Through reflection on the research of formative assessment, it has become apparent that it is an essential part of teaching and intrinsic to the continual development of our students. In Music Technology, this type of assessment needs to be carried out on a lesson-by-lesson basis to ascertain whether the students have not just remembered the information taught during the session, but actually understood the application of the theory and then be able to synthesize the information in order for them to design and develop their own unique outcome. Using Blooms (1956) Taxonomy as a guideline we have been able to achieve higher learning with students who normally may be classed as ‘Low Achievers’ in Maths & English; this has been achieved by continual assessment and effectively removing the fear of failure within the classroom whilst conducting practical experiments.
Petty (1998) believes assessment can inspire and motivate students, thus providing them and us with feedback that is seen as essential in prompting corrective help. When using Formative assessment, the importance is not the score the student achieves, but what the student has learnt, thus allowing the teacher to determine what to teach next whilst working towards a final summative assessment.
According to a ‘Guide to assessment’ by Rust (2002) on Assessment strategies for Pop Music Performance, when undertaking any form of assessment we must be certain of it’s reliability so the outcomes are clear from the beginning, of equal importance is the validity of the assessment. It is argued that all too often within higher education, we assess the knowledge and comprehension of a subject as this is the easy option, when with the right motivation encouraged by regular, positive feedback from formative assessment we could easily achieve higher order objectives such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation as shown within my our previous example.
The use of both written and practical assessments within Music Technology have their own strengths and limitations. A musical student with dyslexia could initially go unnoticed, with practical assessments which are observed by the teachers and an outcome that can be measured as a piece of music against something comparable there is no reason why their dyslexia would cause and issue until a written assessment is required. Vice-versa an academic student with a Djing background could struggle on a practical observation where they may be required to be musically creative. However, as Hattie (1999) points out Feedback is the single most powerful moderator for enhancing improvement and achievement. Taking this into account and utilizing “dollops of feedback” with effective and targeted questioning, we have found that these hurdles can eventually be overcome by providing the student with the means to improve.
Reece & Walker (2003) believe one of the easiest ways to keep records on you students progress is through the use of “audio-recordings”, the use of this medium allows the teacher to not only keep a record of the students answers, but also the questions they were asked in the first place. This data can then be condensed and kept on a form with a “rating-scale” to provide an “at a glance” assessment by a third party or external assessor at any point in time.
Without making records we would not only be unable to prove what our students had achieved, but also what they are already capable of. A record of an initial assessment is essential to be able to ascertain the individual level of each of your students competence in a particular subject; without this we would have been unable to know what to teach within a Music Technology classroom and at what level to pitch the lessons.
Records need to be kept not only to show the students progress and eventual, final grade, but also for internal/external verifiers and awarding bodies such as the ‘Edexel’ and ‘City & Guilds’, the latter often to monitor the teaching of the course.
Petty (1998) suggests that student records should be “open”; in such as they would be available for perusal by the student concerned, or for the whole class. On analysis of this theory, I found that by making the records freely available to view, it would aid in taking away a needless fear of failure, and also stimulate a healthy culture of “Self-assessment”. In such cases students will develop a responsibility for their own progress and therefore become more intrinsically motivated when they reap the rewards for their own hard work. Petty (1998) goes on to say that by opening the assessment records up to the whole class and allowing a controlled form of “Peer-assessment”, we could encourage natural “Peer-tutoring” through pair or group work.
Within our own classroom when studying “Drum Beat” programming, we have utilized peer assessment with pairs where they had to constructively critique each other’s results and make suggestions on how to improve. This has had interesting results when pairs were made up of students with completely different musical backgrounds.
Methodology
Whilst researching for this subject initially with Petty’s “Teaching Today” and his own website, it quickly evolved to Hattie and Black & Williams from deeper analysis of theory found on Petty’s web page.
Further research was done utilising various search engines and websites with which I found information about Rust’s “Guide to assessment”. By using these resources and other academic books as mentioned in my reference list I have been able to develop this rationale.
Bibliography
ATHERTON J S (2009) Learning and Teaching; Bloom's taxonomy [On-line] Available at: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm
Accessed: 1 June 2010
Black & Williams (2001) Inside the Black Box
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.collegenet.co.uk/admin/download/inside%20the%20black%20box_23_doc.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010
Hattie, J (1999) Influences on student learning
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.geoffpetty.com/downloads/WORD/Influencesonstudent2C683.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010
Hattie, J. (2003) Formative and Summative Interpretations of Assessment Information
[On-line] Available at:
http://web.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/fms/default/education/staff/Prof.%20John%20Hattie/Documents/John%20Hattie%20Papers/assessment/Formative%20and%20Summative%20Assessment%20(2003).pdf
Accessed: 5 February 2010
Petty, G (2010)
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.geoffpetty.com/feedback.html
Accessed: 5 May 2010
Reece, I., and Walker, S. (2003) (5TH Edition) Teaching, Training and Learning: A Practical Guide, Tyne and Wear, Business Education Publishers Ltd
Rust, C. (2002) Guide to assessment
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/briefing_papers/p_p_assessment.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010
References
Atherton, J. S. (2009) Learning and Teaching; Bloom's taxonomy [On-line] Available at: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm
Accessed: 1 June 2010
Armitage, A., Bryant, R., Dunnill, R., Hayes, D., Hudson, A., Kent, J., Lawes, S. & Renwick, M. (2003) (2nd Edition) Teaching and Training in Post-Compulsory Education, Maidenhead, Open University Press
Black & Williams (2001) Inside the Black Box
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.collegenet.co.uk/admin/download/inside%20the%20black%20box_23_doc.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010
Hattie, J. (1999) Influences on student learning
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.geoffpetty.com/downloads/WORD/Influencesonstudent2C683.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010
Hattie, J. (2003) Formative and Summative Interpretations of Assessment Information
[On-line] Available at:
http://web.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/fms/default/education/staff/Prof.%20John%20Hattie/Documents/John%20Hattie%20Papers/assessment/Formative%20and%20Summative%20Assessment%20(2003).pdf
Accessed: 5 February 2010
Oxford Brookes University (2010) Types of Assessment
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/assessment/types.html
Accessed: 18 May 2010
Petty, G. (2010)
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.geoffpetty.com/feedback.html
Accessed: 5 May 2010
Reece, I., and Walker, S. (2003) (5TH Edition) Teaching, Training and Learning: A Practical Guide, Tyne and Wear, Business Education Publishers Ltd
Rust, C. (2002) Guide to assessment
[On-line] Available at:
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/briefing_papers/p_p_assessment.pdf
Accessed: 20 May 2010