Week 5: Learning about PBL, WebQuests, Alternative Assessment and Rubrics. Technology-enhanced change

Project-based learning

First I read about project-based instruction in “Less Teaching and More Learning” and really enjoyed getting information about different ways of helping students develop language skills while conducting a meaningful project while the teacher is just a facilitator, providing students with the necessary instructions and resources for them to do their project successfully.

The class discussion helped me reflect on the need for students to see value in the project and for teachers to give them a rationale. In that sense, it is very important for my Cultural Studies students to embark on a project on history with the idea that grasping the past will help them understand the present more fully.

WebQuests

In relation to the new kinds of learning opportunities and new tools for assessment the web provides, I found that, as inquiry-oriented activities, WebQuests offer an excellent pattern of project-based learning for my Cultural Studies class. Since they are most likely to be group activities, they would help students achieve the course goal of developing their collaborative skills.

Alternative assessment

In the article “Practical ideas on alternative assessment for ESL students,” I was happy to find good techniques for teachers to create meaningful and effective assessment experiences. One that would be particularly useful in my Cultural Studies class is the K-W-L chart (what I know/what I want to know/what I've learned) to begin and end a unit of study because it would help to keep students focused and interested during the unit and eventually give them a sense of accomplishment.

In contrast to traditional testing, alternative assessment procedures such as oral presentations help me evaluate my students on comprehension and thinking skills rather than on what they are just able to remember.

Rubrics

I came to know about the importance of letting students learn in advance what is expected from them in a given task when the first week in this course we were given the guidelines for discussions and rubrics. They are a kind of contract between Robert and the participants which facilitates our progress toward required standards. In the same way we could collaborate in the design of the course rubrics by adding suggestions, now I feel the need to let my students have their share in the design of assessment criteria for them to get involved in their learning process.

I created with rubistar, which is a fantastic tool, a rubric intended to be used with my Cultural Studies students for making a timeline, something they are required to do quite often. However, just like Robert, I still like the control of creating my own. So I created one for writing assignments with the help of the following website: http://www.mdk12.org/practices/support_success/hsa/critical_thinking/rubric.html which is as follows:

10-9 points: the response shows understanding of the content, question, and/or problem, is insightful, integrates knowledge, shows powerful evidence of critical thinking skills, is accurate and well supported, is entirely clear.
8-7 points: the response shows some understanding of the content, question, and/or problem, demonstrates some evidence of critical thinking skills, is accurate and supported, is mostly clear.
6-4 points: the response shows knowledge of the content, question, and/or problem, is acceptable with some key ideas, provides little support, is somewhat clear.
3-1 points: the response shows minimal knowledge of the content, question, and/or problem, provides no support, is unclear.
0 points: the response is completely incorrect or irrelevant, there is no response.

Technology-related change

Based on the need to motivate students to learn outside the regular classroom and to develop their ability for independent learning, I described a technology-related change. I thought the use of one blog for the whole class would give me the chance to have a better control of students' responses and participation since I have never tried to incorporate a technological component in my classes before.

I would design a class blog with a very simple and easy-to-follow layout as an online resource to review and reinforce class contents as independent work. I think most of my students would feel very motivated by a class blog because it would give them the opportunity to learn much more through varied activities as well as to practice their language skills by posting reflections on their own learning and progress.