A presentation on student engagement in assessment for University of Sydney Masters students March 2019

1. Engaging students in assessment
Cameron Paterson

2. Image: http://www.volunteerswmi.org/
3 volunteers

3. What do you want the children we teach to be like as adults?

4. “The current dull empiricism of collecting neat piles
of test score numbers often restricts teaching to
mindless arithmetic, where classes become
databases.”
Crossroads: The Future of School Assessment by Denis Fitzgerald:
http://cpl.asn.au/journal/semester-2-2017/crossroads-the-future-
of-school-assessment

6. STOP MARKING!

7. “The most powerful single modification
that enhances achievement is feedback.”
(John Hattie)
Image: Kenny Bengsston

8. “Much of the feedback that students get has
little or no effect on their learning.”
(Dylan Wiliam)

9. “Teachers who spend time crafting helpful
comments are wasting their time if they also
give a mark.”
(Dylan Wiliam)
Image: http://www.solution-tree.com/authors/dylan-wiliam.html

10. Interest in learning is
diminished and thinking is
more superficial

12. “Students need some feedback about how they are doing in
terms of marks, grades or levels, but I suggest this should be
no more than once every two or three years in primary
schools, maybe once a year in lower secondary , and perhaps
once a term when before school-leaving or university-
entrance exams.”
(Dylan Wiliam)
Image: iStockphoto

13. “NESA does not require a number to be used (in relation to
assessment) until Year 12.”
“Grading is an end of course judgement.”
“School protocols squash the reality of what NESA requires out of
sight.”
• Too much testing
• Focus more on learning objectives and less on covering content

14. “If I had to reduce all of
the research on
feedback into one
simple overarching idea
it would be this:
feedback should cause
thinking.”
(Dylan Wiliam)

15. Students must be required to respond to
feedback

16. Ladder of Feedback
Suggest
Concerns
Value
Clarify
Image: iStockphoto

17. @Diff_central

19. “Everything we know has its origins in questions.
Questions, we might say, are the principal intellectual
instruments available to human beings.”
- Neil Postman in The End of Education

20. 1. Teachers ask between 45-120
questions per half-hour.
2. The same teachers estimate that they
ask between 12-20 questions per half-
hour.
3. Between 67 to 95% of all teacher
questions require straight recall from the
student.
4. Every half an hour two questions are
typically asked by children in the class.
5. The greater the tendency for a teacher
to ask straight recall questions, the fewer
the questions initiated by children.
6. The more a teacher asks personally
relevant questions, the more questions
students ask in class.
7. These results do not vary across IQ
level or social class.

22. “People live in the world’s our
questions create”
(David Cooperider)

24. The Race
• 400-600 miles, non-stop Primal Quest
Adventure Race
• Multi-disciplinary, expert teams
• Unknown terrain, multiple routes
• Challenges: mental and physical exhaustion,
navigational errors, injury
• 75-95 teams each year
• 55% of teams do not finish
• Avg age=37, Avg exp=5.5 yrs
• $250,000 purse

25. Map of Race
Day 1-2
Day 4-5
2004 Race Overview

26. 50%
70% Conditional
Claims
Assertive
Claims
Team
Performance
HighLow
30%
How do claims of knowing vary across teams?

27. ?
? ?
? ?
? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?

28. From Popcorn to Ice-Cream

29. From Ping-Pong to Basketball

30. Teaching Puppy to go downstairs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDKDC_IUnOA

36. Austin’s butterfly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqh1MRWZjms

37. KISH Critique
Be Kind
• All comments should focus on the work not the person.
• There should never be sarcasm or put downs.
• The comments can be challenging but the recipient should feel
that the feedback is about the work and how it can be better.
Be Specific
• Comments should identify exactly what needs to be worked on
(like a set of instructions) which we can take away and use or do.
Be Helpful
• If the comments don’t benefit the work, don’t share it.
• Every piece of feedback is there to help improve the work.

38. Kind
 I really like the way you………………..
 Excellent ……………….. throughout
 The most successful thing about this was ………………..
 I enjoyed reading this because ………………..
 It was especially good when you ………………..
Specific
 In the first/second/third paragraph ………………..
 I think ……………….. is quite difficult to understand/could be explained
better/could include more detail etc.
 Your sentence/paragraph about ……………….. was ………………..
because………………..
Helpful
 Think about adding ………………..
 Think about taking away………………..
 Have you thought about………………..?
 To improve your………………..try………………..
 Perhaps you could………………..

39. SUCCESS CRITERIA
Addresses the question asked with a sophisticated and sustained argument
Demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the issue(s) raised in the question
Presents a logical, coherent and well-structured response
Clearly identifies relevant key features of the period
Supports interpretation with detailed, relevant and accurate historical information
Makes use of appropriate terms and concepts
Two Medals
One Mission
PEER FEEDBACK SHEET
Student providing feedback: ________________________________________
Student who owns the work:
________________________________________

40. Credit: @ploguey

41. Radical Revision
What specifically do you feel good
about in your draft?
What specifically do you think you will
need to work on?
In pairs, read responses out loud and
then read drafts out loud to each other.
Then have a conversation based on the
rubric.
Image credit: Olita426

52. Qualitative forms of sharing evidence like
student work, photos, and video are powerful
ways to provide a more complete picture of
student learning

53. Neatly record a
provocative or insightful
quote from a student in
the speech bubble and the
name of the student
quoted

55. Reggio educators refer
to documentation as
“visible listening”
Image – Wamda: http://www.wamda.com/2012/05/4-ways-to-create-a-culture-of-observation-at-your-startup

58. Image – All Things Learn:
https://allthingslearning.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/learner-engagement-in-a-
culure-of-learnacy-part-01/john-hattie-quote/

62. Name
Year
321
Why?
I could improve my results by…..
My Report should say……
I have done the following really well in History this semester…
4 5
Student Self-Appraisal
How would you rate your effort this semester?

63. 1. What is one thing you have learned in this class that you did
not know before?
1. What about this class has surprised you the most?
1. What is one good question that you have about what you are
learning in this class?
1. What is your goal in this class for next term?
1. What does your teacher do that helps you learn? 1. What is one thing your teacher could improve to help you learn better?
1. If you were your teacher writing your report comment for this subject right now, what would it say?
Name: Subject: Date:

64. Introductions
“I find it surprising that most classes are enjoyable.” (Lachie)
“I have been at Shore since Year 5 and loved every minute of it.” (Ben)
“I can be bored quickly and I really only learn if I enjoy a subject.” (Lucas)
“It surprises me to see how kind and caring the teachers are to the students because
Shore is renowned for its strict discipline.” (Will)
“I am privileged to go to such an amazing school.” (Oli)
“I find all of the teachers outstanding and amazing at what they do considering the fact
that they are teaching teenage boys.” (Ashton)
“Shore is a challenging school because you can’t slack off. You get in trouble for not doing
your work.” (Max)
“At the moment I am incredibly surprised at how Shore makes me feel accepted and how
the teachers make it more fun and easier to learn.” (Max)
“What I hope to learn in this class is all of the stuff that is in the test and exams.”
(Hamish)
“One of my biggest challenges as a learner is that I can get distracted very easily and
when I do I find it hard to stop talking.” (Toby)

65. Mid-Year Reflections
“I was surprised by how casual History was but also how much I learnt.” (Ashton)
“I was surprised by the big amount of reading we have to do.” (Hunter)
“Why do we focus so much on wars we lost/won, when we don’t focus on our own
country’s history eg. Aboriginals?” (Tom)
“I had no idea about the Industrial Revolution, natrionalism and imperialism. After
some lessons I got the hang of it.” (Billy)
“It was a lot more interesting than expected.” (Jack)
“Everyone in the class brings along a good vibe and positivity.” (Charlie)
“I have been surprised that History is fun.” (Josh)
“I have been surprised by the way we work together in groups.” (Cameron)
“I have been surprised by the amount of information we have learnt about WWI and
WWII.” (Ben)
“I have been surprised that I never not want to go to History.” (Lachlan)

66. I Used to Think…, and Now I Think…
Jack
I used to think only from my perspective on things rather than looking at certain events
in history from the point of view of others. Being very stubborn and narrow minded
about my own beliefs. Examples include being ignorant of the Stolen Generations and
just how much of an impact that has had on Aborigines. I thought that the Stolen
Generations were distant events that had little to no effect on the lives of current
Aboriginal people when in reality the Stolen Generations only ended about 50 years ago
in the 1960s. In my dad’s lifetime the Stolen Generations existed. I also didn’t
understand the mental effect this has had on the Aboriginal people today.
Now I know that the Stolen Generations weren’t some long gone events in our racist
history that Aborigines should get over but in reality are recent enough to have mentally
destroyed many people. This is just one example of things I now understand.

67. Jason
I used to think that Australia’s history was not interesting. I thought that modern
history would not be as fun as learning about ancient Egypt and the Roman
Empire. I also thought that I would not do too well in history as I am not so good
at it. This made me feel worried about my performance throughout the year.
Now I think that history as a subject this year was not only interesting but fun and
interactive, the way I think history should be told. I think that history hides great
and shocking severities about Australia that are dark and unforgiving and even
though it is not our fault, we must think about it every day. I think that history is
not a one sided subject. It includes multiple perspectives from different sides.

68. Assessment is a
conversation, not a number

69. I used to think…
Now I think…
A routine for reflecting on
how and why our thinking
has changed

70. Image: iStockphoto

71. A B C D/F
Volume So loud I can’t hear
myself think
Loud enough that I
can’t hear myself
speak
Loud-ish in some parts of
the room but quiet in
others
So quiet I can hear the
toilets flush
Tempo Rapid: Hands are
hurriedly smacked
together
Fast: Hands are
quickly brought
together
Leisurely: Hands are hit
together at an unhurried
pace
Slow: Fingers are slowly
tapped together
Dynamics Erupts suddenly,
builds to a
deafening crescendo
that is sustained for
a second or more,
then fades slowly
and reluctantly
Builds up for a
second, peaks, then
fades
No change in dynamics:
Half-hearted throughout
Begins with a silent pause,
pitter-pats for a second,
then fizzles
Applause Rubric
Credit: Heidi Goodrich Andrade, Harvard Project Zero

73. What do you want the children we teach to be like as adults?

74. Learning or
Performance?
Manage the
tension
Image credit: MIT Sloan
Management Review

75. “An activist teaching
profession is an educated
and politically astute one….
We can frame the future
agendas for schooling and
education, we just need to
harness the various
intellectual, social and
political resources available
to us in order to achieve it.”

76. Free conference at Masada College Sunday 19th May

77. Free launch at Shore School, North Sydney 4.30pm Friday 29th March

78. Cameron Paterson
E: cpaterson@shore.nsw.edu.au
T: cpaterso