Friday, July 22, 2011

Week 5: Reflection

Did quite a few things this week. On the discussion thread this week discussed about alternative assessment, WebQuest and PBL. In a sense, I felt that the three are related. While PBL can make learning more meaningful since it leads to learning by doing, the WebQuest carries within itself the possibilities of PBL since it ends in the learning of a particular learning item. It is in this context that I think alternative assessment comes in handy. Since PBL (or WebQuest) does not follow a traditional 'teaching' pattern, rubrics can come in handy to evaluate such tasks. This is not to say that traditional teaching should not use alternative assessment methods. They should all the more since it opens up possibilities of collaborative learning

It is in this context, I thought , that the articles 'Assessing Learning: Alternative Assessment" and Gaer's 'Less Teaching and More Learning' were interesting. Also looked at various WebQuests.
The most interesting part for me during the week was creating the rubric for writing research reports. Though we do use rubrics in the MA programme, they were not as detailed as the one I created for this course. I thought that the more detailed the rubric was, the more easy for us to evaluate. And since the individual profiles take care of a particular area, the students too find it easy to combine the different profiles in their writing. And of course, there is the collaborative aspect of it since the rubrics are shared with the students so the students know exactly what to expect if they want a particular grade.
Also thought of a technological solution to the problem of academic reading that I posted on Week 4. Thought of creating a website that could be linked to a blog and also integrating WebQuest so that my students can start reading research articles. I think it sounds a bit ambitious for now but hopefully in the coming weeks I will be able to prune it so that it becomes achievable for this course.
Busy week but interesting. Also did not help to have contracted a viral fever on Friday:) But looking forward to the next week.
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4 comments:

  1. NetiJuly 23, 2011 at 1:01 AM

    Dear Atanu! Yes, it was busy week, but so interesting. I also learn a lot through Web Quests and PBL method. I agree with you that if the rubric written with more details, it would be easier to assess students work. When we analyze what we did already for these weeks, we can tell that we learn so many about innovative teaching. The best, Natalia

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  2. CelesteJuly 24, 2011 at 4:34 AM

    Hi Atanu,

    I think your project will be great! I like challenges and I have already noticed you share the same feeling. So, I'm sure you will succeed! ;-)

    I hope you're feeling better now!

    Celeste

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  3. TomokoJuly 24, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    Hi Atanu,

    I agree with your statement that the more detailed the rubric was, the more easy for us to evaluate. Rubrics enable us to assess the students analytically, therefore, we can assess them with a certain consistency as opposed to a holistic assessment which we use our intuition (?).

    Tomoko

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  4. M. S. Xavier Pradheep SinghJuly 24, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    Hi Atanu,

    I too like your idea that the more detailed the rubric is, the more easy it is to evaluate. Your reflection is interesting. I too found that PBL, Webquest, and Rubrics are somewhat similar. Hope to learn a lot from you too...


    M. S. Xavier Pradheep Singh

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