The following ideas are taken from an assessment framework for creative learning produced by Vaughan Clark, an old friend and an ex Tallis teacher, who works at Eton. He is responsible for running a Saturday School focused on developing creative learning. These statements are therefore designed to support the self, peer and teacher assessment process for students on the course. They look better presented in a grid but I'm blogging this from my phone and I'm a bit limited in desk top publishing power. The skill levels increase gradually in sophistication beginning with basic competence and, in theory, concluding in advanced level creative learning attributes.
I wonder if these level descriptors might be useful for us at Tallis in finding ways to assess creative learning competencies? Might they help us identify, describe and communicate important features of creative learning? I wonder if we should try to create some kind of handy guide to creative learning for staff, students and parents? Could we work with a designer to make it really exciting and visually coherent? Maybe we could even collaborate with Vaughan and his colleagues at Eton in putting it together? What do you think?
* Movement from a rigid thinking approach to a more flexible approach
* Begins to generate a range of ideas and plays with their form
* Asks a range of questions about those ideas and forms and begins to challenge the conventions and structures behind them
* Risks asking a range of questions from a range of ideas that leads to significant analysis based upon the degree of success of the questions and statements in generating new meanings
* Problems are being resolved through a clear process of challenging questions that are based upon testing a range of possibilities, some of which may be unsuccessful, but which lead to a resolution
* A growing understanding of how to apply knowledge networks
* Begins to understand the core concepts within the subject domain and can apply questions to discover these
* Begins to use the core concepts within the subject domain (e.g. Physics) to seek to resolve the key problem
* Begins to develop an understanding of how to use technologies to resolve the problem by testing ideas
* Makes judgements that are becoming less dependent upon received knowledge
* Judgements about the value of ideas are becoming more independent
* A range of co-existing alternative ideas and interpretations have been considered
* An understanding of other factors that help to shape judgements, such as social and cultural contexts are beginning to be considered
* The final product is the result of clear independent judgements
* It shows a richness of texture of ideas which lead to the possibilities of analogies and metaphors being generated by the audience
* A range of connections and relationships of ideas/knowledge/understandings of meanings has been articulated clearly
* Progress in the degree of motivation displayed in resolving the problem
* An active role in attempting to generate meanings and understanding is evident.
* An understanding of the value of learning within a social community is understood and participated in
* A degree of control is sought over the shaping of ideas and relevance of questions, but also a willingness to experiment and explore ideas is increasingly evident
* Problems are being anticipated and questions are generated increasingly independently to lead to action and production
* The value of questions, ideas and resolutions is considered and their significance is considered in generating new meanings
* Evidence of engagement with learning communities beyond the studio room are evident, e.g. further, wider reading; parents, etc
* The success of the product is evaluated independently with increasing self-confidence
* Defining characteristics of the meaning of the product are coherently articulated using a rich vocabulary which demonstrates a developed understanding of the subject domain and the contexts in which that subject domain is interpreted
* The learner clearly demonstrates ownership of the product
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
1 comment:
I think one of the real challenges for subjects like Tallis Lab, but also for the school as a whole, is to find ways for demonstrating the progression and development of skills. We are quite familiar with the sorts of levels that subjects use to show how well students are doing, but we need to be a bit more creative to find an effective way of following the development of learning and thinking thinking skills. We need to experimenting with different methods of charting progression in a way that supports staff planning lessons, but that also supports students self-assessment and peer assessment. The key thing is that we end up with information that helps students understand how they can develop and improve as learners. In other words it's not just about the institution's need for data, but principally about equipping the students with the reflective skills and information to help them become more independent and effective learners. Skills surveys, learning diaries and self-assessment grids used in Tallis lab are beginning to give students the awareness and vocabulary to start to do this, and will continue to be an important part of the bigger picture, but I think working on something more detailed, coherent and carefully designed would be a great idea.
Soren
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