Assessments in Math Reflection

Assessment in mathematics has been a rather large topic of discussion during math methods this summer. In any subject area, assessment is the key to gauging whether or not students have learned the concepts and objectives taught within a period of time. A variety of assessments have been discussed, including traditional and authentic assessments. While both have their perks and downfalls, many schools are pushing their teachers to use more authentic assessments with their students. Formative and summative assessments were also discussed this semester. Formative assessments are ongoing and constantly occurring during a lesson and/or unit. This might involve the teaching asking questions to students, having classroom discussions, or simply observing students during activities. Summative assessment occurs at the end of a lesson or unit, and is used as a way to look at students' overall learning or their take away of concepts. In addition to classroom discussions on assessment, I read several articles regarding assessment in the mathematics classroom. One article that really struck me talked about the use of conversation as an assessment tool. I think too many times, schools and teachers want all assessment to be formalized so that a written product is produced. However, this article talked about how the element of conversation can be a very effective tool to use for assessment. A teacher can learn a lot about his or her students through conversation, including what they know, what they are learning, and what they do not know yet. This kind of conversation can help the teacher to quickly change the path of a lesson, or even plan ahead for future lessons. It can also help a teacher to modify instruction for certain students. I am a big believer in conversation as a method of assessment because it is relatively informal, easy to use, and can reap major benefits.

Throughout all of the assignments during this semester, I did some assessing of my own on my personal work. While completing each assignment, I regularly utilized formative assessment by rereading and checking my work. Additionally, I checked specific rubrics throughout my work to verify that I was on track with the assignment. I utilized summative assessment when I completed any assignment before turning it in by rereading my work and consulting the rubric once again. I also had the opportunity to assess some of my peers' work during this semester. I critiqued problem situations that were created by my classmates. In these critiques, I was to comment on strengths and weaknesses, and provide suggestions for improvement. This was a new experience for me, because I do not have much practice with critiquing/assessing my peers' work. I also worked with assessment when going through the More Errors document. This was a collection of student samples of mathematics problems that had mistakes within. I was to find the mistake in each sample and then try to apply that mistake to other, similar problems. This was also a new experience for me, and I had some difficulty with finding the mistakes in many of the problems. Finally, I worked with assessments by reading through the feedback my instructor gave me on all of my assignments. I did this by reading through the given rubrics and reading comments that were listed. This helped me to get an idea of what my instructor thought about my final work, and also allowed me to reflect on the assignments.