Diego Martínez Prof: Gabriela Marcenaro 4th B Inglés – Didactics III

PART 1

The cartoon presents a teacher who believes that a fair test is the one which is the same
for all the students. This would be correct if all his students were the same, that is, all of
them had the same characteristics. This is an impossible scenario, since we are all
different, with different needs, different skills, and more important in learning, we have
different and use different strategies in order to get new information.

In order to achieve a good assessment for all the students, first teachers need to know
all their students. In that way, they can provide tests which reflect what the students know
and what they should practice more. Because of that, a good assessment should follow
some basic principles.

One of the principles that an assessment should consider is validity. This principle refers
to assess what it is supposed to assess. That is to say, teachers should focus on what
they have already taught, and on what the students should know. Going back to the
cartoon, the teacher cannot assess a fish by his ability to climb a tree. Not only because
it is not fair, but also because it is something impossible for him, and the teacher should
know that if he would know his student’s characteristics. It is of paramount importance
that teachers know their students’ characteristics. An assessment taking into account the
principle of validity should evaluate what it is appropriate to evaluate, using all the data
provided during the previous lessons.

Another principle that a good assessment should follow is authenticity, and it has to do
with how the students would use the knowledge showed in the test, in the real world. This
means that the test should provide a context where the students feel that they are in a
situation where they could be in their daily lives. Elephants never climb trees, not only
because they cannot do it, but because they do not need it. Students must know why is
it that they need what the teacher teaches. Authenticity refers to the needs of the students
in the real world. Teachers do not assess students only to know how they do in a
classroom, but outside of it.

The wash-back effect deals with the influence of the test on teaching and learning
processes. That is to say, any test can influence in a good or in a bad way those
Diego Martínez Prof: Gabriela Marcenaro 4th B Inglés – Didactics III

processes. Of course, a good test should have a positive influence, especially on the
students. Meaning that they cannot feel frustrated, neither before nor after the test. If a
student feels that he cannot do what he was asked to do, it means that something wrong
happened during the learning process. Moreover, this could lead to a negative attitude
from the students for the next lessons. He could block himself and stop having a good
rapport for his teacher and his learning. Referring to the cartoon, the monkey would have
a positive attitude after the test, since climbing a tree is easy for him. On the other hand,
the penguin would feel frustrated after the test, because it is something impossible for
him, and also not authentic because he do not do that in his daily life.

All in all, the teacher in the cartoon considers, wrongly, that the test he provides is fair,
since it does not follow the previous principles. A fair assessment, to my mind, would take
into account what the animals are supposed to do in their daily lives, and also their
different abilities. For example, the bird should be assessed for his ability to fly, the
penguin and the fish for their abilities to swim, etc. Meaning that the assessment should
follow the principles of validity (assess what it is supposed to assess), authenticity (show
the relation between the test and the students’ real world) and wash-back effect (the test’s
influence on the learning process should be positive for the students).
Diego Martínez Prof: Gabriela Marcenaro 4th B Inglés – Didactics III

PART 2

3) Prepare a rubric to assess the students´ oral performance of a project

presentation.

CATEGORY 3 2 1
Holds the attention of all the Displays minimal No eye contact and he
Eye contact audience with direct eye eye contact and look is all the time looking at
contact, seldom look at the at his notes his notes
notes constantly.
Movements fluid during all Moderate movement No movement or
Body the presentation, helping the and not many descriptive gestures
Language listeners to understand the descriptive gestures
topic
Demonstrates full Answers a few The student does not
knowledge of the topic, questions and the have the information
Subject explaining all that he was student is needed for the
knowledge supposed to explain uncomfortable with presentation and is
answering the questions of the information unable to answer
the listeners questions about the
topic
The presentation has an The audience has The audience cannot
interesting sequence and is problems to follow follow the presentation
easy to follow the presentation due because is bad
Organization to the fact that is not organised with no
very well organized sequence of
information.
Diego Martínez Prof: Gabriela Marcenaro 4th B Inglés – Didactics III

4) Read the following student’s entry and write an answer so you show your
experience as a learner and as novel teacher.

- I hate tests, every time I have a test I feel I know nothing…I dream with a
world without tests!!!! Tomorrow I have one…

After reading the student’s entry, I believe that his teacher provided tests that do not follow
the principles of authenticity and wash-back effect. To my mind, the student could feel
that he does not know nothing because the test assesses something that he never
learned before, or it was not supposed to assess. If the student feels frustrated every time
that he faces a test, it means that the teacher is not giving him the possibility to show
what he knows. Maybe the teacher provides tests which do not present aspects of the
student’s daily life, therefore, he does not know why he needs what the teacher have
taught.

As a student, I like to show what I know in all the tests, and I also hate when the teacher
asks something that I was not supposed to know, or he never taught in the previous
lessons. I take my experience as example, everytime I create a test for my students. In
that way, I try to assess what my students studied before, using information from the
lessons taught before. I try to create a good atmosphere in every test, so the students
can show what they know in a good way.

To sum up, it is important that the student feels well every time that he faces a test, and
the role of the teacher and his capacity to create tests which involve the principles referred
in the PART 1 is crucial. It is important that the student can express all that he knows
freely in a test.
Diego Martínez Prof: Gabriela Marcenaro 4th B Inglés – Didactics III

6) Write your opinion. “Behaviour and attitude should be taken into account and be
part of the student’s grade.”

In my opinion, behaviour and attitude for the course is crucial. Because of that, they
should be taken into account and be part of the student’s grade. This means that a good
attitude in class helps in the learning process. I believe that if a student behave properly
in all the classes, meaning, he tries to understand, asks questions, does homeworks,
even though he has problems with the target language, it is crucial, in order not to frustrate
him, to take all that into account when the teacher puts a grade on him.

A good attitude for the course means that he is willing to learn, and to get better. This is
the first step in every learning process, and it is not very common in teenagers. They need
to be told about the importance of learning (in any subject), and having a good behaviour
and attitude toward the course is beneficial for him and the teacher.

I think that if a teacher does not take into account the students’ behaviour and attitude,
he is conveying that it does not matter what the students think about their learning,
because the teacher only grades if the students know or do not know the topic. Teachers
not only teach, but they also educate teenagers. If they do not grade behaviour and
attitudes, I believe that they are missing a big aspect of the education of their students.