WHERETO/GRASPS/TASKS

Multiple Methods of Assessment

W	How will you help students to know WHERE they are headed and WHY – e. g., major assignments, performance tasks, & standards to be addressed and criteria by which work will be judged? How will you know WHERE they are coming from?
H	How will you HOOK and HOLD students through engaging and thought-provoking experiences [issues, oddities, problems, challenges] that point toward big ideas, essential questions, and performance tasks?
E	What learning experiences will ENGAGE students in EXPLORING the big ideas and essential questions? What instruction is needed to EQUIP students for the final performance[s]?
R	How will you cause students to REFLECT & RETHINK to dig deeper into the core ideas? How will you guide students in REVISING & REFINING their work based on feedback and self-assessment? REHEARSING for their final performance?
E	How will students EXHIBIT their understanding through final performances and products? How will you guide them in self-EVALUATION to identify the strengths/weaknesses in their work and set future goals?
T	How will the work be TAILORED to individual needs, interests, brain dominances, modes of learning, styles, and intelligences?
O	How will the work be ORGANIZED for maximal engagement and effectiveness? [sequence, integration, horizontal & vertical articulation, continuity, etc]

G	GOAL: What is the GOAL in the scenario? What is the task – overall? [develop a presentation, create a product, illustrate a process, perform a complex act]
R	ROLE: What is the ROLE you are to take? [expert, instructor, student, apprentice, worker, member of the public]
A	AUDIENCE: Who is your AUDIENCE? Who will evaluate your performance or product? [instructor, self, peers, experts, public]
S	SITUATION: What is your SITUATION? What is the context in which you will perform or produce? What is the need; the place; the requirement; where is it to happen; what are the environmental conditions, etc.?
P	PERFORMANCE/PRODUCT/PROCESS: What is the PERFORMANCE CHALLENGE? What are you to do or create that will be judged as evidence of successful completion of the intended outcome? [a class presentation, a model, a poster, a term paper, a lab demonstration, troubleshooting & repair]
S	STANDARDS of PERFORMANCE: By what CRITERIA / STANDARDS / INDICATORS OF SUCCESS will the performance/product/process be judged? What expectations must it meet? What will be the indicators of success? [rubric, exemplars, key, checklist, rating scale, etc.]

Planning for Learning Tasks B 8 Questions

1. WHO? invites a profile of the participants and number expected. A profile implies that the facilitator needs to find out as much as possible about the participants, prior to the learning task, including the type and level of prior knowledge they may bring to the task.

2. WHY? tells one about the situation that calls for or has produced the need for the learning task. AThe participants needY.@

3. WHAT? determines the content of the learning task: the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be developed or facilitated.

4. HOW? produces the structure for the learning task or program and the materials to be used.

5. WHEN? established the time frame for the task.

6. WHERE? determines the site for the learning task and the opportunities it affords for various types of learning.

7. WHAT FOR? determines what will be the achievement-oriented outcomes for the learning task. Achievement outcomes are stated in the form: ABy the end of the learning tasks, learners will have toY.@ Verbs are used that can be quantified, verified, and completed B and tell what learners will be able to do by the end of the session.

8. WHAT EFFECTS? determines what effects you expect the learning task to generate: learning B knowledge & skills acquired; transfer B capacity to use this learning in new situations beyond the task; impact B measurable changes in the organization as a result of new learning; transformation B birth of a new conceptual framework and orientation to the world.

The Four Learning Tasks:

Induction – connecting with past experience

Input – new information, skills

Implementation – practice of new input so as to learn it

Integration – incorporation of new input into your personal or professional life

Four Learning Tasks

Learning Tasks are open questions put to a small group who have all the resources they need to respond.

Inductive Task: Invites learners to clarify where they are, at present, in terms of new content, where they begin their study, and what their present conception of the topic includes. It begins with the lives and experiences of the learners. It sets the stage for learning by sharpening perception. It tells the learner what s/he has to learn as well as find out what s/he perceives s/he already knows. It is either a rude awakening or a corroborating experience. Then the dialogue begins. It may be a warm-up activity. Content of learners’ perceptions is the substance of the task. It aims to connect new knowing with former learning, and prior knowledge with new content. It helps self-motivate for new learning.

Input Task: Invites the learners to grapple directly with new content/tasks. The new content is presented, the challenge is set, and the gauntlet is thrown. It involves presenting substantive concepts, data, skill sets, attitudes for examination, comparison, reflection, practice, editing, rearranging, reconstructing. This is done within the frame of a learning task. New material is met head on. It is presented as an integral part of the learning task, for learners to work over, struggle with, contest, and usually recreate to fit their context. Constructed knowledge is the result. This involves dialogue; deep understanding; the thought characteristic of a skilled practitioner in the field, and action from reflection, not memory.

Implementation Task: It invites the learner to use the new KSAs in the learning environment, immediately, implementing them in the workshop, class, or session, in a safe environment. This is done to get feedback on the learners’ interpretation as well as practice the behaviour. Offer practice and reinforcement. Let learners know what they know.

Integration Task: Learners are invited to apply what they have learned to their life and work. This may be done through a projection task inviting the learners to imagine what integration of such would accomplish in their workplace or life. It may involve sending a report later for scrutiny by supervisor or instructor. These tasks examine transfer, the use of such in their workplace or life. Offering feedback on such ensures that the task gets accomplished and reinforces it at the same time. It is an ongoing opportunity for assessment, without being a testing task.