The Monday Evening Post: Assessment

I love coming home from class. There is something about Kristin that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and that everything is going to be great. I went to class with circus music in the back of my head, wondering how in the world I am going to be able to do this?! And came out with circus music still in my head, but a more settled state of mind.

In class we spent most of the time discussing the two different types of assessment. (After watching some awesome screencasts - my peers are rock). So, in order to keep this straight in my mind, I'm going to do some summing up. Please feel free to comment if something seems off or incomplete, or if it was a good overall summary.

There is the formative assessment which is what you do as you go along in instruction. This assessment allows for feedback from the librarian. We discussed how this can be done in several ways and there are certain tools useful for understanding prior knowledge/experience people are coming in with (i.e. Human Thermometer or Human Continuum). During instruction you can create an environment that allows for people to gain this feedback (i.e. Signal Flags, Work in Pairs, Peer Feedback, Turn and Talk).

Then there is the summative assessment which happens after the instruction usually in an evaluation form. This helps to evaluate what and how well the learners learned. It also can tease out distractions like temperature, uncomfortable seating (etc.) that may help in the future for selecting room, or receiving funding for better chairs.

One thing I really took away from this class, was not only practical ideas of how to implement these assessments and how to ask good questions, but also how to constructively use feedback and handling feedback. You have to be honest with yourself, and honest with the questions you are asking. I also realized that I hope I will be able to work in a library that serves a small community. As we discussed being able to create an environment that allows for cultural vulnerability, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I want to be able to go to work, and know a lot the users, in hopes they can feel comfortable coming to me and I to them, and saying - I don't know exactly but let's learn together. That would be awesome.