Developments in Training
New developments in teaching and training methods in the UK

By Jill Brown

Learning is NOT a spectator sport. However, for many learners, this is their experience and indeed their expectation. The traditional view of teachers as the ‘font of knowledge’ and learners as ‘empty vessels waiting to be filled’ must be confronted if we are to equip learners to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. With knowledge growing exponentially teachers must move away from the traditional transmission approaches to more challenging and effective methods. This shift in focus is not only on pedagogy but also on our view of the learner’s role and responsibility. Learners must become more active participants in the learning process and take greater responsibility for their own learning.

It is well known that teaching does not always bring about learning. In Northern Ireland and England programmes of professional development have been rolled out to support teachers in both the post-16 and school sectors to develop their practice and improve learning in an attempt to raise standards. The focus of many programmes has been to promote and embed assessment for learning methods and active learning strategies.

What is assessment for learning
Traditionally, assessment has been viewed as a process that measures whether learning has taken place or not. More recently there has been a move to consider how assessment might promote learning rather than just evaluate what learning has taken place. This new focus has given rise to the terms assessment of learning and assessment for learning. Assessment of learning continues to serve the purposes of grading and reporting at the end of a period of learning, but assessment for learning, as the name suggests, includes all those activities undertaken by both teacher and learner in the pursuit of improved learning. Assessment for learning, therefore, not only evaluates learning but also identifies the next steps that need to be taken for learning to be progressed.

The Assessment Reform Group (2002a) defined assessment for learning as: the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.

Why has Assessment for Learning become such a focus as a means of improving learning?
A review of research literature, carried out by Black and Wiliam was published in 1998. This review of some 250 studies provided evidence that significant gains in learning were achieved when teachers and learners adopted assessment for learning practices. Furthermore, the gain was even greater for lower-attaining learners. Throughout these studies the key characteristics that enhanced learning were:

• Sharing the learning criteria with the learners
  Learning criteria, both learning intentions and success criteria, should be shared with the learners, in a language that they understand. Teachers may employ various strategies to achieve this, for example, exploring a range of samples of completed work, identifying where success criteria have been met and what steps need to be taken to improve the work. In so doing, teachers will enable learners to recognise the quality they are aiming for, to assess their own learning against the learning criteria and to make improvements where necessary. Research evidence from Frederiksen and White (1997) confirms that learners score higher results when they know what counts as good work. They argue that low achievement may be partially attributed to learners not understanding the task set.
  
  
• Rich Questioning
  Questioning is an integral part of every lesson. Whether oral or written, questions may be used to assess learners’ knowledge, understanding and skills. This type of questioning is teacher led and should inform what the teacher needs to do next to move the learning forward. Alternatively, questions may be used to develop understanding. This type of questioning may be either teacher led or learner led. In order to develop understanding it is better to encourage higher-order, open questions that elicit a variety of answers, explanations and analysis rather than mere recall of factual information. Extending the average think-time of less than one second to three seconds allows learners to reflect on the question and to provide a more considered response. Incorrect answers must be treated with sensitivity and learners should be confident that their response will be valued as a learning opportunity regardless if it is correct or not.
  
  
• Effective Feedback and Marking
  Effective feedback, whether oral or written, should recognise the efforts of the learners. It should inform learners on the quality of their work and offer practical strategies on how to improve. In so doing the teacher enables the learner to ‘close the gap’ between where they are and the learning goal. Evidence from research highlights both the positive and negative impact that feedback can have on learning. Butler (1988) compared the impact on learners of receiving feedback through marks, marks and comments and comments only. She found that there was no improvement in learning for the learners who received feedback in the form of marks or marks and comments. However, there was a negative impact on the attitude of the lower achieving learners in these groups. Learners who received only comments improved their learning by 30% and all of the learners had a positive attitude to their work.
  
  
• Peer and Self Assessment
  If peer and self assessment is to improve learning it will involve much more than simply marking each others work. Learners will require direction and planned opportunities to reflect on the quality of their own work against explicit learning criteria. In so doing they will develop the skills necessary to evaluate the quality of their work and to make suggestions on how it might be improved. Teachers may encourage this self assessment by providing examples of work which are analysed by the class, identifying where they meet the learning criteria and where improvements could be made. Peer assessment can be developed through collaborative group work, giving learners the opportunity to discuss, analyse, justify and in turn, provide feedback to their peers. In this way, learners are challenged to express their thinking, identify possible misconceptions or errors and thereby learn from one another. Through peer and self assessment, learners are encouraged to take a more active role in their own learning and that of their peers.

What is active learning?
Active Learning, as the name suggests, is an approach to learning and teaching that engages the learners actively in their own learning and leads to deeper understanding. This is NOT about being physically active; rather the learners are cognitively active during the learning process. Learners must construct their own meanings as they make connections between new and existing knowledge and understanding. Carefully planned activities, including discussion with peers and the teacher, provoke critical thinking and reflection but also enable misconceptions to be identified and addressed. Interaction between learners is fostered through paired work or small group activities requiring the learners to justify their thinking and reasoning as they interpret, analyse and solve problems. The approach integrates assessment for learning principles within everyday lessons, providing valuable opportunities for feedback to both learners and teachers regarding where the learning is at and enabling the next steps in the learning process to be identified and planned. The continuous improvement of learning and teaching is a key priority for all educational and training organisations in an attempt to raise standards. In pursuit of this goal, policymakers and managers must not underestimate the importance of teachers continuing professional learning. All teachers, regardless of experience, need to be provided with opportunities to continually update and improve their practice in order to create learning environments where effective learning can take place.

— Jill Brown, Development Officer, LSDA Northern Ireland

To read in print format subscribe to the magazine Download Subscription Form