was one of about 40 teachers who attended a seminar on assessment for learning in early October hosted by itslearning trainer Jonny Eriksen.
When teachers work less, students achieve better results.
At the seminar, Eriksen demonstrated how teachers can use itslearning to practice assessment for learning. He demonstrated how to set up a course in itslearning with descriptions of learning objectives and what students have learned at different stages in the semester.
“Students learn best when they understand what they must learn,” Eriksen says. “With traditional assessment methods, it’s too late. Students are not able to learn more — they are not able to know what they should have learned. That opportunity is lost.”
Eriksen demonstrated how students can publish articles on blogs, and then have collaborative discussions about them on forums within itslearning. Teachers were also encouraged to have their students take self-correcting tests to increase the amount that they are assessed. He also recommended teachers to ask students what they think of the learning process to be constantly improving and adapting.
Implementing the Techniques Presented at the Seminar
Stuvik plans to incorporate these tips in his teaching. His students are often asylum seekers who have never attended school, but in itslearning, they are able to access images and listen to audio clips to learn the curriculum. Stuvik sees many advantages to using assessment for learning together with itslearning to boost student performance.
“It’s definitely an advantage to show the students what we will go through in advance. It’s also good to give students small assignments throughout a course so they can practice and receive assessment along the way. There were a lot of good pedagogical tools presented at today’s seminar.”
