Assessment360: A Promising Assessment Technique for Preservice Teacher Education
Source: The Teacher Educator, 50:288–304, 2015
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
The present study describes an assessment technique, named Assessment360, which can be implemented during coursework to prepare future teachers to be reflective practitioners.
The study explores students’ perceptions of Assessment360.
Methods
The participants were thirty-one students, 12 male and 19 female.
They enrolled to undergraduate educational psychology course for preservice teacher education students at a large public university in the Northeast United States.
During the Assessment360, the students reflect on the content of a quiz individually and collaboratively in order to develop a deeper and more integrated understanding of the material. The participants engaged in Assessment360 three times over the duration of the course and were assigned to new collaborative groups for each iteration.
The participants completed an open-ended questionnaire at the conclusion of the third iteration of participating in Assessment360.
Discussion
The findings suggested that students indicated Assessment360 potentially encouraged reflection, collaboration, and feedback.
The participants indicated that participating in Assessment360 encouraged peer collaboration. During collaboration, the participants can act as instructional resources to one another, sharing knowledge and problem-solving processes by explaining and providing accompanying justification for ideas.
Finally, the participants felt that they received timely and specific feedback from participating in Assessment360.
The authors conclude that the participants’ perceptions of these techniques were positive and suggested that Assessment360 encouraged them to reflect individually and collaboratively on course content, to work collaboratively with their peers, and resulted in immediate feedback on their performance.