Erin's Blog Post #3

One of the current problems I am facing with the instructional design project is that of formative and summative assessment of the design. I think because I do this on an everyday basis – I am constantly evaluating what I teach and how – and it’s hard to put a method to what I do just by instinct. As I’m working on the project, I know that it will take some rereading of chapter 12 in the text and possibly searching for other resources to help me understand these concepts better. At the same time, however, it was easy for me to connect to the section on learner evaluation. Many of the methods Brown and Green discussed in the chapter are things I have used in my classroom, including objective test questions, essay items, portfolios, and surveys. It depends on the concepts being taught and the method of teaching as to which type of assessment would be the best fit.

With the project, I had some difficulty with the task analysis at first, but once I found a few resources online, and charts, it became easier. I felt as though this section of the book could have used a little more explanation of exactly what you needed to do at each of the steps.

Most of the information in the other chapters (8-10) made a lot of sense to me and was familiar from prior education classes, particularly in my undergrad work. Every day, teachers write objectives on the board to tell the students what they will do that day. My goals usually come from the curriculum, then I break them down and rewrite them into objectives that will make sense to the students. Once I know my goals, I am able to create a sequence for instruction that will help students to meet the goals and choose the delivery method that will meet my students’ needs that day. The delivery method varies by the concepts that will be addressed that day, but can also vary between classes that are working on the same ideas.

In my first learning journal, Dr. Lohnes commented that I may be an “interpretivist” based on my thought that there is frequently no right answer when it comes to discussing a story in language arts. I believe that may be true, but I also think that I am moving more toward the constructivist side of things. I see the value in constructivist teaching and that it also keeps kids more engaged when they can choose activities, or ways to do an activity, to facilitate their own learning. When I teach persuasive essays to the students, this is something many of them want to write about – choice.