EDE 101 Assessment 1 SP22013

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Task 2 Artefacts of Assessment

Artefact 1
This artefact was designed as a summative assessment for my year 4 English class that
consisted of twenty-six Thai children at a Thai primary school, of varying cognitive and English
ability. The assessment required the students to create a fictional story book with a maximum of
three stories. The finished products where designed to consolidate student understandings of
grammar, sentence structure, conventions and literary devices such as descriptive language,
imagery, etc. The project was inspired by a fifteen-minute fiction story time session at the end of
Fridays lesson. The students were so engaged by this activity, they started writing their own
stories to read; this inspired me to transform their rough story ideas into books that could be
published for the upcoming open-house day. To encourage active engagement from all students
the task was designed in consideration of these varying abilities.
The task was designed over a four-week period and stepped through the writing process;
brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. The task was designed as open-ended,
allowing the students to choose their own fictional topic: zombies, special agents, etc., construct
the narrative as complexly, or simply as they want, step-by-step within their own zones of
proximal development (Readman & Allen, 2013, p. 103). In line with Australian standard 5
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2011, 5), informal feedback was
given individually, and acted as formative assessment to keep them on-track and guide my
practice.
The finished products, once bound and illustrated, acted as portfolios where evidence of the level
of comprehension could be found in the text. A rubric that outlined criteria with differentiated
levels of quality, would have provided a clearer judgement on a students level of achievement,
and will be considered for future tasks. Additionally, and in line with AITSL standard 5.5, the
books acted as accurate records on which students can reflect on and track their personal
development over time, reinforcing how they have grown and changed as writers (Readman &
Allen, 2013, p. 110). The open-ended nature of the task was ideal for differentiation of instruction,
allowing me to customize the learning objectives to suit the needs of the student (Hall, 2009).
Retrospectively, I would have liked to use the two wish and a star activity after the drafting stage,
as descriptive feedback may have helped students generate ideas, they could not think of on
their own (Readman & Allen, 2013, p. 103).

EDE 101 Assessment 1 SP22013

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Sample artefacts from task 1.

EDE 101 Assessment 1 SP22013

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Artefact 2
The second assessment task aimed at preparing my year 3 Thai students for their mid-term
English exam. The task required the students to design their own questions about parts of
speech to be used for an in-class quiz. Since the students English and cognitive levels were
varied I designed the task in a way that utilized a diagnostic assessment to clarify learner levels,
so appropriate guidance and peer support could be organised. Artefacts generated by the task
were then used to test student understanding and formatively assess them, informing me of what
needed learning before the mid-term exam.
To meet the diverse needs of students; a premise that helps form the Australian curriculum
(Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2014), I used a traffic light
system to stimulate instant feedback which gave the students opportunity to self-assess, and
provided me with information on student understanding, and what degree of teacher assistance
would be needed next; 5.3 & 5.4 of the AITSL standards indicates this type of student evaluation
and assessment moderation as vital components of assessment (AITSL, 2011, 5.3 & 5.4). Once
the different levels of understanding were ascertained, peer support groups where red students
were grouped with green students to provide peer tutoring, leaving a manageable sized amber
group for me to assist.
Learning was recorded as students constructed their own questions about parts of speech.
Mentor students were instructed not to give ready-made questions to the students they assisted,
but help them arrive at their own questions on their level. This provided a varied mix of questions
that catered for differing levels. The questions were then read out and we paused and critiqued
them, rating their effectiveness and skill level; timely feedback is another AITSL Standard. This
valuable feedback was recorded mentally by me, and some of the students questions were
incorporated into the mid-term exam, embedding their learning into the summative assessment.
Sample questions

EDE 101 Assessment 1 SP22013

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Artefact 3
I have not used exit slips in my teaching practice as yet, but upon researching for this
assessment, they have appealed to me as an effective means of informal, formative assessment
that can be used for any learning area. They consist of written student responses on slips of
paper to teacher prompts or questions, provided at the end of a lesson to deliver student
feedback on the lesson content (WETA, 2015). The purpose of exit slips is to lead students to
reflect and share their misunderstandings, observations, rate understanding, and provide
feedback on teacher instruction (Education World, 2016). In accordance with Australian
professional standards, this task enriches a teachers assessment repertoire and provides timely
feedback; provides data to track student progress so teachers can modify their instruction
accordingly (AITSL, 2011).
The task is malleable enough to allow the needs of diverse learners through the use of targeted,
level-specific, teacher prompts, and the specific feedback these prompts provide. At the end of a
lesson the teacher writes questions such as: write one thing you learnt today, or I would like to
learn more about ________ ; the prompts can reiterate the learning process or students
understanding (WETA, 2015). To differentiate instruction for students with learning disabilities,
varying reading skills, or second language learners, the teacher can provide a variety of exit slips
and select which slips go to which student, depending on their learning requirement (WETA,
2015).
The nature of this task provides teachers with insightful glimpses into student progress,
misgivings, and needs, in the form of simple written statements from which teachers can address
standard 5.4 (AITSL), modifying their instruction to meet learners needs (Edutopia, 2013). This
feedback, aligning with standard 5.2 (AITSL) is factored into the instruction in the next days
lesson, or can be shared and discussed immediately as an end of lesson assessment.