Assessment for learning

I enjoy looking at data which I gather after a diagnostic task. It reveals so much about the different ways students think. This data which I am about to show you, reveals the misconceptions that my students still have. Some are baffling, while others indicate various levels of understanding. I am still trying to figure out how the students got certain answers! I am also putting to use what I learnt from a course at Stanford University, where Professor Jo Boaler emphasizes the power of mistakes. The most powerful thing a teacher can do is to teach students how to embrace mistakes and use them as stepping stones for learning rather than cringe when they make one! My next lesson is going to be an exciting one. The students will be analyzing each others mistakes and trying to pinpoint misconception. This will be followed by a metacognitive activity where they will reflect on the whole process of analyzing mistakes. I will post their reflections later on.

The Diagnostic Task

Rubric Problem Solving

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Generalization-Designing Your Lessons for Conceptual Understanding (Part 3)

This post is the third of our blog post series on how to design lessons for conceptual understanding. Part 1 here Part 2 here Strategy 3 : Generalizations You may have come across Lynn Erickson's diagram on the structure of knowledge. In my IB workshop's I always like to present the avocado model alongside this diagram when I am talking about facts. The intention of inquiry-based teaching and conceptually-driven understanding (or Concept-based inquiry- whatever terminology suits your fancy) is to enable students to make generalizations. In other words, can they transfer their learning to a new context because they have understood what they learnt. In order to make generalizations, we need to first plan lessons that help students acquire facts/topics that are interesting and worth knowing. Bringing in local and global issues that are relevant to the topic help students as they begin to compare the topics and see emerging patterns. Remember, facts and concepts have a syn...

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Concepts-In-Use: Designing your lessons for Conceptual Understanding (Part 6)

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