Instructionally Embedded Assessment: Theory of Action for an Innovative System

Policy shifts in the United States are beginning to reduce the emphasis on using statewide assessment results primarily for accountability and teacher evaluation. Increasingly, there are calls for and interest in innovative and flexible assessments that shift the purposes of assessment and use of results toward instructional planning and student learning. Under the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority, some states are exploring options for replacing traditional large-scale summative assessments with innovative measures. However, many of these programs are still in early phases of planning and research and have not yet fully articulated how the innovative system achieves desired outcomes. This conceptual paper presents an argument in the form of a theory of action for a flexible and innovative assessment system already in operational use. The system replaces traditional summative assessments with large-scale through-year Instructionally Embedded assessments. We describe the components of the theory of action, detailing the theoretical model and supporting literature that illustrate how system design, delivery, and scoring contribute to the intended outcomes of teachers using assessment results to inform instruction and having higher expectations for student achievement, in addition to accountability uses. We share considerations for others developing innovative assessment systems to meet stakeholders’ needs.

Implementation of embedded assessment in maker classrooms: challenges and opportunities

Purpose As maker-centered learning grows rapidly in school environments, there is an urgent need for new forms of assessment. The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and implementation of tools to support embedded assessment of maker competencies within school-based maker programs and describes alternative assessment approaches to rubrics and portfolios. Design/methodology/approach This study used a design-based research (DBR) method, with researchers collaborating with US middle school teachers to iteratively design a set of tools that support implementation of embedded assessment. Based on teacher and student interviews, classroom observations, journal notes and post-implementation interviews, the authors report on the final phase of DBR, highlighting how teachers can implement embedded assessment in maker classrooms as well as the challenges that teachers face with assessment. Findings This study showed that embedded assessment can be implemented in a variety of ways, and that flexible and adaptable assessment tools can play a crucial role in supporting teachers in this process. Additionally, though teachers expressed a strong desire for student involvement in the assessment process, we observed minimal student agency during implementation. Further study is needed to investigate how establishing classroom culture and norms around assessment may enable students to fully participate in assessment processes. Originality/value Due to the dynamic and collaborative nature of maker-centered learning, teachers may find it difficult to provide on-the-fly feedback. By employing an embedded assessment approach, this study explored a new form of assessment that is flexible and adaptable, allowing teachers to formally plan ahead while also adjusting in the moment.

Not all evidence is created equal: assessment artifacts in maker education

Purpose When using embedded, student-centered assessment tools for maker education, understanding the characteristics of a body of evidence can help teachers guide the assessment process. This study aims to examine assessment artifacts from a makerspace program and present a set of qualities that emerged, which researchers and maker educators can use to evaluate the quality of evidence before interpreting it and making claims about student learning. Design/methodology/approach This study used the interpretive analysis approach to identify salient qualities in a body of evidence of maker learning. Data sources included student assessment artifacts, researchers’ analytic memos, notes on the coding and analysis process, background stories and field observations. Findings The study found that the assessment artifacts generated by students aligned with the maker-related target skills. A set of qualities was produced that can be used to describe the strength of a body of evidence and help determine whether it is appropriate to be used in the meaning making phase. Practical implications The qualities identified in this study can be directly incorporated into the embedded assessment toolkit to provide feedback on the strength of evidence for learning in makerspaces. Originality/value Assessment methods for maker education are nascent, and ways to describe the quality of a student-generated body of evidence have not yet been established. This study applies existing knowledge of embedded assessment and reflective practice toward the creation of a new way of assessing skills that are difficult to measure.

Embedded Assessment Tools for Maker Classrooms: A Design-Based Research Approach

Maker-centered learning in schools has grown rapidly in recent years. The existing system and structureof schooling calls for a new form of assessment that complements the pedagogical values of making while alsobalancing the creative making practices driven by a maker’s interest and curiosity. Current assessment approachesoften do not meet the needs in assessing the multifaceted learning and development that occur during the processof making and learning. This research paper reports on the design of embedded assessment tools that can beadapted within school-based maker programs to enable embedded assessment of maker competencies, anddescribes how maker assessment can move beyond rubrics and portfolios.

Principles of Embedded Assessment in School-Based Making

While there is growing interest among educators in bringing the maker movement into school environments, many schools struggle to closely integrate making into their existing core curriculum, mostly due to the difficulty in assessing learning in maker classrooms. Because of the unique nature of maker-centered learning as a pedagogy, conventional assessment methods often fall short. To address this issue, we conducted a study to design assessment in maker classrooms using a design-based research approach, working closely with middle school maker teachers and coaches. Applying the concept of embedded assessment that is commonly used in digital learning environments into in-person maker classrooms, we explored how assessment that captures diverse learning occur in the process of making. This paper reports on the four design principles of embedded assessment in school-based making that emerged from literature reviews as well as interviews and workshops with the partnering educators. By closely examining the contexts of maker classrooms, we discuss challenges and opportunities for assessment in maker classrooms that can help teachers approach assessment as activities that are seamlessly embedded in the classroom culture, norms, and activities that students are engaged in.

The effect of Mercedes model with embedded assessment strategy and technology on biology students’ learning outcomes in Lagos Nigeria.

Methods and strategies traditionally used in teaching science have been described by several researchers as being unsatisfactory and ineffective over many years. Hence, this study examined the effect of Mercedes Model with Embedded Assessment Strategy and Technology on Biology students’ learning outcomes. A pretest-post-test control group, quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Two purposively selected EDs were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Three senior secondary schools were randomly selected from each ED. Altogether, a total of six schools in the two selected EDs were involved in the study. Two intact classes (one science and another non-science) were randomly selected from each of the six schools making a total of twelve classes. In all 568 Senior Secondary Class I biology students formed the sample size. Five instruments were used to generate data for the study, namely, Mercedes Model with Embedded Assessment Strategy and Technology in Diffusion (M2EASTID), Mercedes Model with Embedded Assessment Strategy and Technology in Osmosis (M2EASTIO). Conventional Lesson Plan on Diffusion (COLPOD), Conventional Lesson Plan on Osmosis (COLPO) and Test on Students’ Learning Outcomes in Osmosis and Diffusion (TESLOOD). Four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, means, deviation and analysis of covariance. There was significant effect of treatment on students’ learning outcomes on selected biology concepts. Also, subject specialization has a significant effect on the dependent measures. Mercedes Model with Embedded Assessment Strategies and Technology therefore was effective and significantly improved students’ learning outcomes. Hence, it was recommended that biology teachers in senior secondary schools should adopt Mercedes Model with Embedded Assessment Strategy and Technology for teaching for understanding and application of biology concepts.