Reading Test 4 & 5

The first question is the Application Level of Bloom's Taxonomy which refers to the ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations. The question cues in this level are such as modify, solve, explain and change.

The second question is the Synthesis Level of Bloom's Taxonomy which focus on the creativity of the students which enable them to form new patterns. The question cues in this level are such as create, construct, plan, and role-play.

Reading Text 3

This is an example of  Analysis Level of Bloom's Taxonomy which requires the readers to understand both the content and the structural form of the material in order to examine or analyse the text given. The question cues in this level are such as analyse, examine, compare, and contrast.

Reading Test 2

Here is another example of Knowledge level of Bloom's Taxonomy:

Reading Test 1

This is the Knowledge level of Bloom's Taxonomy, which is level 1. In this level, learners can answer the questions by remembering of previously learned material. The question cues are such as: list, define, tell, label, etc.

Holistic vs Analytic Scoring

After reading Nahla Bacha's journal "What can analytic versus holistic essay scoring tell us?", ever wonder which do i prefer?

Although both holistic and analytic marking are important, I prefer analytic assessment as the teachers only choose to mark on selected aspects of a writing task. There are a few aspects that teachers see in marking an essay, for instance the idea, the flow of the story, the word choice, and the grammar.  Students are able to learn one step at a time according to the teachers’ selected marking aspects or specific criteria. Teachers are able to assess the students and get hold on each student’s strength and weakness in writing and thus help them to improve on each aspect. Despite the fact that it is more time-consuming than the holistic marking, analytic marking can help students to realize which criteria they are weak in and thus improve it.

After reading Rebecca S. Anderson's Article~

3 things I like about Anderson's Article:

1.       She clearly tells the reader the reasons she feels the need to shift from traditional assessment to alternative assessment. We agree that each learner has his or her own learning styles, and that applies on assessment strategies whereby the teachers need to see that not every student can fully write down what they have learned on a piece of paper. Some of them can perform better with hands-on. Alternative assessment can help these students to fully show what they know and have learned.

2.       I like how she made a clear picture of the comparison of philosophical beliefs and theoretical assumptions of traditional and alternative assessment. This mind-map helps a visual learner like me to read comfortably because the journal is not just full of words. Moreover, the mind-map clearly shows the difference between traditional and alternative assessment.

3.       The rubrics ease the teachers to grade the students’ work. It is a guideline for the teachers as well as for the students. Students can use the rubrics as a guideline to improve their writing skills.





And, this is my reaction to the article:

      

      In my opinion, there is indeed a need and a must to shift from traditional assessment to alternative assessment. Every student has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some can easily write their thoughts on a piece of paper and every reader can easily understand what he or she wants to convey. Some understand how a thing works but they just could not explain it well on a piece of paper. This has caused them to get low grades. What they need is hands-on test, such as wood-carving, designing and baking. Teachers need to see that every student has different potentials in different fields. If we were to assess them using the same measurement, it would not be fair to them. 

My thoughts on Comprehensive Assessment Youtube Video

The video reminded me of the days in my primary and secondary schools where the teachers would love to give us tests/quizzes/ monthly exams. We were trained to be exam-oriented. Because of that, we were always pressured to be prepared for those exams. Furthermore, most teachers focused on the products rather than the progresses of our learning. What they wanted were we producing grade-A answers and not focusing on what we have learned throughout the whole teaching and learning process.  

This is why i think PBS is better in assessing the students’ abilities and performance as it needs students to apply what they have learnt on hands-on activities. Students have to understand that teachers cannot spoon-feed them all the time. Thus, they have to learn to do the project by themselves. The teachers are there to guide and facilitate them. I’m not saying that traditional testing brings no good. If only both traditional testing and PBS can complement each other, it would be better, for the sake of our new generations.