Abstract

Can the use of alternative assessment in a high school classroom help increase student learning? Over the course of the past year I was able to discover that the answer to this question is yes, it absolutely does increase student learning. A key problem teachers face everyday is how they can get a student to actually learn the material rather than just retain it long enough to complete an assignment or test. Over the past few years, this is something that I have really struggled with. Students have a difficult time recalling information a few weeks after a unit, let alone at the end of the semester for final exams. In my opinion, if someone has learned something they should be able to apply the information in a meaningful way. Traditional assessment does not measure this; there is nothing meaningful about multiple choice and fill in the blank. My research was conducted in my Ancient Western Civilization class. This is an elective course made up of juniors and seniors here at Muskego High School. I decided for each unit I would have my students use the information we discussed, and have them create an authentic form of assessment, where they would have to use the information in a creative meaningful way. Instead of filling out a test on Ancient Egypt, students had to create a newspaper that addressed various areas of Egyptian life, social structure, religion, government, and key figures and events. This allowed them to focus on areas that were of interest to them, complete tasks that they could succeed at: some would create political cartoons, some would organize, some would create advertisements, some would research, some would creatively write stories, etc. For each unit I progressed through, we did similar types of assessment. Sometimes I would allow my students to decide the type of project they would do, sometimes I would give them direction. Typically students would create very thorough projects, doing extra research on information that we did not cover in class. The end result was, the students learned the material. At the end of a unit students were able to discuss their topics, they brought up information and questions that I did not go over with them, and often they were able to relate the information from the present unit to information in previous units. This all showed me that my students were learning. They were not simply restating the information that I gave them, but instead were making connections, critically thinking, and doing research. At the end of the semester I had my students complete a traditional final exam, I gave them topics from each unit and they had to thoroughly explain them. For the most part they did very well on this short answer style exam. When I asked my sample group why that was, they all replied “I thought about my project and what we did/wrote in it, and it helped me remember.” In other words, they learned it! They were able to take the information, process it, and retain it. The use of traditional assessment may be easy for us as teachers to correct and administer; it may be easy for the students to finish and do well on, but it does not support actual learning. Authentic assessment causes the kids to actually use the information which results in their making connections and in retaining the information. In the long run, I have found authentic assessment to be a more enjoyable form of instruction both for my students and for me, while also producing the results that I want. My final exam shows that students are able to take the information they learned in authentic assessments and apply it to traditional assessments and succeed at a high level. In the “age of standardized tests” they are being better prepared to do well on these “high stakes” tests, which benefits both the student and their future education and the school district that has to rely on high test scores for everything from funding to enrollment.