Assessment is Intended to Aid Learning

When I was in internship, as many teachers do, I gave my students an assignment to gauge their understanding and knowledge of a content area. I would look over the assignments, see where my students' strengths and weaknesses were so I knew where I needed to go next. Sometimes it meant that I had to reteach a concept, or it meant that I could move on and possibly sail through the next few concepts, but I always let my students' understanding direct my teaching.

Now I am back in university and I am finding that not all teachers think this way, and it could just be university professors, but many of my professors have been teachers in the past. I have had assignments given out that state you need to talk about A, not B, even though they are similar, and if you talk about B you will get a zero on the assignment. Now if I talk about B, thinking that I am on the right track and I get a zero should that not be a flag that concept A hasn't been taught effectively. In an elementary school yes, but when I am paying big bucks for my education, no.

When I would mark an assignment in internship I would give it back to my students before I expected a similar assignment to come in. This would be to ensure that the students knew where their mistakes were and so they could fix them. Again within my classes I am finding that this is not the same. We are expected to do journals in many of my classes. We have handed in a few journals and more are due this week, however, I had to bug my professor to get my mark in order to ensure that I am fixing my mistakes. I would not expect my students to do this and yet I am expected to do this when I am paying big bucks for my education. What a professor thinks is a good mark may not mean I think it is a good mark, which means I deserve to have my marks back before I have to hand in a similar assignment.

I think that by knowing how you did on a previous assignment, you know what you need clarification on, what your strengths and weaknesses are and where you need to change and grow. I believe that is why we should be handing in assignments. If a teacher wants to get a final reading on where your knowledge lies, that is where tests come in, but notice must be given. I find it frustrating that even though we are in university we are not being taught like we are expected to teach. We need examples to learn from in order to run effective classrooms. From many of my experiences, I am learning what not to do in my classroom in order to run an efficient and growing classroom.

I am not saying that university students should be treated like elementary students, but some consideration is still needed. Growth and change cannot happen unless you are advised of where you need to grow. Why do you think big companies send out surveys and ask their customers' opinions? It is so they can grow. Feedback is necessary and when it comes to spending a lot of money on education, I would like to have the feedback that I need to ensure that I am getting the most out of my education and can be an effective teacher when I convocate in two months.