Hah. I made a pun. So punny.
Anyways, when I first started thinking about putting the entire course into perspective, one topic instantly came to mind: assessment. It seemed as though assessment came up each and every week, in one form or another, even if it wasn't the main topic of discussion. From the elementary grades to university mathematics and teacher education, the issue of assessment is always present. Many times, we want to forget about it, pretend that it does not exist. But at the end of the day, we have to evaluate our students in some way. How do we do this? How much is too much? Are we accurately representing what our students know? Are students' assessment scores an accurate representation of our work as teachers? How can we assess if we are focusing on problem solving in the classroom? How can we create assessments that are equitable?
Unfortunately, I don't know if there will ever be definitive answers to these questions. They have been long debated over the years, and I am almost sure that they will be debated for years to come. Assessment is a touchy topic for a lot of people; many have very fixed ideas of what assessment should or should not look like. At some point though, there needs to be balance. Just as with the reform movements, where you have groups of people on the completely opposite side wanting traditional drill and kill, there needs to be a happy medium. Yes, having students engage with mathematics at a meaningful level is important. Yes, having students be able to complete computations efficiently is important. One should not take precedence over the other. We should be encouraging our students to be flexible mathematical thinkers, who are good both computationally and conceptually. Assessment should be the same; a balance between concepts and procedures.
For my three burning questions, I have:
1) Jo Boaler speaks of "mathematics for all" in her work. What does "mathematical assessment for all" look like?
2) What role do graduate TAs play in undergraduate's learning of mathematics? What is expected of them? What could be done to help them succeed?
and for my own research
3) Is there a way to extend Ball and colleagues' theoretical construct of MKT at the elementary level to MKT at the secondary level?
Thank you, Vanessa! I was interested and even somewhat surprised at how often assessment came up in our readings and discussions. We live in neoliberal times when 'measurability' and 'accountability' might be given undue importance in all areas of life -- and yet there is still some importance to assessment of learning for students, teachers, parents and administrators. I agree with you that a balanced approach is much better than constant pendulum swings to the extremes!
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in asking Jo Boaler about her ideas about "mathematics assessment for all"! Wonder what she'd say?
Thanks for all your great contributions to the class, and have a very enjoyable summer!