2.7 Assessment
Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to measure student learning and technology literacy, including the use of digital assessment tools and resources. (PSC 2.7/ISTE 2g)
Artifact: Multimedia WebQuest
Reflection:
The Multimedia Webquest was created as an assignment for ITEC 7445 Multimedia Design and Web Development and implemented at the beginning of the school year in my 9th grade Literature and Composition course. The online project comprises numerous interactive tutorials, online resources, and multiple levels of assessment to teach students how to recognize and avoid plagiarism by citing, quoting, and paraphrasing correctly. The project culminates in an online poster created using Glogster in which high school students are asked to teach younger students about the pitfalls of plagiarism.
The WebQuest demonstrates my ability to not only model effective use of technology, but also to facilitate a well-designed technology-enhanced lesson. The WebQuest contains multiple levels of assessment, including diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments. Students first created a Wordle compiling various definitions of plagiarism and reflecting on the ideas presented in this digital visual. The written reflection comprised a diagnostic assessment since it provided the teacher with a way of determining what students already knew about the concepts of plagiarism, citing, paraphrasing, and quoting. Quoting and citing are standards not taught until the 9th grade so it was not expected that students would be proficient with these concepts. The WebQuest also contained multiple levels of formative assessment. For each component of the WebQuest, students had to complete activities and receive an approval signature from the teacher. This constituted a type of formative assessment since it allowed the teacher to gauge student progress and to reassign or restructure specific components of the assignment based on student needs. Each section also contained a brief quiz that students could take multiple times to prove mastery. Students must score a 100% on each embedded quiz before moving on to the next section. Finally, the summative assessment included an online poster, created using Glogster, in which students provided an original definition of plagiarism, attached examples of various types of citations, and offered several scenarios of plagiarism and possible solutions for correcting them. A detailed, standards-based rubric was provided for grading the Glogster poster; this rubric allowed for the teacher to measure student learning and technology literacy. Additionally, students’ technology literacy was measured informally throughout the course of the WebQuest and used as a diagnostic assessment for future technology initiatives in the course; if needed, students were given an online Glogster tutorial to aid in their creation of the final assignment.
While I did like the depth at which the Webquest went and the exposure students had to numerous writing concepts, I do not think that Glogster was the best technology tool to use for this assignment. Students’ final projects were somewhat illegible because of the font necessary to include all of the required information. In the future, I would suggest students use some other medium, such as video, Prezi, or PowerPoint since these would allow for more flexibility in terms of font size and the amount of information included in the presentation. Moreover, it may be beneficial to give students several choices for how to complete the final project so that they can choose a technology with which they are familiar and a medium in which they like to work.
Though I have no specific comparison data, completing this WebQuest at the beginning of the year seemed to reduce the instances of plagiarism in my English class as compared to previous years. Students were made clear during the first few weeks of school what plagiarism consists of and the possible ramifications of committing plagiarism. Moreover, we continued to refer back to many of the resources in the WebQuest as we intensified our study of paraphrasing, quoting, and citing, and some students were re-assigned specific tutorials or online quizzes if they continued to struggle with certain concepts. In many ways, the WebQuest was an anchor that we could refer back to numerous times throughout the year, and that served to enhance student learning.
The Multimedia Webquest was created as an assignment for ITEC 7445 Multimedia Design and Web Development and implemented at the beginning of the school year in my 9th grade Literature and Composition course. The online project comprises numerous interactive tutorials, online resources, and multiple levels of assessment to teach students how to recognize and avoid plagiarism by citing, quoting, and paraphrasing correctly. The project culminates in an online poster created using Glogster in which high school students are asked to teach younger students about the pitfalls of plagiarism.
The WebQuest demonstrates my ability to not only model effective use of technology, but also to facilitate a well-designed technology-enhanced lesson. The WebQuest contains multiple levels of assessment, including diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments. Students first created a Wordle compiling various definitions of plagiarism and reflecting on the ideas presented in this digital visual. The written reflection comprised a diagnostic assessment since it provided the teacher with a way of determining what students already knew about the concepts of plagiarism, citing, paraphrasing, and quoting. Quoting and citing are standards not taught until the 9th grade so it was not expected that students would be proficient with these concepts. The WebQuest also contained multiple levels of formative assessment. For each component of the WebQuest, students had to complete activities and receive an approval signature from the teacher. This constituted a type of formative assessment since it allowed the teacher to gauge student progress and to reassign or restructure specific components of the assignment based on student needs. Each section also contained a brief quiz that students could take multiple times to prove mastery. Students must score a 100% on each embedded quiz before moving on to the next section. Finally, the summative assessment included an online poster, created using Glogster, in which students provided an original definition of plagiarism, attached examples of various types of citations, and offered several scenarios of plagiarism and possible solutions for correcting them. A detailed, standards-based rubric was provided for grading the Glogster poster; this rubric allowed for the teacher to measure student learning and technology literacy. Additionally, students’ technology literacy was measured informally throughout the course of the WebQuest and used as a diagnostic assessment for future technology initiatives in the course; if needed, students were given an online Glogster tutorial to aid in their creation of the final assignment.
While I did like the depth at which the Webquest went and the exposure students had to numerous writing concepts, I do not think that Glogster was the best technology tool to use for this assignment. Students’ final projects were somewhat illegible because of the font necessary to include all of the required information. In the future, I would suggest students use some other medium, such as video, Prezi, or PowerPoint since these would allow for more flexibility in terms of font size and the amount of information included in the presentation. Moreover, it may be beneficial to give students several choices for how to complete the final project so that they can choose a technology with which they are familiar and a medium in which they like to work.
Though I have no specific comparison data, completing this WebQuest at the beginning of the year seemed to reduce the instances of plagiarism in my English class as compared to previous years. Students were made clear during the first few weeks of school what plagiarism consists of and the possible ramifications of committing plagiarism. Moreover, we continued to refer back to many of the resources in the WebQuest as we intensified our study of paraphrasing, quoting, and citing, and some students were re-assigned specific tutorials or online quizzes if they continued to struggle with certain concepts. In many ways, the WebQuest was an anchor that we could refer back to numerous times throughout the year, and that served to enhance student learning.