The online course I've been taking this summer (yes, librarians and teachers do take extra courses, even after we graduate) has made me think about learning and assessment. So, how do you take a test in the 21st century? Is it enough to offer a multiple-choice scantron?
I've been learning that students can be tested with more than the brute force of written exams. Written exams are excellent for assessing how much a student has memorized in Latin, or geometry, perhaps. But a student also needs to be tested in the use of technology, in solving problems, making judgments, and in collaborative and communication skills. These skills will be the true skills of their life work. Learning how to learn, and to re-learn, is part of the 21st century curriculum. How can we test for this? Is it possible?
Sure we can. It's already being done in some of the English classes with Powerpoint interpretations of literature set to current pop music. The physics classes are using interactive assessments. And there will be more. I'm hoping to use a rubric for student reflection on my database instruction this coming year. I'd like it to help students mark what they've learned and what they might have missed.
I like the way you point out that the skills of "...solving problems..." are the future life's work of our students..
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