Bitesize Research: Learning From Assessments

 By Jaya Carrier

I hope you’re all having a good week so far. As we start to think about processes of exam feedback and review and improve for YR11, I was interested to read the following Edutopia article on assessment.

Objectives: To provide effective three strategies for learning from assessments

Summary: 

• Tests offer insights into both students’ content mastery and study skills.

• The author suggests doing a ‘test replay’ as part of the post-exam debrief in order to gain insights into both of these two areas.

• The author recommends three things as part of this ‘test replay’:

• 1) An instant ‘brain dump’ after the test whereby students capture the questions and any surprises from the test. Some guiding questions for this might include; ‘What was I well prepared for?’ and ‘How did this test compare with my expectations?’

• 2) A ‘slow-motion replay’ whereby when students get their tests back, they have a deeper probe of their thinking and studying. Questions you could ask students at this point include; ‘What clues are built into the test question?’ and ‘What strategies did you use to make sure you understood the prompt?’

• 3) Encourage students to think about their preparation for future exams in light of the one they’ve just received back. This supports building metacognitive skills. 

How does this impact me and my practice?: Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• When am I next doing test feedback?

• What elements of the ‘test replay’ am I doing already? What could I improve or sharpen?

• What support do I need for this?

 

Please do get in touch if you would like to talk further about this - I’d love to hear from you!

Bitesize Research: Supporting Revision & Exam Preparation

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s had a great week so far! As we draw closer to exams, I wanted to get in touch about some recent work from the Education Endowment Foundation about supporting effective revision using the EEF’s evidence-based work on metacognition and self-regulated learning. Objectives: To use evidence-based methods to support student revision and exam preparation. Summary:

• The EEF propose the explicit teaching of revision strategies as teachers cannot assume that students will be strong independent learners or know how to revise independently.
• They advocate the use of a seven-step model, as summarised below:

1. Activating prior knowledge
2. Explicit strategy instruction
3. Modelling of learned strategy
4. Memorisation of strategy
5. Guided practice
6. Independent practice
7. Structured reflection

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How do I currently support students to improve their metacognition and ability to revise independently?
• Which parts of the seven-step model do I use already? Which do I need support with to secure them into my practice? What might this support look like?
• How can I scaffold and support students to prepare for their exams in these final stages? If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!