Artifact: Assessment Rubric
The assessment rubric was used to evaluate students when their web quest about Alabama’s Endangered Species was completed. The rubric was posted in the web quest and the students used it as checklist to make sure they were not leaving out any part of the presentation they were developing as they worked through this project. This assessment was developed before the process part of the process part of the web quest was developed. Using a rubric along with the cooperative groups the students worked in to complete this project fostered the multiple intelligences of the students involved.
Interpersonal skills were demonstrated in this project because they were in a situation where then needed to be able to work together in order to get the job completed. Many skills from the Alabama Course of Study were demonstrated among those were; being able to follow written directions, identifying fact and opinion, determining cause and effect, drawing conclusions, sequencing, taking notes, using computers for expression, demonstrating the interdependence of plants and animals, utilize general purpose productivity tools to facilitate learning, use a variety of media to communicate knowledge, and present search results. The rubric also assessed creativity and attention to detail.
Proposition #1 - Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
This rubric was a stepping stone to a dream come true. I have wanted to develop a web quest since I learned about them at a technology conference many years ago, because of the great benefits I saw in allowing students to learn the way the do best. I have often used elements of web quests I have found on the internet but never devoted that much time to any. Although this web quest took a lot of time to develop it was a focused project because of the rubric and students’ performance reflected it.
Proposition #2 – Teachers know the subject they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
To develop a web quest a teacher must have knowledge in the subject the web quest is covering. Teachers must understand what behavior and skills are necessary to complete the project in order to develop an assessment tool such as a rubric. To assess such a project teachers must make sure students have the necessary skills to perform in the project.
Proposition #3 – Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
This rubric is an example of being accomplished in the ability to assess students individually as well as groups. Rubrics are another way to measure student growth and understanding and are a wonderful resource when explaining to parents the way such knowledge was measured.
As I have stated previously the rubric was a stepping stone to a dream come true. Although most teachers would not understand this, to me finally being able to connect learning theory to technology and actually using it in my class is wonderful. This rubric will be used many times as I reflect on the positives and negatives of my first developed web quest. The knowledge I gain from using this rubric will serve as a springboard to many other technology based projects.