This blog post focuses on assessment changes I am making to my Digital Literacy classes for next year. This year, projects are submitted to me using a variety of mechanisms. Some projects are physically sent to me using e-mail and Edmodo. Other projects are shared with me through Google (e.g., Sites, Drive/Docs). Next year, students will create an ePortfolio using Google Sites. This will create a more robust repository for their work. It will provide space for students to reflect on each project. It will also streamline the review process by integrating the work product with the associated rubric and relevant feedback. The ePortfolios will enable me to refer students
to review work from other students, so they can see various proficiency levels. The page-level comments of Goggle site are a convenient mechanism for students to leave reflections (both immediately after projects and through time). My grading process next year will focus more on results and feedback - instead of grades. I am expanding the review process to include students assessing themselves and their peers. Currently, they have a list of requirements that guide their work. In order for students to do a better self-assessment, I am going to provide rubrics for each project. This year, grades were simply done on percentage of requirements completed. Although I haven't found a product yet, I want a multi-user rubric, where students and I can input their evaluations (see image 1 below). I envision a spreadsheet-like grid where I provide my skill assessment side-by-side with the student. The student can compare their self-assessment to the teacher and see comments related to each skill. In addition, the rubric is higher-level and skill-oriented than the project requirements (see image 2 below). My initial thought was a Google Spreadsheet, but I can't restrict student input to a specific range. In addition, I want the grid to highlight ratings in response to simple clicks and not data entry. I will probably create a custom Google Script user interface that populates a spreadsheet. My other thought is for the rubric to suppress the underlying point values. This way, students can focus on proficiency and what is necessary to attain higher levels. Dweck fund that grades tend to sabotage effort for students with a fixed mindset. I have seen this firsthand as students determine when a grade is "good enough" and don't feel the need to make corrections. The grade is often an amalgamation of various skills and is not always easy to parse the specific competencies (without a rubric). I would also like to relate individual rubric items to the higher level skills that students are learning. This way students would have a better understanding how individual projects relate to the "bigger picture".
image 1 - multi-user rubric
image 2 - skills-oriented rubric
