Isaac Cotnoir

MUED A Prof. Choice

Duke Assessment Summary

Duke starts off the chapter by explaining the significance of assessment in teaching. He

states that normally in literature about teaching, assessment is at the end of the book, but he

argues that it should be near the beginning because assessment should be thought about in the

planning phase of a lesson. He also makes a point to separate assessment from feedback and

grading because these things are the forms of conveying the results of assessments. He states

that assessment is “finding out” and feedback and grading are “communicating what you’ve

found out”. He rather describes assessment as a process of data collection to see whether your

students have learned what you’ve intended to teach them or not.

Duke says that there are 3 things that we are paying attention to when we are

unconsciously “assessing”: Whether our students understand what we’re talking about, if they

can do what we ask of them, and if they are interested enough to care one way or the other.

There are some teachers that are more aware of this type of assessment than others however.

If teachers think of assessment as an ongoing part of teaching, that then changes things about

how instruction is delivered and then allows students more opportunity to understand exactly

what is being taught.

One of the most important points that Duke makes, in my opinion, is that the greatest

problem with most current assessments is that they are nothing like the daily activities of a

classroom and of life. The issue with this, is that students see assessments as the main thing

that they are working towards. In other words, many students are “studying for the test”. In
order for this to change and for students to get more out of their classroom learning

experience, the way that testing and assessment is approached needs to be altered.

Isaac Cotnoir

MUED A Prof. Choice

Duke Feedback Summary

Duke begins this chapter by saying that feedback is by far the most misunderstood

aspect of teaching because of the plethora of information there has written about it through

the years. He says that discipline was a major focus in the past and behavior was a main focus.

He also states that feedback is not merely just something that teachers give to students in the

traditional sense.

The next section of the chapter is titled “Feedback from a Broad Perspective”. He then

gives a definition: “feedback is any stimulus occurring coincident with or subsequent to a given

behavior that a learner associates with the behavior”. Some examples of this type of behavior

that results from feedback is that we learn to breathe deeply before we sing, smile at people

when we pass them, learning to pay our bills on time, etc. Duke states that the associations

between feedback and behavior can function in different ways. For example, if a teacher tells a

student that their answer is correct, that is feedback. If a teacher asks a question aloud in a

class and there are students that raise their hands, that is feedback to the teacher. There are
then many other examples of this type of feedback listed, and then the most important phrase

is stated; “feedback can come from almost anywhere”. The second important point about

feedback that Duke makes is that the function of feedback is independent from its intent,

stating that if a child were to hypothetically burn their hand on a stove, the intent of the stove

is to not make the child learn but the child still learns either way. The third important point

that Duke makes is that given feedback may function differently for different types of learners

in different places. For example, certain feedback from teachers about the way a child is

playing an instrument may cause that child to be more driven to learn that instrument.

Another child who receives the same feedback may be driven to quit playing that instrument

altogether.

With regards to the specifics of teaching, feedback can come in two forms: information,

and motivation. These types of feedback are there specifically to tell students whether their

work is accurate and to motivate a certain type of behavior from then on. If a teacher grades a

student’s test, the teacher is doing that with the understanding that this student will then

gather the information they need to succeed the next time. Duke also has a section about the

misunderstandings about positive vs. negative feedback, that positive feedback is inherently

good and negative feedback is inherently bad and how these notions are in no way true. Duke

then goes into what the teacher’s role is in terms of feedback. Novice teachers are more likely

to give less effective feedback than more experienced teachers who know how to give feedback

that is effective and helps the students in the best possible way. He also states that while it is

common belief that more positive feedback be given than negative feedback, that is actually
not true and should not necessarily be held as such. It is just a matter of giving the correct type

of negative feedback.