Imagine any performance skill - - solving quadratic equations, tuning an engine, completing a medical operation properly. Student B did encounter some initial problems (which could have been caused by not being taught in his or her way of learning best) but eventually overcame those initial problems completely by learning from them. Both students worked diligently on each step and reached the desired skill level to an equal degree - - able to exhibit high performance again and again on different problems or cases. What course grade would you give Student B on this performance skill?
Sample answers to the question above might be
- C+ if you believe that the course grade should be an average from each step including the final one.
- B- if you gave the final step a double weight.
- A if you see the course grade as a final skill certification and the earlier steps as diagnostic or formative steps on the path to final certification.
All qualifications and possible local school policies aside, answer #3 is an honest skill certification and is the most motivating context for a student with a different learning style and rate.
Put simply again, this is a recommendation for formative, diagnostic assessment to the greatest degree you can arrange in a well planned teaching system. The sequence of planning such assessment is:
- Define desired final performance objectives and standards for a course.
- Organize units with sub-objectives and learning style alternatives and assessment activities intended primarily to diagnose and, if necessary, correct progress toward final performance objectives.
- Attempt to have the final grade for a course consist primarily of the average or weighted average of final grades on each major performance objective. Do not penalize students who work diligently but needed help or adjusted learning activities guided by diagnostic or formative assessment.
This process can be diagramed thusly:
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