Planning My Project - Activity 4

Creating an Assessment to Gauge Learner Needs - continued

-- minutes

• Step 1: Tapping into Prior Knowledge

• Step 2: Planning My Assessment
  
  
• Step 3: Creating My Assessment

Step 2: Planning My Assessment

Taking the time to create assessments before the project allows you to consider how you will gauge learner needs, check for understanding, conference with learners on their progress, and make project expectations known. Consider the type of assessment you might use to assess your learners' prior knowledge of concepts:

Learners bring a wide variety of experiences, abilities, and interests to any new topic. A thorough understanding of learners’ background knowledge and understanding helps teachers design instruction to take advantage of relevant experiences and address misconceptions and areas of weakness.

1. In small groups, discuss the following questions:
   • What kind of information do you need to gather from your learners to better
     understand their learning needs? How will you collect it?
   • How can your Focus Question be used for gauging learner needs?
   • In what ways can you gather information about your learners’ higher-order thinking and 21st Century skills related to this project?
   • How will you use the information you collect?
     
     
2. Think about how you might collect and use this kind of information. Possible methods include:
   • Questioning
   • Survey
   • Graphic Organizer
   • K-W-H-L
   • T-Chart
   • Brainstorming
   • Think-Pair-Share
   • Journal Write
   • Performance Task
     
     
3. Think through the content of your gauging learner needs assessment and the method to use.
   
   Note: You can use the table that is available in Module 2, Activity 4, Step 2: Planning My Assessment in your Notebook.
   

Step 3: Creating My Assessment

Using your planning ideas from the previous step, create an assessment to gauge learner needs. Consider how your learners might respond to the assessment to help you anticipate areas of weakness or misconceptions to address during the project. Use the Intel^® Help Guide if you need assistance in completing the task.

1. Use word processing software to create your document.
2. Save your document in the /assessment folder in your Portfolio folder.
3. Take on the perspective of learners in your classroom and anticipate the answers they might provide to the questions in your assessment. Write your answers as “sample learner responses” directly onto your assessment instrument.
4. Review your responses. Could you reword some questions to engage more learners? To gather more relevant information? To tap other knowledge you had not previously considered? Revise your questions if desired.
5. Use the Gauging Learner Needs Assessment checklist to review your assessment and revise your assessment, if necessary.
   
   

Top of page