January 28th, 2015 - SFU Surrey SEED, IPTEM and French Module

1. Mind the Gap: (re)Examining
Schooling, Assessing
and the
Theory / Practice Divide
Presented by: Jonathan Vervaet
@jonathanvervaet
January 28th, 2015

2. “Stories matter. Many stories
matter.”
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. “If students have not been told
where they are going, it is
unlikely that they will arrive.”
– Shirley Clark

4. Learning Intentions
“I can find evidence of current
assessment research
in my practice.”

5. Learning Intentions
“I can identify ways to use
assessment to inform my
instructional decisions .”

6. Learning Intentions
“I can become curious about
something in the research I
want to inquire further into.”

7. “Assessment is the beginning and the end
of my teaching. It defines my culture, my
relationships, my learning community, my
values, and my beliefs about teaching and
learning.” - Matt Rosati

8. Our Traditional System
• Students are penalized if the don’t learn
fast enough... Even though we know
learning is an individual / developmental
process.
• What you do at the beginning of the course
will always count against you... Despite the
fact the student might now understand
what they did wrong and how to prevent it
in the future.
• Grades include all student attributes... Even
though we know grades should reflect the

9. The Paradigm Shift
• Learning vs. Teaching
• Outcomes / Standards vs. Tasks
• Quality vs. Quantity
• If students learn vs. When students learn
• Confidence vs. Anxiety
• Practice vs. One Chance
• Improvement vs. Coverage
Tom Schimmer

13. Reflection: How
is seeing
ourselves as
learners
important for
us as teachers?

14. Instructional Design
The Science of Learning

15. Instructional Design
90% of what we know about the brain we have
learned in approximately the last 2 years

16. Instructional Design
The same will be true 10 years from now

17. Motivation 2.0
True or False:
Rewarding an
activity will get you
more of it. Punishing
an activity will get
you less of it.

18. Harlow (1949)
Radical finding, there was a third drive.
The performance of the task provided
intrinsic reward.
The monkeys solved the problem simply
because they found it gratifying to solve
the puzzle.

19. 2
Harlow (1949)
Rewarded the monkey with raisons.
“Introduction of food in the present experiment
served to disrupt performance, a phenomena not
reported in the literature.”
The monkeys made more errors and
solved the puzzles less frequently.

20. Deci (1969) – Carnegie Melon
Soma Block
Experiment

21. Deci (1969)
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Group A No
reward
Cash
Reward
No
reward
Group B No
reward
No
reward
No
reward

22. Deci (1969) – Carnegie Melon
Soma Block
Experiment
“When money is used as an extrinsic reward for
some activity, the subjects lose intrinsic interest for
the activity.” Rewards give you a short term boost,
but the effect wears off and can reduce long term
motivation.

23. Commissioned
vs.
Non-
Commissioned
Art

25. Rewards transform
interesting tasks
into drudgery.

26. Offering an award
signals that the
task is undesirable.

27. Focus on Short Term vs.
Long Term Benefits

28. When goals are imposed and
incentivized…
Focus is narrowed on
achieving only that goal.

29. and…
Here’s the kicker…

30. It leads to unethical
behaviour in an attempt to
reach the goal.
aka..

31. Cheating…

32. When rewards do work…
With routine and
mechanical tasks.

33. You can’t undermine
intrinsic motivation in
boring tasks.

35. Formative Assessment:
5 Key Strategies…
sometimes 6!
Dylan Wiliam “Embedded Formative
Assessment” (2011)

36. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

37. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

38. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

39. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

40. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

41. Carol Dweck (2006)
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.
Fixed – Believe they have to work with
whatever intelligence they have because it
can’t be increased.
They resist novel challenges if they can’t
succeed immediately.
They’d rather not try than be perceived as
dumb.

42. Carol Dweck (2006)
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.
Growth – Believe intelligence can be built
through life.
See working harder as a way to improve.
They persist and try a wide variety of solutions
when given novel tasks.

43. Carol Dweck (2006)

44. Csikzentmihalyi (1990)
Flow Theory – The
exhilarating moments when
we feel in control, full of
purpose, and in the zone.

45. Csikzentmihalyi (1990)
Skill Level
Challenge
Level

46. Daniel Pink (2009)
Autonomy –over task, time, team, and
technique.
Mastery – Becoming better at
something that matters.
Purpose

47. Formative
Assessment for Learning
Ongoing
To determine learning
needs
Ungraded and Descriptive
Feedback (uses words)
Provides feedback to
students and teacher
to promote learning
Summative
Assessment of Learning
Occurs at the end of a
learning progression
Graded to determine
achievement level
and for reporting
Evaluative
Levels or Marks

48. Formative (for)
Examples:
-Oral questioning
-Draft work
-Reflections
-Portfolio reviews
-Peer /self
assessments
Summative (of)
Examples:
-Inquiry projects
-Presentations
-Grade conferences
-Portfolio reviews
-Tests and quizzes

49. Marks and Grading

53. Outline Signed by Parents 5 / 5
Wksht HW Check 0 / 5 Completed but it was copied
Homework Spot Check 6 / 5 Bonus marks for doing it!
Quiz #1 7 /10
Quiz #2 24 / 25
Quiz #3 0 / 33 Absent w/out a parent note
Binder Check 5 / 15 Missing Key Notes
Essay Rough Draft 0 / 12 HW Not Completed
Essay Peer Edit 0 / 10 Essay wasn't written
Essay Corrections 0 / 5 Essay still not done
Essay Good Copy 10 / 12 Got it!
Particpation in Peer Edit
Conference 0 / 5
Didn't have the essay
written
Group Participation 5 / 5
Unit #1 Test 36 / 54
Permission Slip for Field Trip
Signed and Returned 5 / 5

54. The Benefits of Formative Assessment
Constantly weighing the pig
won’t make it fatter...

55. The Latin root word for assessment is
"assidere" which means to sit beside.

56. G.O.S.S.I.P. Strategy
Go out and
selectively
search for
important
points.

57. Strategy:
Mining for Gold

58. A/B Partner – Mining for Gold
A – says what the most important
idea was from the reading.
B – asks “Why is that important?”
A – answers and explains.
B – again, asks “Why is that
important?”
Do this until A can synthesize
thought to a single word or phrase;
Repeat for partner B.

59. Whip Around…

60. Principles for Classroom
Assessment
Students should be part
of the assessment
process and involved in
setting criteria, setting
their own learning goals
and designing
demonstrations.
)

61. "We must constantly remind
ourselves that the ultimate
purpose of evaluation is to
have students become self
evaluating. If students
graduate from our schools
still dependent upon others
to tell them when they are
adequate, good, or
excellent, then we’ve
missed the whole point of
what education is about.”
- Costa and Kallick (1992)

62. Relationships are all there is. Everything in
the universe only exists because it is in
relationship to everything else. Nothing
exists in isolation. We have to stop
pretending we are individuals who can go it
alone.
- M. Wheatley

63. “I’m still learning.”
- Michelangelo, Age 87

64. You must use the research to support
your practice to avoid being a well
intentioned “Enthusiastic Amateur.”
- Fullan and Hargraeves “Professional Capital”

65. Don’t come into the profession to
replicate current practice. Strive for
excellence.

67. Teaching is not rocket science. It is, in
fact, far more complex and demanding
work than rocket science.
- Richard Elmore (Professor of Education Leadership at Harvard
Graduate School of Education)

68. Contact Information
Jonathan Vervaet
Email: jonathanvervaet@gmail.com
Twitter: @jonathanvervaet
Blog: jonathanvervaet.wordpress.com