Assessment is the practice of gathering reliable evidence on student learning in relation to the syllabus outcomes. This information is used to make a judgement on a student’s level of understanding and development. When used effectively, assessment can improve the success of students by providing consistent feedback to help shape future teaching and learning (Churchill et al., 2019). The three categories of assessment each play different roles in extending learning. In particular, assessment as learning involves students actively assessing their own understanding throughout the learning process (Tomlinson, 2008). This type of assessment requires students to ask questions and participate in a range of strategies to determine their level of understanding and ability (Sambell et al., 2016).
By utilising my understanding of Assessment as learning, I am able to incorporate activities which encourage inquisitive learners and drive students to take responsibility of their learning, through a combination of self-reflection, self-assessment and peer assessment. Furthermore, I planned an activity within an Aboriginal poetry unit of work for year 9 English, which provides students with an opportunity to engage in this combination of activities using Hattie’s Feed Up, Feed Back, Feed Forward methodology (Hattie, 2007). The worksheet can be viewed below in figures 1 and 2.
Students are required to respond to the following question “How do composers use literacy techniques to create meaning?”, structuring their answer as a PEEL paragraph. The first stage of the activity required students to “Feed Up” and consider the learning intentions and success criteria before writing their response. Students are then required to swap with a peer, offering constructive feedback using a series of questions as prompts. Finally, students are returned their papers to complete stages “Feed Back” and “Feed Forward”. In these steps, students self-reflect on their progress, asking themselves, “what does the evidence tell me?”. They also ask themselves “where to next?” and consider the strategies they must implement for improvement and to better achieve the success criteria. I believe the proposed activity would assist me in achieving standards 5.1 and 5.2 as it both demonstrates an “understanding of assessment strategies” and creates an opportunity for timely, purpose driven feedback (AITSL, 2018).
Reflecting on my activity, I believe it could be further improved by the implementation of a more explicit rubric system to combat the potential subjectivity of peer assessment (Gurbanov, 2016). By moving from the more generalised star system to explicit questioning, for example, “Has the student identified a technique?” and “Is the quote integrated into a sentence?”. I believe these “yes or no” style of questions will more effectively maximise objectivity, when peer assessing. Similarly, I feel that in supplying an example of a marked exemplar I would be assisted in further achieving standard 5.3 in regard to assessment moderation (AITSL, 2018). I feel that this would also further enhance the clarity of the activity and support students in developing the skills of peer/self-analysis (Gurbanov, 2016).
Figure 1 
Figure 2
Citations
Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards
Churchill, S., Godinho, S., Johnson, N. F.; Keddie, A., Letts, W.; Lowe, K.; Mackay, J.; McGill, M.; Moss, J.; Nagel, M.; Shaw, K.; Vick, M. (2018). Teaching: Making a difference (4th ed.). Milton, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.
Grubanov, E. (2016) The Challenge of Grading in Self and Peer-Assessment. Journal of Education in Black Sea Region, 1(2).
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487
Sambell, Kay (2016) Assessment and feedback in higher education: considerable room for improvement? Student Engagement in Higher Education, 1 (1).
Tomlinson, C. A. (2008). Learning to Love Assessment. Educational Leadership, 65, 8 – 13.
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