UbD Chapter 5: Reflections

This chapter describes three important principles of good assessment practices. First is: photo albums vs snapshots. This means that to really assess what the student knows you need to look at multiple forms of assessment over time rather than the usual test at the end

Second is: match the measures with the goals. This is talking about crafting your assessments so that they provide the kind of information that addresses your stated goals. The different kinds of knowledge are declarative, procedural, and dispositions. This chapter also introduced the concept of GRASPS.

The third principle is: form follows function. It talks about different times to assess students and the various uses of these assessments. They include Pre-assessment/ Diagnostic at the beginning to assess what they already know, Summative/ Evaluative to assess their final learning, and Formative that assesses progress along the way. Of the three the most important is the formative because it allows you to tailor your teaching to the needs of the students.

This chapter also talked about the importance of offering appropriate choices of assessment and giving useful feedback to the student and the importance of the student using self- assessment and reflection to increase their learning.

I really liked this chapter because it helped me understand how assessment works and how it fits into my goals. Knowing how to properly assess students properly is the difference between a mediocre teacher and a great one.