Faculty Train in Formative Assessment

Recently, Dr. Catherine McGeehan, Professor of Education at Kutztown University, came to GA to help us explore the topic of flexible assessment and learning. Her classroom observations earlier in the fall, her discussions with teacher focus groups, and her analysis of the Needs Assessment completed by all faculty members informed her presentations.

All good teaching begins with assessment, and Dr. McGeehan’s presentations focused specifically on the benefits of using formative assessment in the learning process. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

Effective and successful teaching requires us to meet students where they are in all aspects of their development and provide a variety of strategies to meet the varied needs of each child. How can we best challenge and support individual students, regardless of their learning preferences, pace of learning, and intellectual readiness?  Teachers, skilled in the variety of kinds of assessment that provide accurate information about what students know and don’t yet know, are primed to be able to reach and teach their students most effectively.

For years the idea that each person possessed a distinct learning style served as basis for individualizing instruction.  In the past several years the validity of that concept has been questioned, and the following TED Talk and article on learning address the “myth” of learning styles.  The article on retrieval practice provides more food for thought.  Definitely something to think about and discuss with colleagues.  Enjoy!